Study: Adults living with kids eat more fat
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Adults living with children tend to eat more fat than grown-ups in kid-free homes, consuming as much additional saturated fat each week as found in an individual-size pizza, a new study suggests.
It may not exactly be the kids’ fault, but household cupboards are more likely to be stocked with high-fat convenience foods such as cookies, cheese, peanuts and processed meats when children are around, the researchers said.
“These dietary choices may be due to time pressures, advertising aimed at children that also includes adults, or adults’ perception that children will eat only hot dogs or macaroni and cheese,” said study author Dr. Helena Laroche, who works in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Iowa College of Medicine.
“Once these foods are in the house, even if bought for the children, adults appear more likely to eat them,” she said.
Laroche cautioned that the report “doesn’t prove that the presence of children causes adults to eat more fat,” but shows that people living with children may have different eating habits for many reasons.
Laroche and University of Michigan researchers examined data from the federal government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The researchers scoured detailed food questionnaires given to 6,600 adults living with and without children under age 17. The survey reviewed what the adults ate over a 24-hour period.
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