Obesity in Children - Diet and Nutrition
Issues
Excess Body Fat & Childhood Obesity
Excess fat accumulation in children, leading to obesity, arises from a
chronic imbalance between energy intake and energy needs. Children today
are less active than former generations, but the increase in fatness suggests
that the total energy consumed has not decreased adequately. Prospective
studies, with detailed and objective measurements of intake or expenditure,
are lacking. However evidence from other sources indicates that certain
dietary factors may be associated with an increased risk of obesity in
children.
Excess Dietary Fat & Childhood Obesity
This presentation will use data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey
of Young People (4-18y) to describe present day eating habits among young
people in the UK. This data illustrates that, although the mean fat intake
is close to dietary guidelines, the consumption of sugar is high and fruit
and vegetable intake low. These dietary factors are linked to the energy
density of the diet. Diets with a high energy density are associated with
an impairment in appetite control and an increased risk of over-consumption
and hence obesity.
Fast Food & Childhood Obesity
Evidence for other dietary risk factors for obesity will also be evaluated,
including the consumption of some specific foods such as soft drinks and
fast food, together with broader aspects of eating behavior, including
eating frequency (snacking) and portion size. Finally the impact of familial
lifestyles, including television viewing and parental attitudes to food
will be considered as a determinant of children's dietary habits.
Physical Activity & Childhood Obesity
Understanding the dietary factors associated with an increased risk of
obesity is critical to the development of effective lifestyle strategies
for the prevention of excess weight gain in young people. More research
is required, especially outside the USA, using a range of measurement
approaches which address qualitative as well as quantitative aspects of
the diet of young people. There is a need to integrate dietary factors
with a greater understanding of the role of physical activity to understand
the broader lifestyle determinants of obesity in young people and to develop
partnerships which support and facilitate the necessary lifestyle changes
by children ad their families.
Source: Dr Susan Jebb, MRC Human Nutrition
Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge, CB1 9NL,
UK. (2002)
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