Originally published June 28 2005
Study: Children faced with bigger portions of food tend to eat more
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The amount of food adults eat is usually determined by how full they feel, but a Cornell University study found that it is different for children, as they tend to eat more food if they are offered larger portions and more snacks throughout the day.
Contrary to what many people believe, preschool children do not adjust how much they eat in response to how much they ate at their last meal or in the past 24 hours or how calorie-rich their meal is.
By far, the most powerful predictor for how much children eat is how much food is put on their plate, concludes a new study by Cornell University researchers.
"We examined all the predictors we could of how much a child eats at a meal," said David Levitsky, professor of nutritional sciences and of psychology at Cornell.
These findings suggest that both the onus of controlling children's weight -- both in causing overweight in children as well as in its prevention -- must rest squarely in the hands of parents and other caregivers."
The study is published in the June issue of Appetite (44:3, pp. 273-282).
Although previous studies had suggested that children regulate their food intake much more precisely than adults, most of those studies were conducted in laboratories, not in natural settings where environmental factors can play a very powerful role in determining a child's food intake, Levitsky said.
A previous study by the two Cornell nutritionists similarly reported that children do not adjust for the amount of food they eat to compensate for how many sweetened drinks they have either at meals or between meals.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the number of children who are overweight has doubled in the last two to three decades; currently one child in five is overweight.
Researchers now know that overweight children tend to become overweight adults, continuing to put them at greater risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml