Disease Proof

Diet-Blog kicked up a nice discussion about a recent story in The Australian-The Nation. In the piece Tim Olds, an associate professor of the University of South Australia’s Health Sciences School, blames the drop off in exercise as the reason why children are getting fatter and not increased consumption of junk foods. In fact, he believes kids are now eating less fat. Michelle Wiese Bockmann reports:

Dr Olds said he had reviewed 1700 published studies around the world researching children's diets over 30 years.

He discovered the data showed "a clear drop" in the energy intake of children today compared with up to 30 years ago.

He said he was shocked to find that even allowing for under-reporting of food eaten, children aged up to 20 today were eating less, not more - including less fat.

"I think it is the 'energy-out' side of the equation that's been affected," Dr Olds said. "No matter which way you turn the data, kids are eating less than they used to."

Two-year-olds in Australia ate 16 per cent less than a decade ago, while the energy intake of 11-year-olds was down 5.6per cent over the same period.

The inquiry into fast foods and obesity has previously heard that higher calorie intake, not less exercise, is the "main determination of weight gain in children".

The comments on Diet-Blog are really rolling. Check it out:

Leanne
“All my observations (watching people eat, watching people feed kids, watching sales figures of snacks, watching what people buy at supermarkets) tell me the exact opposite - people of *all ages* (especially children) are eating more and more. Not only more calories, but bigger portions, and more often. They're underestimating the size of their meals and the calorie content, and 'forgetting' to write things down when they are asked to keep food diaries.”

Spectra
“A lot of kids don't eat real breakfasts anymore either. That could be a problem, as kids will eat candy, pop tarts, soda, juice, etc. for breakfast and even though a candy bar may have fewer calories than bacon and eggs, it also has no nutrients and your body just feels hungry again later. Pair that with the fact that most parents do indeed feed their kids all kinds of processed crap...refined carbs, mac and cheese, hot dogs, sugared cereal, candy, juice boxes, etc. and you can see why kids are getting more obese. Not to mention that kids are supposed to be energy machines. I was a very active kid and my parents encouraged it...I was told to bike outside, jump rope, etc. to "wear myself out". Most kids nowadays just sit in front of their Xbox and computers and don't exercise much at all.”