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High-fiber, low-fat food habits mean better nutrition for teens
Few teens have eating habits that mirror U.S. dietary recommendations
for fat and fiber. But, those who do have more nutritious
diets overall, according to research in the February on-line issue
of the Journal of Pediatrics.
"Teens whose diets were rich in fiber and low in total fat consumed
more vitamins and minerals and less total cholesterol and saturated
fat than their peers," said Dr. Theresa Nicklas, a nutritionist
with the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor
College of Medicine. The diet's nutritional advantage included more
iron, zinc, calcium, folate, and vitamin C, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin,
magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins A, B6, and B12.
To assess eating habits, hundreds of 15-year-old students were
asked to recall what they had eaten in the prior 24-hours.
Reports from 319 teens fell into one of four eating patterns, high-fat/high-fiber,
high-fat/low-fiber, low-fat/low-fiber, and low-fat/high-fiber.
These were further analyzed for nutritional content.
Food reports classified "low-fat" met the U.S. dietary recommendation
that fat provide no more than 30 percent of total daily energy,
while "high-fat" diets had levels of 40 percent or more. "High-fiber"
diets provided at least 20 grams of fiber and met the "age plus
five" recommendation for this age group. The age plus 5 recommendation
is five grams of fiber plus one gram per year of life through age
20. "Low fiber" diets contained 15 grams or less.
According to Nicklas, although the low-fat/high-fiber diets provided
higher levels of nutrients, the energy level was about the same
as those from most other groups.
"This eases concern that low-fat, high-fiber diets might be too
low in energy for growing teens, and that those who choose this
eating pattern are overly calorie conscious," said Nicklas, a Baylor
professor of pediatrics. A low-fat, high-fiber diet is recommended
for all Americans over the age of 2 to reduce cardiovascular disease
and cancer risk.
Individuals who met the dietary recommendations for fat and fiber
eat more whole-grain breads and ready-to-eat cereals, fruit, salads,
beans, vegetables, smaller portions and leaner cuts of meat, skinless
poultry, low-fat dairy products, and few fried and high-fat foods.
Yet, despite the nutritional and disease-preventing advantages
of a low-fat/high-fiber diet, only one-third of the 319 students
in the study had this eating pattern, including just nine percent
of those from non-white teens.
"We know that low-fat, high-fiber diets are healthier.
Now, we need to do a better job of helping teens make appropriate
food choices, such as opting to snack on fruit and vegetables instead
of munching on low-fiber, high-fat treats," Nicklas said.
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