Pizza Targeted As Ruining Children’s Diets

Pizza has been targeted as ruining children’s diets, according to a study published online on Monday. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago found that many kids are eating too much pizza and consuming excessive calories from it.

“There are a bunch of takeaways from the study. But the biggest thing is that parents are serving their kids too much pizza,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr. William Dietz.

The study was based upon data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The data tracked the diets of more than 11,000 children and teenagers. The researchers parsed how many children eat pizza, how often they do it, and how much they eat.

The researchers found pizza impeded children’s diets as the second leading source of calories. The leading source was grain desserts such as cookies, doughnuts, and cakes.

On days when children eat pizza, they consume an average of 84 extra calories. They also consume three more grams of fat and 134 additional milligrams of salt compared to days where they don’t eat this particular food. These numbers were even higher for teenagers, translating to an additional 230 calories, five grams of salt, and 484 milligrams of salt.

Pizza contributes to childhood obesity because the food is consumed so often. Twenty-two percent of children between the ages of six and 19 eat pizza on any given day as compared to 14 percent of toddlers and 13 percent of Americans as a whole.

The calorie source is especially problematic for children and teenagers because they don’t balance out pizza slices with vegetables or healthier foods.

The data reflects pizza consumption in 2009 and 2010. Pizza consumption was 25 percent higher between 2003 and 2004, indicating healthier eating in current trends.

Pizza holds appeal to consumers because it’s convenient, cheap, and makes for good leftovers. Dietz suggests that parents serve their children smaller sizes and add healthier toppings.

Dietz explained, “We’re not suggesting that kids avoid pizza altogether. But when parents serve it it’s important that they understand it’s extremely caloric.”

The study targeting pizza as ruining children’s diets was published by the journal Pediatrics.

[Photo Credit: Vincent Lim Show Chen]

Pizza Targeted As Ruining Children’s Diets