Kids Eat a lot of Junk Food: One Year’s TotalLos niños consumen demasiada comida chatarra: El total en un año
By: Keith
I found an article at The Daily Mail that talks about how much junk food a typical British kid eats in one year. You can check it out for yourself, and it’s interesting because they break down the categories of what they consider junk food and how much of it a typical kid consumes per year. Since we Americans are close cousins of the British I’m going to assume these numbers should hold at least reasonably true for Americans as well. I took it upon myself to aggregate the junk food categories in the article, and I arrived at a number of empty calories per day that kids eat. I did not include the milk and whole wheat/fiber product categories because I consider them necessary parts of a child’s diet. The below figures would be significantly worse if I were to add them. But, I don’t know why anybody would consider milk and whole wheat as junk foods. Subtracting those categories, I arrived at 218,605 empty calories per year. Divide that by 365, and the average British kid downs 599 calories per day of food that is, at best, unnecessary.
How Bad is That?
First off, Americans are no better. We’re probably worse. Worse than 600 empty calories per day? That’s 38% of a 1,600 calorie diet. Another way to say it is this: all the nutrients a child needs every day must be squished into a mere 1,000 calories of food. The USDA allocates 132 discretionary calories for a person on a 1600 calorie daily diet. In other words, if you eat only the most nutrient rich foods, you will have 132 extra calories to do with as you please afterwards (half a candy bar, anybody?). 600 minus 132 equals 468 calories. It’s those 468 calories that are either causing childhood obesity or obesity and malnutrition together (kids are either eating all their required nutrients plus those 468 calories or eating fewer nutrient rich foods in order to stay under 1600 calories). 468 calories per day is roughly 1 lb of gained fat per week. Does anybody still question why we and our kids are fat? Side note: a 2,000 calorie diet rich in nutrients can have 267 discretionary calories (that’s a Snicker’s bar a day if you don’t waste a single calorie throughout the rest of the day). Side note: USAToday reports that 10% of the calories in an American diet come from soda!
Me encontré un artículo en The Daily Mail que habla acerca de la cantidad de comida chatarra que un típico niño británico consume en un año. Puedes checarlo por ti mismo, y es interesante porque te desglosa por categoría lo que ellos consideran comida chatarra y qué tanto de cada una un típico niño consume al año. Ya que nosotros Americanos somos primos cercanos de los Ingleses, voy a asumir que estos números deberían al menos ser ciertamente razonables si los aplicamos también a los americanos. Yo me tomé la tarea de sumar las categorías de comida chatarra mencionados en ese artículo, y he llegado a al número de calorías vacías que los niños consumen cada día. No incluí la leche ni la categoría de productos de fibra y trigo integral porque yo les considero una parte necesaria en la dieta de los niños. Las cifras a continuación podrían ser significantemente peores si yo les hubiera incluido. Pero, yo no sé porqué alguien consideraría la leche y el trigo integral como comida chatarra. Restando esas categorías, he encontrado un total de 218,605 calorías vacías al año. Divídelo entre 365, y el niño británico promedio consume 599 calorías al día en alimentos que son, en el mejor de los casos, innecesarios.
¿Qué tan malo es eso?
Primeramente, los americanos no son mejores. Nosotros estamos probablemente peor. ¿Pero que 600 calorías vacías al día? Eso es el 38% de una dieta de 1,600 calorías. Otra manera de verlo es: todos los nutrientes que un niño necesita cada día deben ser comprimidas dentro de alimentos de tan solo unas 1,000 calorías. EL USDA coloca 132 calorías discrecionales por persona en una dieta diaria de 1,600 calorías. En otras palabras, si tú solamente consumes los alimentos nutritivos más ricos, tú tendrás 132 calorías extra para hacer con ellas lo que tú quieras (¿alguien quiere media barra de chocolate?). 600 menos 132 igual a 468 calorías. Estas 468 calorías son las que ya sea que estén causando la obesidad infantil u obesidad y malnutrición juntas (ya sea que los niños estén consumiendo todos los nutrientes necesarios más esas otras 468 calorías o están consumiendo alimentos menos nutritivos para mantenerse por debajo de esas 1,600 calorías). 468 calorías al día son más o menos una libra (0.45 kg) de peso ganada a la semana. ¿Alguien aún se pregunta por qué nosotros y nuestros hijos somos gordos? Nota: una dieta de 2,000 calorías rica en nutrientes puede tener hasta 267 calorías discrecionales (eso es una barra de chocolate al día si tú no desperdicias ninguna caloría durante el resto del día). Nota: USAToday reporta que ¡un 10% de las calorías en la dieta americana provienen de los refrescos!
My son on the other hand, swims, bikes,rollerblades, skateboards and cub scout hikes when not running around the neighborhood or playground and his diet shows it, he’s not overweight just on a constant intake, like feeding a bottomless pit!
.-= MileHighdad´s last blog ..Cage Match =-.
MileHigh: I remember being a bottomless pit when I was a kid. Man, those were the days!
I’d be thrilled if I could get my son to 1,000 calories a day. He usually has a good breakfast (oatmeal w/ cottage cheese), a solid snack (yogurt) and the kid inhales fruit (blueberries and oranges being his favorite). Lunch is always touch and go, but lately dinner has been better. We try not to eat out and I’m usually making all of our food at home. I don’t buy anything prepackaged, so that cuts a lot of the unnecessary stuff there. I think we do ok, I just wish I could get three squares in him consistently.
.-= PJ Mullen´s last blog ..Brother and Sister =-.
PJ: You’re a cooking god so I doubt very much any of these stats apply to your family! I’d eat at your house any day.
Stunning figures Keith. Very eye opening though. I am glad we are mostly feeding Lukas very healthy meals. Thanks mostly to his mom for that.
.-= Seattledad (Luke, I am Your Father)´s last blog ..Waiting for Star Bucs in Seattle =-.
Austin: I always wonder how parents can let their kids eat so much crap. It’s tough to imagine because most of the people I know are reasonably food savvy and educated about nutrition (nobody’s perfect, but pretty good at least). But, I know these kids must exist because I see them all over the place. It’s just different social circles I guess. Bloggers, for the most part, are smarter than the average citizen. I think that’s why most of us scratch our heads at figures like these.
I think definitely our kids eat MORE than the Brits since their serving sizes are smaller. A can of soda there is only about 8 ounces, while here they’re 12. Even the candy bars are smaller! The bags of chips are sold in those small lunch pack sizes, here there are 3 servings per ‘small’ bag. That was one major thing I noticed while there. AND most sodas are made with cane sugar NOT HFCS. Not to mention the serving sizes of food there in restaurants.
This is very alarming, an increasing number of obese children means greater number of kids whose health are at risks. Parents should teach their children on how to eat and follow a healthy diet.
This is a great article! Kids are eating waaaaay to much junk food. Just so everyone here knows there are consumer protection statutes that people are using to sue food manufacturing companies for misleading advertising. If you want to learn more about the legal aspect of fighting the fight for healthy food, check out this article:
What Are Our Kids Eating?
http://thestudentappeal.com/article/what-are-our-children-eating