Posted on 09/21/2004 3:25:10 PM PDT by BattleFlag
After studying more than 14,000 American children, a team of six Harvard doctors found that snack food and soda do not contribute to childhood obesity. The study, which was published in the October issue of the International Journal of Obesity, concluded: "Our data did not offer support for the hypothesis that snacking promotes weight gain." Earlier this year, researchers at Penn State reported substantially the same thing. They found "no statistically significant relationship between the percentage of calories from ice cream, baked goods, candy or chips and BMI [Body Mass Index] score" for adolescent girls.
The Harvard research specifically contests what is perhaps public-health activists' most cited study -- a 2001 paper by fat-tax advocate David Ludwig, which claimed that soda consumption is a major factor in childhood obesity. After referring to Ludwig's conclusion, the Harvard study reports:
The inclusion of sugar-sweetened beverages in the snack food category did not meaningfully change the results. Regardless of the definition of snack foods, there was not a strong association between intake of snack foods and weight gain.There is good reason to believe the recent Harvard report over Ludwig's. With only 548 children to study (versus Harvard's 14,000), Ludwig admits that his study had "limited statistical power."
The new Harvard study helps reinforce the growing understanding that physical activity, not food, is the primary cause of childhood obesity. According to former FDA Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan: "In a debate in which foods themselves are being held to be largely responsible for increasing levels of obesity, actual levels of caloric intake among the young haven't appreciably changed over the last twenty years."
A growing body of research corroborates McClellan's point. Earlier this year, research published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that "insufficient vigorous physical activity was the only risk factor" for overweight children. And a 2003 study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine summed it all up by recommending "a focus on increasing energy expenditure, rather than reducing caloric intake."
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Ignore all studies. Ignore all polls.
This has been my mantra for many years.
Is this from Scrappleface, The Onion or DEBKA?
My [very wide] ass!
Harvard Study: Snack Foods And Soda Not Linked To ObesityMy massively-swollen butt and cottage-cheese thighs argue otherwise! My enormous girth takes issue with that claim! My plaqued-out arteries all testify against the researchers of Harvard! Every quivering, sweating, jelly-like inch of me balks at their so-called study! I shall eat ten sticks of butter like snickers bars and wash them down with six Red Bulls to express my indignation!
The truth is that is is simply a balance between calories taken in and calories burned. A kid who is on the cross country track team and who runs a good number of miles a day can eat all the junk food he wants and not gain an ounce..... but the kid who sits in front of a TV will not burn off those junk food calories fast enough.
It always comes down to "asstime."
I have 3 kids. My twin daughters are much more active than my son. They swim almost every day in the summer. They play outside more than he does. He is a computer geek kid.
My son is very skinny. One of my twin daughters is a good weight. My other daughter is heavy. My daughters eat a lot more than my son. They always have. They want seconds on almost every meal.
My heavy daughter really put on weight one summer when she was about 3 or 4. She was just old enough to open the refrigerator, and I didn't figure out until later that she was going in and getting juice boxes drinking them and throwing them away. After a few months and a few pounds later, I found out and started keeping juice boxes in the garage.
I won't let my daughters eat seconds on high calorie food now. I tell them they can have seconds on vegetables and fruits.
My girls are both big. One of them is almost 8 and weighs 76 pounds. She's tall, and I hope she grows into her weight. I don't believe in a little girl dieting. I do think she eats too much candy and junk from parties, holidays, etc.
Insufficient vigorous activity? There isn't enough time in the day for kids to work off the fat and calories from a lot of this stuff. Better answer: if you can't/won't work it off, don't eat it.
Bleeeeeck!!!!
Drink the sugar free Monster energy drink! They rock and TASTE GOOD something the Red Bulls don't.
Ignore all studies. Ignore all polls.
You are one smart and I'll bet happy individual. It is a wonder only half the US population is crazy. One week they are told this- the next week - nope this and blah bla bla.
I guess many Americans don't have much of a life except following polls and studies.
Oh well to each his own.
I hope you converted a few tonight.
Sex doesn't cause pregnancy either! (not)
I'd say it's a combination of junk food and video games.
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