Originally published October 7 2005
Harvard study shows eating at home can help adolescents manage their weight
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A Harvard Medical School study of nine to 14-year-olds over the course of one year concluded that those adolescents who increased their intake of fried food away from home experienced weight gain above the normal rate.
"Doctors should encourage teens to limit their intake of food prepared away from home and to eat family dinners together, the benefits of which appear to include improved diet quality," said lead author Elsie Taveras, instructor in ambulatory care and prevention at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC).
She added that home dinners have been found to reduce high-risk adolescent behaviors such as tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use.
Taveras is also director of the One Step Ahead program at Children's Hospital Boston, which teaches families how to make healthy food choices.
Taveras and colleagues surveyed 14,355 children between 9 and 14 years old, and recorded their height, weight, physical activity, and frequency of consumption of fried food away from home.
In the survey, this direct association was greatest among the youngest girls (ages 9 to 12).
This finding could help doctors and parents to develop effective interventions to prevent excessive weight gain during this period of adolescence.
Adolescents in the study who ate fried food away from home more frequently reported higher total caloric intakes, intakes of saturated and trans fats, sugar-sweetened beverages, and red and processed meats, and higher glycemic loads.
They also ate fewer foods that are integral to a well-balanced diet, like fruits and vegetables.
If these early eating patterns persist throughout their adolescence, our findings suggest that these children will be heavier and perhaps be more at risk of chronic diseases," Taveras said.
At the beginning of the study, 3.5 percent of girls and 6 percent of boys reported eating four to seven servings of fried food away from home per week.
Overall, girls and boys 13 to 14 years old ate more fried food away from home than 9 to 12 year olds.
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