Editor's Note: Food Pyramid Replaced
In June 2011, the USDA replaced the food pyramid with a new plate icon.
The study results were presented at the Pediatric Academic Sciences meeting in Seattle.
Plain and simple, kids are drinking too much fruit juice and whole milk and getting too much fat in their diet, says Cynthia Sass, RD, a nutritionist with the BayCare Healthy System in Clearwater, Fla., and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. She agreed to comment on the new findings.
"Fruit juice does have nutrients, but if children aren't exercising to burn off those calories, they just contribute to weight gain," she tells WebMD. "With milk, I think there might be some confusion. After age 2, children don't need whole milk. Low-fat milk has the same amount of calcium and protein -- just less fat."
In 1999, the ADA released a food pyramid specifically for children: 6 servings from the grain group, 2 from fruits, 3 from vegetables, 2 from milk, 2 from meat, and "less" fats. If children are drinking fruit juice plus eating fruit -- and who knows what else -- those extra calories become fat, she says.
The impact of obesity on children's overall lives is at stake. "Childhood obesity not only affects a child's self-esteem, it also is associated with multiple medical consequences," says lead researcher Teresa Quattrin, MD, professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo, in a news release.
"In fact, the incidence of type 2 diabetes in children has risen significantly in recent years, along with high prevalence of obesity," she says. "Children at risk of obesity must be identified very early, even at the preschool level."
A recent survey from the National Center for Health Statistics shows that from 1999 to 2000, 15% of children between the ages of 12-19 were overweight and 15% between the ages of 6-11 were overweight.
Childhood obesity is rising at an alarming rate, researchers say. Compared with children of normal weight, overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults -- with all the health problems linked with adult obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease.