Frozen burgers, pizza pockets and toaster strudel. Energy drinks and sugary sodas. Fruit leather and potato chips. Cookies and cereal bars. Fish sticks and chicken strips.
These sorts of quick-pick manufactured foods are considered “ultraprocessed,” and dietitians believe they could be at the root of America’s obesity epidemic.
A new study has found that two-thirds of the calories consumed by U.S. children and teens come from ultraprocessed foods, an eating pattern that could be driving children toward obesity.
About 67% of calories eaten by kids and teens come from ultraprocessed foods, compared with about 61% two decades ago, according to data gathered by a top federal health survey.
At the same time, total energy consumed from unprocessed or minimally processed foods decreased from about 29% to 24%, the researchers reported.
Convenience today could be contributing to an unhealthier life for children, said senior researcher Dr. Fang Fang Zhang, an associate professor with the Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, in Boston.
Read more at NEWSMAX.
{Matzav.com}
