Diet, not physical activity, plays a major role in childhood obesity – Researchers reveal

Obesity in children is increasing at an alarming rate. According to the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, the obesity rate among children and adolescents has increased from 4 percent in 1975 to 18 percent in 2016. In India, nearly 14.4 million children are obese, which places the country of origin with the second largest number of obese children in the world (after China). This increase in obesity has become a major concern around the world today. According to health experts and nutritionists, an unhealthy lifestyle, including a fast food diet and lack of exercise, are to blame for this lifestyle-related disease. Both factors are said to play an equally important role in obesity.

However, a recent study found that it is diet change and not exercise that plays an important role in increasing body fat in children. Conducted by Baylor University, this study provides insight into this global epidemic. According to the study, “variation in consumption of foods bought in the market outside of the traditional diet, but not in the total number of calories burned daily” is reliably linked to body fat. The results were published in The Journal of Nutrition.

The researchers collected data on 43 rural and 34 peri-urban school children. The data was based on their diet and energy expenditure.

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According to the report, the result of the study indicated:

• Peri-urban children (65% on average) had more body fat than rural children, with more than a third of peri-urban children classified as overweight versus zero rural children.
• Peri-urban children consume more than four times as many items purchased from the market as rural children.
• Peri-urban and rural children have similar levels of physical activity.
• Peri-urban children burn 108 calories less per day than rural children at rest. This is in part linked to lower immune activity levels of 16-47%.
• Measures of market integration, immune activity, and physical activity have no detectable impact on children’s overall energy expenditure, with peri-urban and rural children spending roughly the same number of calories .
• Variation in the consumption of market foods, but not in daily energy expenditure, is related to children’s body fat.

“Our results support a growing body of research indicating that a poor diet is the most important factor underlying the development of childhood obesity,” said Samuel Urlacher, Ph.D., assistant professor. Anthropology at Baylor University, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar and lead author of the study.

The researchers further stated that exercise is an essential part of a healthy life. But diet seems more and more directly linked to long-term energy balance.