A study of 14,000 children has found a large number of children who ate snacks like potato chips, lollipops and take-out food at age 3 lagged behind the rest of their class in elementary school.
The U.K. study found about 25 percent of the children who consumed a higher-than-average amount of junk food at age 3 were 10 percent less likely to keep up with their classmates in their first four years of elementary school.
researchers also found that if a child had eaten a lot of junk food at an early age, switching to a healthier diet a couple of years later would do little to improve their test scores.
“Early eating patterns have implications for attainment that appear to persist over time, regardless of subsequent changes in diet,” the researchers said.
“There was no relationship between school meals or packed lunch consumption and later attainment once the junk food dietary pattern prior to school entry and other confounding factors were introduced in the analysis.”The researchers called on governments to take note of the study when discussing childhood obesity.
The study was published in the latest edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Meds and Food for Kids
Meds & Food for Kids (or MFK) was founded in 2004 by Patricia B. Wolff, MD, a pediatrician in private practice in St. Louis, Missouri and a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine. MFK works to combat childhood malnutrition and related diseases in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Meds & Food for Kids uses a new peanut-based feeding approach called Ready-to-Use Therapeutic food (RUTF), known as Medika Mamba (Hatian Creole for "Peanut Butter Medicine"). RUTF brings malnourished children back from the brink of death, and currently MFK is the only organization working to combat malnutrition in Haiti through RUTF.
Haitians struggle daily for food
In the impoverished country of Haiti, toddlers are the losers in a family's daily struggle to feed everyone. One-quarter of children ages 1 to 3 are dangerously malnourished. They are caught in the middle as older siblings grab what little there is to eat, and infants survive on breast milk. Malnourished children soon become lethargic, their bodies bloat, and their hair turns orange due to trace mineral deficiency. Malaria or pneumonia may invade their weakened immune systems.
Alive at five
Meds & Food for Kids uses Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to reduce childhood mortality from malnutrition. RUTF is a mixture of peanut butter, powdered milk, sugar, oil, vitamins, and minerals. Unlike hospital-based malnutrition treatment, RUTF is used at home. A mother can give her child spoonfuls of the food, which requires no cooking or preparation, amid her other tasks. Since this is not traditional food, siblings may taste it but do not take it for themselves, leaving the toddler with her own meal.
Ready-to-Use therapeutic food
Until recently, childhood malnutrition in developing countries was addressed with hunger relief efforts - giving beans, rice and corn to feed an entire family. Although hunger relief is essential in poor countries where food shortages persist, this tactic alone has not had a lasting impact on childhood malnutrition and long-term health. The Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) used in Haiti effectively treats severe malnutrition. RUTF is nutritious, it is ready to eat without cooking, and does not require refrigeration. RUTF can be stored safely for up to eight months, even at tropical temperatures.Junk food
Junk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or nonutritional value (i.e. containing "empty calories"), or to products with nutritional value but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten, or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all. The term was coined by Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in 1972.
Junk foods are typically ready-to-eat convenience foods containing high levels of saturated fats,salt, or sugar, and little or no fruit, vegetables, or dietary fiber; junk foods thus have little or no health benefits. Common junk foods include salted snack foods (chips, crisps), candy, gum, most sweet desserts, fried fast food and carbonated beverages (sodas) as well as alcoholic beverages
Marketing
During 2006, in the United Kingdom, following a high profile media campaign by the chef Jamie Oliver and a threat of court action from the National Heart Forum, the UK advertising regulator and competition authority, launched a consultation on advertising of foods to children.The Food Standards Agency was one of many respondents.As a result, a ban on advertising during children's television programmes and programmes aimed at school aged children (5-16) was announced. The ban also includes marketing using celebrities, cartoon characters and health or nutrition claims.
Health effects
A study by Paul Johnson and Paul Kenny at The Scripps Research Institute suggested that junk food alters brain activity in a manner similar to addictive drugs like cocaine or heroin.[9] After many weeks on a junk food diet, the pleasure centers of rat brains became desensitized, requiring more food for pleasure. After the junk food was taken away and replaced with a healthy diet, the rats starved for two weeks instead of eating nutritious fare.[10] A 2007 British Journal of Nutrition study found that mothers who eat junk food during pregnancy increased the likelihood of unhealthy eating habits in their children.[11]The increase of junk food is directly associated with the increase in obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, certain cancers, tooth decay, and other diseases. [12] According to some studies, fast food is said to increase the level of insulin in the body. Therefore, a person carries a high risk of type 2 diabetes.Mothers who eat junk food while pregnant or breast-feeding have children who are prone to obesity throughout life. The children are also
Breakfast Foods
Fruits & Veggies
Breads
Main Dishes
Snacks
Miscellaneous
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Ready-to-Use therapeutic food
Junk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or nonutritional value (i.e. containing "empty calories"), or to products with nutritional value but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten, or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all. The term was coined by Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in 1972.
Junk foods are typically ready-to-eat convenience foods containing high levels of saturated fats,salt, or sugar, and little or no fruit, vegetables, or dietary fiber; junk foods thus have little or no health benefits. Common junk foods include salted snack foods (chips, crisps), candy, gum, most sweet desserts, fried fast food and carbonated beverages (sodas) as well as alcoholic beverages
A study by Paul Johnson and Paul Kenny at The Scripps Research Institute suggested that junk food alters brain activity in a manner similar to addictive drugs like cocaine or heroin.[9] After many weeks on a junk food diet, the pleasure centers of rat brains became desensitized, requiring more food for pleasure. After the junk food was taken away and replaced with a healthy diet, the rats starved for two weeks instead of eating nutritious fare.[10] A 2007 British Journal of Nutrition study found that mothers who eat junk food during pregnancy increased the likelihood of unhealthy eating habits in their children.[11]
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