Fat: Okay for Kids?
Reported August 16, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Feeding your kids the same low-fat diet you eat may not be doing them any good. Despite growing concerns about childhood obesity, new research reveals children actually burn more fat per calorie spent than adults.
Researchers found kids were oxidizing more fat than adults relative to the amount of energy they used. In this case, it seems to be size that matters. “What you have to keep in mind is that children are much smaller than adults, so you have to make it relative to body size,” Peter Farrell, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of East Carolina in Greenville, North Carolina and corresponding author of the article told Ivanhoe.
Dr. Farrell and his colleagues collected data from 10 children and 10 adults who had a healthy middle-range body mass index. Study participants were given the same typical healthy diet for three days before testing began. Then, during three separate testing days, both the children and adults spent nine hours at a low physical activity level, reading or watching movies, while calorimeters measured their oxidation levels. Researchers also looked at the nitrogen levels in the participants’ urine and incorporated those levels into their calculations. “You burn three things, carbohydrates, fat or protein and they [children] were burning more fat relative to how many calories they were expending,” said Dr. Farrell.
These finding support current dietary guidelines, which specify that children should have a certain amount of fat in their diets. “The bottom line is, we don’t think parents should skimp on fat. They shouldn’t get into a mode where they take away fat from the child’s healthy diet,” said Dr. Farrell.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe Interview with Peter Farrell, Ph.D., Nutrition Journal, published online Aug. 15, 2007
