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Cincinnati, OH, August 13, 2008—Dairy is recognized as a key component of a healthy, balanced diet. However, until recently it was unclear how long-term dairy intake contributes to the many aspects of bone health in children, including bone density, bone mineral content, and bone area. A new study soon to be published in The Journal of Pediatrics investigates the effect of childhood dairy intake on adolescent bone health.

Dr. Lynn Moore and colleagues from Boston University School of Medicine analyzed data from the Framingham Children’s Study in an effort to understand the relationship between childhood dairy intake and adolescent bone health. The researchers gathered information from 106 children, 3 to 5 years of age at the beginning of the study, over a 12-year period. The families enrolled in the study were given food diaries to complete for the child and were asked to record everything the child ate and drank for several days each year.

The researchers used these diaries, along with information from the United States Department of Agriculture, to calculate the children’s average daily intake of dairy and other foods. At the end of the 12-year period, the authors assessed the bone health of the now adolescent study participants. They found that the adolescents who had consumed 2 or more servings of dairy per day as children had higher levels of bone mineral content and bone density. Even after adjusting for factors that affect normal bone development, including the child’s growth, body size, and activity level, the authors found that these adolescents’ average bone mineral content was 175 grams higher than the adolescents who had consumed less than 2 servings of dairy per day.

The researchers also evaluated the combined effects of dairy and other foods consumed by the study participants. According to Dr. Moore, “Children who consumed 2 or more servings of dairy and 4 ounces of meat or other nondairy protein had bone mineral contents over 300 grams higher than those children with lower intakes of both dairy and other proteins.” The study highlights the importance of dairy intake throughout childhood, and Dr. Moore points out that “dairy is a key source of proteins, calcium, and other micronutrients including phosphorus and vitamin D.” Parents can promote healthy bone development during adolescence by making dairy a regular part of their child’s diet.

Source: Elsevier Health Sciences

Poor physical control and coordination in childhood are linked to an increased risk of obesity in later life, suggests a study published on BMJ.com today.

The research contributes to a growing body of evidence on the link between poorer cognitive function in childhood and obesity and type 2 diabetes in adults.

The findings are based on 11 042 individuals, who are part of the ongoing National Child Development Study in Great Britain, which began in 1958.

7990 participants were assessed by teachers at age 7 years to identify poor ability in hand control, coordination, and clumsiness, and 6875 were tested for hand control and coordination at age 11 by a doctor. Tests included copying a simple design to measure accuracy, marking squares on paper within a minute, and the time in seconds it took to pick up 20 matches.

At age 33 body mass index (BMI) was measured. Obesity was defined as a BMI of 30 or over.

The analysis showed that at age 7 years poor hand control, poor coordination, and clumsiness occurred more often among individuals who would be obese adults. In addition, poorer function at age 11 was associated with obesity at age 33.

These findings held true after adjusting for factors likely to influence the results, such as childhood body mass and family social class.

The study did not look at the specific biological processes linking poorer physical control and coordination in childhood with later obesity.

“Some early life exposures [such as maternal smoking during pregnancy] or personal characteristics may impair the development of physical control and coordination, as well as increasing the risk of obesity in later life”, say the authors.

“Rather than being explained by a single factor, an accumulation throughout life of many associated cultural, personal, and economic exposures is likely to underlie the risks for obesity and some elements of associated neurological function”, they conclude.

Source: BMJ-British Medical Journal

“We know that parents have tremendous influence over how many fruits and vegetables their children eat,” says Debra Haire-Joshu, Ph.D., a professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. “When parents eat more fruits and vegetables, so do their children. When parents eat and give their children high fat snacks or soft drinks, children learn these eating patterns instead.”

Haire-Joshu and researchers at Saint Louis University School of Public Health tested a program that taught parents in their homes how to provide preschool children easy access to more fruits and vegetables and examined whether changes in what the parents ate affected what their children consumed. The study was published in the July issue of the journal Preventive Medicine.

“This research shows that it’s important to communicate with parents in real world settings,” Haire-Joshu says. “They control the food environment for their young child. This environment is key to not only what children eat today but how they will eat in the future.”

Past research has shown that diets high in fruits and vegetables are associated with a lower risk of obesity. Previous studies also have established that children learn to like and eat vegetables at a young age — before they turn five years old.

In this five-year study in rural, southeast Missouri, 1,306 parents and children between the ages of two and five participating in Parents As Teachers, a national parent education program, were randomly assigned to two groups. One group enrolled in the High 5 for Kids program, and the other group received standard visits from Parents as Teachers. In the High 5 for Kids group, parents first completed a pretest interview about fruit and vegetable consumption.

Parent educators then visited the home four times, providing examples of parent-child activities designed around nutrition, such as teaching the child the names and colors of various fruits and vegetables and having the child select a variety of fruits and vegetables for breakfast. At each visit, parents also received materials and informational handouts with suggestions for improving feeding practices and the food environment in the home. Many of these materials were tailored to the individual patterns of that parent, with suggestions for how to improve his or her specific intake and that of their child.

Additionally, children were given four High 5 for Kids sing-along-stories with audiocassettes and coloring books.

The same parent interviewed before the intervention completed a telephone survey to determine changes in the number of fruits and vegetables eaten and behaviors of both the preschool children and parent. The average time between the before and after intervention survey was seven months.

Parents in the High 5 for Kids group ate significantly more fruits and vegetables, and a change in the parent’s servings of fruits and vegetables predicted a change in the child’s diet, too. An increase of one fruit or vegetable serving per day in a parent was associated with an increase of half a fruit or vegetable serving per day in his or her child. These parents also reported an increase in fruit and vegetable knowledge and availability of fruits and vegetables in the home.

Although the High 5 for Kids program was effective in improving fruit and vegetable intake in children of normal weight, overweight children in this group did not eat more of these foods. “Overweight children have already been exposed to salty, sweet foods and learned to like them,” says Haire-Joshu, who also holds an appointment at the School of Medicine as a professor. “To keep a child from becoming overweight, parents need to expose them early to a variety of healthy foods and offer the foods many times.”

Haire-Joshu says many children today are taught patterns that lead to obesity. “We want families to provide their child with an environment in which they not only learn how to eat healthy but have the opportunity to practice what they learn,” she says. “And by partnering with Parents As Teachers, we now can disseminate this program to their sites nationwide. This further impacts healthy eating patterns in parents and their preschool children.”

Source: Washington University in St. Louis