In our March issue, Dr. Edward Guillery of the Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel offers ten simple tips for parents who want to protect their children against childhood obesity. In tip #7 he writes, “Limit or eliminate snacks. School-age children will not drop dead from starvation if they haven’t eaten in four hours! They may whine, and I know how hard that is, but snacking behavior is just that – learned behavior that can be modified.”

Dr. Guillery’s recommendations are more timely than even we had known, as a study published in the March issue of Health Affairs shows 27 percent of children’s daily calories come from snacks. These snacks, more often than not, include candy, salty chips and other junk foods as well as sugary juice drinks and sweetened sports drinks. Between 1977 and 2006, the study notes, snacking added 168 calories per day to the average child’s caloric intake.

“Our study shows that some children, including very young children, snack almost continuously throughout the day,” says Barry M. Popkin, PhD, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in a news release. “Such findings raise concerns that more children in the United States are moving toward a dysfunctional eating pattern, one that can lead to unhealthy weight gain and obesity.”

Popkin adds that children still eat three meals a day, “but they’re loading up on high-calorie junk food that contains little or no nutritional value during these snacks.” The study found the greatest increase in calories from snacks in children between the ages of 2 and 6.

As parents, we have a great deal of control over what our children eat every day, especially very young children. It’s our responsibility to help them learn to make appropriate food choices and to eat only when they’re hungry. For more information about childhood obesity and what you can do to raise fit, healthy and confident children, read the Ages and Stages article in our March issue.

For more information about childhood obesity, visit www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html.

And check out First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to fight childhood obesity, Let’s Move!. In another nod to the timeliness of our March issue, the first lady launched her campaign just as we were editing our Ages and Stages article! (Great minds think alike?)

How often do your children snack, and what are they snacking on? Share your tips for nurturing healthful eating habits with your children.

March 8th, 2010 | Category: Health and Wellness