Our kids are not healthy
From Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
The Facts:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates around 18 percent of all children ages 6-19 are obese, and a study in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity projects nearly half of children in North America will be overweight by 2010.
- Overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults.
Children get too much:
- Fat, saturated fat, trans fats, and cholesterol
- According to the USDA’s Continuing Survey of Food Intakes, the percentage of children ages 6-19 who exceeded the dietary recommendations was 74% for saturated fat intake and 22% for cholesterol intake.1
- Total calories
- Sodium
- Children ages 6-19 consume an average of 3360 mg sodium daily. The recommended intake is 2000 mg.1
Children don’t get enough:
- Fiber
- Fruits and vegetables
- Dole’s Fruit and Vegetable Update in 1999 reported children ages 6-12 only consumed, on average, 2.4 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.2
- Trends in adolescent fruit and vegetable consumption show that as children age their daily intake decreases between early to middle adolescence and even more between middle to late adolescence.3
1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service. 1999. Food and Nutrient Intakes by Children, 1994-1996,1998. Available at: http://www.barc.usda.gov/bhnrc/foodsurvey/home.htm. Accessed February 12, 2007.
2. Dole’s Fruit and Vegetable Update. What America’s Children are Eating. 1999. Available at: http://www.dole5aday.com/Grownups/Facts/G_ExplodingPyramid.jsp?topmenu=3. Accessed February 12, 2007.
3. Larson NI, Neumark-Sztainer D, Hannan PJ, MStat, Story M. Trends in Adolescent Fruit and Vegetable Consumption, 1999-2004. Am J Prev Med 2007;32(2).
