FRIDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- 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."
The study was released online March 1 in advance of publication
in an upcoming print issue of the
Journal of Pediatrics.
More information
For more about
kids and obesity, try the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.