UK kids are active but aren’t eating their greens
Most children in the UK are physically active but still aren’t eating their five portions of fruit and veg a day, a new study has shown.
The diet, physical activity levels and body shape of over 2000 nine and ten-year-olds from schools in Norfolk were studied by researchers from the MRC Epidemiology Unit and the University of East Anglia. The scientists also looked at the children’s socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds and school and home environments to better understand why some children have a healthier lifestyle than others.
The findings, published in the BMC Public Health journal, showed that almost 70 per cent of the children met the government’s physical activity guidelines of taking at least an hour a day of exercise - but only half reported eating any fruit or vegetables. Boys in the study ate less healthy food than girls and more unhealthy snacks, such as soft drinks. But the boys were also more likely to be physically active and of normal weight than their female counterparts. Children from more affluent backgrounds were more likely to eat fruit and vegetables every day, the research showed.
Dr Simon Griffin, one of the authors of the study, said: “The findings suggest that we need to promote fruit and vegetable intake in this age group, especially in children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. It’s encouraging that almost 70% of the children studied met national physical activity guidelines, however we cannot be complacent about this because there’s uncertainty around whether this is enough activity to stave off risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in later life. Physical activity tends to decline during teenage years, so strategies aimed at nine and ten year olds to prevent this decline might be more productive than encouraging them to do more exercise.”
Future work on the study, which is known as SPEEDY (Sport, Physical activity and Eating behaviour: Environmental Determinants in Young people) will look at the associations between physical activity, diet and psychological, biological, socio-cultural and environmental factors.
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Ref: van Slujis Esther MF; Skidmore Paula ML; Mwanza K; Griffin S J et al (2008) Physical activity and dietary behaviour in a population-based sample of British 10-year old children: the SPEEDY study (Sport, Physical activity and Eating behaviour: Environmental Determinants in Young people), published in BMC Public Health.
The SPEEDY study is funded by the National Prevention Research Initiative
