Study finds changing diets, not less physical activity, may best explain childhood obesity crisis ANI | Updated: Jan 18, 2021 07:43 IST
Washington [US], January 18 (ANI): Variation in consumption of market-acquired foods outside of a traditional diet but not in total calories burned daily is reliably related to indigenous Amazonian children s body fat, according to a new study.
The study which was led by researchers at Baylor University offers insight into the global obesity epidemic. The importance of a poor diet versus low energy expenditure on the development of childhood obesity remains unclear, said Samuel Urlacher, PhD, assistant professor of anthropology at Baylor University, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar and lead author of the study.
Changing Diets May be the Reason for Childhood Obesity by Angela Mohan on January 18, 2021 at 3:32 PM
Changes in taking market-acquired foods outside the traditional diet, but not total calories burned daily is related to indigenous Amazonian children s body fat, according to a Baylor University study. The importance of a poor diet versus low energy expenditure on the development of childhood obesity remains unclear, said Samuel Urlacher, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology at Baylor University, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar and lead author of the study. Using gold-standard measures of energy expenditure, we show that relatively lean, rural forager-horticulturalist children in the Amazon spend approximately the same total number of calories each day as their much fatter peri-urban counterparts and, notably, even the same number of calories each day as children living in the industrialized United States.
Variation in consumption of market-acquired foods outside of the traditional diet but not in total calories burned daily is reliably related to indigenous Amazonian children's body fat, according to a Baylor University study that offers insight into the global obesity epidemic.