Study: Poor Childhood Eating Habits Likely to Persist in Adolescence

Poor eating habits on the part of children are likely to persist into adolescence, leading to obesity, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine in Beijing.

"It's being shown more and more that diet and lifestyle in childhood and adolescence have a potential lifelong effect on risks for many chronic diseases such as obesity, coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and certain types of cancer," said Youfa Wang, assistant professor of human nutrition at the University of Illinois and co-author of the study. "We are also observing an alarming increase in childhood obesity not only in industrialized countries but also in many developing countries."

Researchers examined data for 984 Chinese children from 1991 to 1997. The children, ranging in ages from six to 13, ate diets that were categorized as high fat, high carbohydrate, high energy, high vegetable and fruit, low vegetable and fruit and high meat.

About 50 percent of the children continued the same eating patterns six years later, the researchers reported in the Journal of Nutrition. Children from urban and high-income families were more likely to eat a high fat/high meat diet.

Researchers speculate that the economic development in China has made expensive meals containing meat and cooking oils more affordable.

"We hope increased understanding in the dietary patterns of children and adolescents will enhance our efforts to promote healthy eating behavior in these age groups to prevent chronic diseases," said Wang.

Other sources: University of Illinois at Chicago