If you're trying to get your child to drop a few pounds, here's some food for thought: A new study finds that among three types of diets, kids preferred the one emphasizing foods that don't cause blood-sugar imbalances.
Kids also lost weight
on the other two diets, however.
"We know the
diets are effective. The question now is how we can get people to follow
them," said study lead author Shelley Kirk, a dietitian and assistant
professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of
Medicine.
About 20 percent of
children aged 6 to 11 in the United States are obese, which is a step beyond simply being overweight,
according to statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. The rate is similar in adolescents aged 12 to 19.
In the new study,
researchers examined 85 obese 7- to 12-year-olds who accepted an assigned diet
for a year. The kids had weekly dietary counseling and biweekly exercise sessions
for the first three months, and then were on their own for the remaining nine
months.
One of the diets is
similar to the Atkins diet for adults, and focused on very low carbohydrate
consumption and a lot of high-protein foods. Another diet focused on foods with
low glycemic indexes (such as fruit, nonstarchy vegetables,
whole grains, poultry and fish) that are less likely to cause blood-sugar
levels to fluctuate. The third diet focused on controlling food portions and
making sure calories overall were 55 percent to 60 percent carbohydrates, 10
percent to 15 percent protein, and 30 percent fat.
The researchers found
that the participants on average lowered their body mass index (BMI) — a
measurement of body fat based on height and weight — and the percentage of fat
in their bodies. Their waist sizes didn't decrease after a year, but it's not
clear if that's because they grew.
The children had the
most difficulty following the low-carbohydrate diet and the easiest time with
the low-glycemic diet, Kirk said.
Overall, most of the
kids lost weight on the diets, Kirk noted.
Cathleen Davis, a
clinical dietitian and nutritionist who works with children at Good Samaritan
Hospital Medical Center in Babylon, N.Y., applauded the study and explained why
the diets might have differed in popularity.
She said the portion-controlled and low-glycemic diets are probably
better tolerated "because they both are more mainstream diets that the
parents would be familiar and comfortable with."
What should you do if
you'd like to put your child on a diet?
"Ask your
pediatrician about local reputable programs and look on Eatright.org to find a
registered dietitian serving your area," Davis said. "Make tiny
changes and expect bad days — absolutely no one eats perfectly 100 percent of
the time. And be very careful of programs that push supplements, make any type
of claim for immediate success and don't have licensed credentials."