Friday, September 24, 2004
Don't blame the Twinkie
[Steven Milloy, "Snack Foods Don't Fatten Kids," Fox News, 24 September 2004.]
Obesity and the "culture of fear" have been topics of discussion on Kansas Health in the past. As Steven Milloy points out, the assumed link between snacks and overweight children does not necessarily hold up to scrutiny:
Snack foods, as it turns out, may not be an important cause of weight gain in children after all. Harvard University researchers followed the snack food intake during 1996-1998 of almost 15,000 children aged 9 to 14 years. Their results were reported online in the International Journal of Obesity on Aug. 17 — and virtually no place else since.
After statistically controlling for stage of development, age, height change, activity and inactivity, the researchers reported no relation between intake of snack foods and subsequent changes in bodyweight among the 6, 774 boys and an inverse relation (meaning snack food intake was associated with lower weight gain) among the 8,203 girls.
The researchers concluded, "Our results suggest that although snack foods may have low nutritional value, they were not an important independent determinant of weight gain among children and adolescents."
The Harvard study data may have its limitations, but at least its researchers aren't trying to use poor quality data to support weak statistics. The researchers studied almost 15,000 kids for several years in an effort to link snack foods with weight gain. They couldn't do it. I find that to be a significant "non-result."
The Harvard study does not justify bad eating habits among children. But neither does it justify the demonization of snack foods. There are no "good" foods or "bad" foods. There are, however, "good" and "bad" eating habits. Snack foods can be part of a healthy diet.
[Steven Milloy, "Snack Foods Don't Fatten Kids," Fox News, 24 September 2004.]
Obesity and the "culture of fear" have been topics of discussion on Kansas Health in the past. As Steven Milloy points out, the assumed link between snacks and overweight children does not necessarily hold up to scrutiny:
Snack foods, as it turns out, may not be an important cause of weight gain in children after all. Harvard University researchers followed the snack food intake during 1996-1998 of almost 15,000 children aged 9 to 14 years. Their results were reported online in the International Journal of Obesity on Aug. 17 — and virtually no place else since.
After statistically controlling for stage of development, age, height change, activity and inactivity, the researchers reported no relation between intake of snack foods and subsequent changes in bodyweight among the 6, 774 boys and an inverse relation (meaning snack food intake was associated with lower weight gain) among the 8,203 girls.
The researchers concluded, "Our results suggest that although snack foods may have low nutritional value, they were not an important independent determinant of weight gain among children and adolescents."
The Harvard study data may have its limitations, but at least its researchers aren't trying to use poor quality data to support weak statistics. The researchers studied almost 15,000 kids for several years in an effort to link snack foods with weight gain. They couldn't do it. I find that to be a significant "non-result."
The Harvard study does not justify bad eating habits among children. But neither does it justify the demonization of snack foods. There are no "good" foods or "bad" foods. There are, however, "good" and "bad" eating habits. Snack foods can be part of a healthy diet.
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