Kids eating convenience foods are getting more calories, less nutrition, study finds
| July 27, 2011 | |
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American children are eating fewer home-cooked meals, and that could be fueling the obesity epidemic, say nutrition researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In a study published online and in the August issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers from UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health assessed where children ate food, and where that food was prepared, from 1977 through 2006. They found that children were eating at fast food restaurants more often as time passed, and even when eating at home, were more likely in recent years to eat food already prepared, either in a fast food restaurant or grocery store.
Children were eating an average of 179 more kilocalories total per day in 2006 than in 1977. This increase was fueled by a rise of 255 more calories per day of foods eaten at locations away from home. By 2006, children were getting more calories per day of foods from fast food restaurants than they were getting from food prepared at school.
Jennifer Poti
“We’re trying to discover causes of the obesity epidemic,” said Jennifer Poti, a UNC nutrition doctoral student who conducted the study with Barry Popkin, PhD, W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of nutrition at UNC’s public health school. “This study shows that where the food is prepared, as well as where it is eaten, makes a big difference in the number of calories children are consuming. Other research has shown that Americans are eating out more often, especially at fast food restaurants. Our study includes take-out and delivered food and found that the increase in fast-food consumption at home indicates that Americans are spending less time on food preparation and cooking.” Poti and Popkin analyzed data from more than 29,000 children, ages 2 to 18 years, from various national surveys taken between 1977 and 2006. The total average of calories consumed by children in 2003-2006 was 2,022 per day – up from 1,842 per day in 1977-1978.
“Children are still getting most of their daily energy intake (calories) at home,” Poti said. “But in 1977-1978, about 77 percent of their daily calories were eaten at home. Between 2003 and 2006, that percentage had dropped to 66.”
Poti said more research needs to be done to understand the impact that foods eaten and/or prepared away from home have on body mass index (BMI – a measure of body fat) and on increasing rates of overweight and obesity.
“We already know that increased energy intake (calorie count) and lower nutritional quality is associated with carry-out, drive-through fast foods and ‘heat-and-eat’ foods from a store, as compared to foods prepared at home with basic ingredients,” Poti said. “If we can understand better how this shift in where food is eaten affects overall weight and health, then we’ll have a clearer understanding of how to help people consume fewer calories and improve their nutrition. The bottom line is – how can we help people live healthier lives?”
The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the University of North Carolina.
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
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