Dietary Sources of Energy, Solid Fats, and Added Sugars Among Children and Adolescents in the United States
By J. Reedy, S. Krebs-Smith. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2010
693 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Objective The objective of this research was to identify top dietary sources of energy, solid fats, and added sugars among 2–18 year olds in the United States. Methods Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a cross-sectional study, were used to examine food sources (percentage contribution and mean intake with standard errors) of total energy (2005–06) and calories from solid fats and added sugars (2003–04). Differences were investigated by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and family income, and the consumption of empty calories—defined as the sum of calories from solid fats and added sugars—was compared with the corresponding discretionary calorie allowance. Results The top sources of energy for 2–18 year olds were grain desserts (138 kcal/day), pizza (136 kcal), and soda (118 kcal). Sugar-sweetened beverages (soda and fruit drinks combined) provided 173 kcal/day. Major contributors varied by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and income. Nearly 40% of total calories consumed (798 kcal/day of 2027 kcal) by 2–18 year olds were in the form of empty calories (433 kcal from solid fat and 365 kcal from added sugars). Consumption of empty calories far exceeded the corresponding discretionary calorie allowance for all sex-age groups (which range from 8–20%). Half of empty calories came from six foods: soda, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, grain desserts, pizza, and whole milk. Conclusion There is an overlap between the major sources of energy and empty calories: soda, grain desserts, pizza, and whole milk. The landscape of choices available to children and adolescents must change to provide fewer unhealthy foods and more healthy foods with fewer calories. Identifying top sources of energy and empty calories can provide targets for changes in the marketplace and food environment. However, product reformulation alone is not sufficient—the flow of empty calories into the food supply must be reduced.
Subfields: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a9fdea0cfc3538856cffaeee3a86eed21c351774
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In Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Citations in the corpus
- Pediatric Obesity-Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. (2017, neutral): “Since 1965, teens have doubled their consumption of sugar-sweetened and fruit-flavored beverages (156, 164).”
- A Randomized Trial of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Adolescent Body Weight (2012, background): ““Other” included Latino or Latina (8 participants), Hispanic (7), Brazilian (2), Cape Verdean (2), Puerto Rican (4), Latino or Latina–Brazilian (1), Spanish (1), and American (1).”
- Growing up unequal: gender and socioeconomic differences in young people's health and well-being. (2016, background): “Young people who report ease of communication with their parents are also more likely to experience a range of positive health outcomes, such as higher self-rated health, higher life satisfaction (31) and fewer physical and psychological complaints (23).”