Kids’ fruit, veg consumption inadequate

Less than one in ten US children are eating the recommended levels of fruit and vegetables per day, according to a study in February’s issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The latest information adds to the growing body of evidence indicating that most adolescents fail to meet the nation’s dietary guidelines. According to the study, which analyzed the behavior of almost 900 children aged 11 to 15, only 12 percent of participants consumed the recommended five or more daily servings of fruit and vegetables.

Family dietary practices were found to be associated with adolescents’ food choices, with parents’ consumption of fruit and vegetables being identified as a predictor of adolescent consumption habits.

According to a report issued in September by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one third of American children are either obese or at risk for obesity. And the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal that in the past quarter century, the proportion of overweight children aged 6-11 has doubled, while the number of overweight adolescents has tripled. The dramatic rise in obesity has prompted widespread changes throughout the food industry, schools and communities in an effort to prevent the spreading epidemic. Indeed, the IOM’s report examined the nation's progress in preventing childhood obesity, providing further recommendations for government, industry, media, communities, schools, and families to collectively respond to the growing obesity epidemic in children and youth.

Steve - not much more we can add to this besides reiterating the importance parents have in the health of their children.