April 2014 –A study from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill released in the January issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition pointed to the important role of parents in a child’s health and diet.
The study examined the diets of 4,466 children ages 2-18 between 2007 and 2010. Among other factors, researchers considered the frequency with which they ate fast food and the correlation to obesity. They found that only 10% of children were high consumers with fast food as a source for more than 30% of their calories. Fifty percent of the remaining children consumed no fast food, and 40% were low consumers who gained less than 30% of calories from fast food. At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in the last 30 years, obesity has doubled in children and tripled in adolescents.
Considering the relatively low percentage of children who were high consumers of fast food and the greatly increased rates of obesity, the study indicated that just the types of food eaten is not the most significant factor in a child’s diet. Parental involvement in children’s dietary decisions is of high importance since eating habits are learned at home.
