Study Links Eating Veggies, Healthier Body Weight

In the food-fight brewing over kids growing waistlines, the guys in 'white hats' might very well be green….and red…..and yellow….and orange, say CNRC scientists.

"The strongest link between diet and healthy body weight in our study of young African-American girls was the number of servings of vegetables consumed each day," said
Dr. Karen Cullen, a CNRC behavioral scientist. "The more vegetables, other than French fries, a girl reported eating, the more likely she was to be at a healthier weight."

Other studies have shown a similar relationship betweenand fruit intake and healthier weights in children.

Cullen's study was part of a multi-year NIH-sponsored project called the Girls Health Enrichment Multisite Studies (GEMS). GEMS is designed to identify effective ways to prevent excess weight gains among 8- to 10-year-old African-American girls, a group that appear particularly susceptible to weight problems during childhood. Cullen's findings, as well as those from other GEMS researchers working at the CNRC, the University of Memphis, University of Minnesota and Stanford University, were recently published in a September supplement to the journal Obesity Research.  

"Vegetables and fruit tend to be low in calories but high in fiber," said Cullen, also an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston . "This one-two punch means that kids who regularly choose vegetables and fruits instead of higher calorie foods can 'fill up' on fewer calories, which in turn, can make it easier for them to maintain a healthy weight with little effort."

For her study, Cullen compared the height and weight (BMI) measurements of 114 girls enrolled in GEMS to the girls' dietary recall records and to dietary questionnaires completed by the girls and their parents.

In addition to the link between vegetable consumption and body weight, Cullen also found that the girls who ate more meals and snacks consumed more calories each day, and that those who snacked more often consumed more sweetened beverages like soda, fruit drinks, and sweet tea. She also noted that parents who practiced more fat-lowering food preparation techniques, such as removing the skin from chicken, choosing lower-fat foods, and baking rather than frying foods, had daughters with fat intakes closer to recommended levels.

"This research suggests that adopting simple healthy habits, like eating more fruits and vegetables, choosing wiser snacks, and reducing fat in meal preparation, can help keep kids' weight gains in check," she said.