Today’s children eat about 350 calories a day more than did kids in the 1970s, the equivalent of a small serving of french fries and a nondiet soda. Grown-ups eat about 500 calories more–about a hamburger’s worth. You could cut those calories by exercising more, of course, but that would require 150 minutes more of walking each day for a child and 110 minutes for adults. Not too realistic.
Archive for category Nutrition and obesity
The following questionnaire statements can be useful when studying young childrens food habits and how they interact with their parents: Food fussiness | Enjoyment of food | Food responsiveness/Emotional overeating | Satiety responsiveness | Emotional undereating | Desire to drink | Slowness in eating.
The following questionnaire statements can be useful when studying young childrens food habits and how they interact with their parents. For more informations please see the article Eating behaviour and weight in children by Webber, Hill, Saxton, Van Jaarsveld and Wardle.
Food fussiness
My child refuses new foods at first
My chid enjoys tasting new foods
My child enjoys a wide variety of foods My child is difficult to please with meals
My child is interested in tasting food s/he hasn’t tasted before
My child decides that s/he doesn’t like food, even without tasting it
Enjoyment of food
My child loves food
My child is interested in food My child is always asking for food
My child enjoys eating
My child looks forward to mealtimes
Food responsiveness/Emotional overeating
My child eats more when worried My child eats more when annoyed
If allowed to, my child would eat too much
My child eats more when anxious
Given the choice, my child would eat most of the time
My child eats more when s/he has nothing else to do
Even if my child is full up, s/he finds room to eat his/her favourite food
If given the chance, my child would always have food in his/her mouth
Satiety responsiveness
My child has a big appetite
My child leaves food on his/her plate at the end of a meal
My child gets full before his/her meal is finished
My child gets full up easily
My child cannot eat a meal if s/he has had a snack just before
Emotional undereating
My chid eats less when s/he is angry
My child eats less when s/he is tired
My child eats more when s/he is happy My child eats less when s/he is upset
Desire to drink
My child is always asking for a drink If given the chance, my child would drink continuously throughout the day
If given the chance, my child would always be having a drink
Slowness in eating
My child finishes his/her meal very quickly
My child eats slowly
My child takes more than 30 minutes to finish a meal
My child eats more and more slowly during the course of a meal.
78 teenagers, 11 and 18 years old boys, were randomly assigned to wear pedometers and receive weekly text messages to encouraging them to get more physical activity.
Today’s children eat about 350 calories a day more than did kids in the 1970s, the equivalent of a small serving of french fries and a nondiet soda. Grown-ups eat about 500 calories more–about a hamburger’s worth. You could cut those calories by exercising more, of course, but that would require 150 minutes more of walking each day for a child and 110 minutes for adults. Not too realistic.
A study from Rutgers University reports that mothers who miss signs of satiety in their infants tend to overfeed them, leading to excess weight gains during the 6 month to 1 year period.
US Senate leaders are considering new federal taxes on soda and other sugary drinks to help pay for an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.
A bowl of whole-grain cereal is as good as a sports drink for recovery after exercise. Research published in BioMed Central’s open access Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition has shown that the readily available and relatively inexpensive breakfast food is as effective as popular, carbohydrate-based ‘sports drinks’.
Eating out would be a whole lot easier for nutrition-conscious customers in chain restaurants, if legislation introduced today by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) becomes law. The Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL) Act would require fast-food and other chain restaurants to post calories on menu boards and food display tags and calories, saturated plus trans fat, carbohydrates, and sodium on printed menus.
Stress may indeed be a direct contributor to childhood obesity. That’s according to a new Iowa State University study finding that increased levels of stress in adolescents are associated with a greater likelihood of them being overweight or obese.