Diet food ‘may fuel obesity risk’
High calorie foods should be eaten in moderation |
Diet foods for children may inadvertently lead to overeating and obesity, say researchers. In tests on young rats, animals given low-calorie versions of foods were induced to overeat, whether they were lean or obese.
The researchers believe low-calorie versions of usually high-calorie foods disrupt the body’s ability to use taste to regulate calorific intake.
The University of Alberta study appears in the journal Obesity.
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Dr David Pierce |
Diet foods are probably not a good idea for growing youngsters 
Lead researcher Professor David Pierce said: “Based on what we’ve learned, it is better for children to eat healthy, well-balanced diets with sufficient calories for their daily activities rather than low-calorie snacks or meals.”
The researchers found that young rats given low-calorie foods began to overeat during their regular meals.
However, older, adolescent rats also fed diet foods did not show the same tendency to overeat.
Taste cues
The researchers believe the older rats did not overeat because they, unlike the younger rats, were able to rely on a variety of taste-related cues to correctly assess the energy value of their food.
In contrast the younger animals learned to match tastes usually associated with food high in calories with low-fat alternatives, and so carried on eating to try to get their calorie count up when in fact it had already reached a healthy level.
Professor Pierce said the research underlined the importance of promoting a balanced diet and exercise as the best ways to keep children fit and healthy.
He said: “Diet foods are probably not a good idea for growing youngsters.”
Obesity is a significant risk factor for both type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and soaring rates are posing an increasing public health problem.
Dr Colin Waine, chairman of the UK National Obesity Forum, sounded a note of caution about extrapolating from rats to humans.
But he said: “It is an interesting theory, especially with the amount of low calorie foods which are around now.
“It reinforces the need to try to teach children healthy eating habits from early in life.”
2 Comments
I agree with this. From my experiences with many people , both children and adults who take these diet choices often put on extra weight quite quickly after they have been on these diets. Its not right to fake foods and its better to make sure that you have a healthy diet with a good exercise program. I also think that some diet products may be dangerous to health and this needs to be addressed with body toxicity levels rising etc.
Nice post.
We’ve a real problem with obesity.
In fact I recently blogged about this exact thing here: http://tinyurl.com/38zvkm
In short: In May of 2002, the World Health Organization announced a rise in obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Remarkably, this occurred not only in affluent developed nations - but also among developing nations in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, where malnutrition was once the major dietary issue.
Obesity in the developing world can be seen as a result of a series of changes in diet, physical activity, health and nutrition, collectively known as the ‘nutrition transition.’ As poor countries become more prosperous, they acquire some of the benefits along with some of the problems of industrialized nations. These include obesity.
Since urban areas are much further along in the transition than rural ones, they experience higher rates of obesity. Cities offer a greater range of food choices, generally at lower prices. Urban work often demands less physical exertion than rural work. And as more and more women work away from home, they may be too busy to shop for, prepare and cook healthy meals at home. The fact that more people are moving to the city compounds the problem. In 1900, just 10 percent of the world population inhabited cities. Today, that figure is nearly 50 percent.
Read more here: http://tinyurl.com/2scnhk