Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the past 30 years, with about one in three American children currently overweight or obese, according to government figures. Now Barry Popkin and Carmen Piernas of the University of North Carolina have found in their study that snacks account for about 27 percent of the calories consumed by children, and total daily calorie intake has risen by an average of 113 calories from 1977 to 2006.
The researchers examined data on the eating habits of 31,337 children from four nationally representative surveys of food intake. They found: “The largest increases in snacking events have been in salty snack and candy consumption; however, desserts and sweetened beverages remain the major sources of calories from snacks.” Unfortunately they also found that snacking on fresh fruit has declined significantly compared to the late 1970s. So extra calories are coming from more junk food and less healthy foods.
Popkin and Piernas concluded: “Our findings suggest that children ages 2–18 are experiencing important increases in snacking behavior and are moving toward a consumption pattern of three meals plus three snacks per day. This raises the question of whether the physiological basis for eating is becoming dysregulated, as our children are moving toward constant eating.” (Trends in Snacking Among US Children, Health Affairs. 29, No. 3 (2010): 398–404)
Overweight problems and obesity in childhood constitutes a timebomb in society. If you have children aged 2 to 18 years, don’t wait for others, start defusing it now!
