Aug

1

Lack of veggies can lead girls to a life of obesity - Reuters(Childhood Obesity News)

Filed Under Childhood Obesity News | Leave a Comment

But studies have shown that on average, teenage girls are not getting enough fiber, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium or vitamins A, E and B in their diets, and are eating too much saturated fat and sodium, said Bellatti, who is also a graduate student in New York Universityâs Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health . In American adolescents aged 12 to 19, the obesity rate has more than tripled from 5 percent to 17 percent over the last three decades, according to the Institute of Medicine . The study revealed that more than 60 percent of teenage girls had resorted to diet pills, laxatives, vomiting or skipping meals to control their weight, and girls who employ these extreme diet methods are also more likely to be overweight. Teenage girls between the ages of 14 to 18 should eat between 2,200 and 2,400 calories a day, Bellatti said, something that a lot of popular diets donât provide. While he applauds the focus BodyWorks places on eating from a variety of food groups, Bellatti said that some of the advice may play into the fat-phobic or carb-phobic attitudes that many girls develop in their teenage years. But while the pamphlet advises that girls eat three servings of whole grains daily, Bellatti points out that it neglects to mention any other grain intake, leading to an unnecessary low-carb message that is already popular among young women. Read Childhood Obesity

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,