By . Alexandra Klausner . PUBLISHED: . 20:13 EST, 15 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 08:37 EST, 16 January 2014 . Fast food is not to blame for childhood obesity, poor eating habits learned in children's home are, says a new study conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study entitled, 'The Association of Fast Food Consumption with Poor Dietary Outcomes and Obesity Among Children: is it The Fast Food of the Remainder of the Diet?' was lead by Barry Popkin, the W.R Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at UNC's Gillings School of Public Health and was publsihed in the latest issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers for the study found that while fast food does contribute to unhealthy children, the main culprit for childhood obesity is learned dietary habits children observe at home. Science Daily reports that the poor eating patterns consist of drinking sugary drinks and eating processed foods as oppose to eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Even though fast food is unhealthy and contributes to childhood obesity, eating healthy is a learned skill that starts in the home . The UNC School of Public health researched the relationship between a fast food diet and calories gained elsewhere and found that children also eat unhealthily at school and at home . Not only are these bad habits observed at home, they are enforced in schools that lack healthy food options. 'This is really what is driving children's obesity,' said Popkin. 'Eating fast foods is just one behavior that results from those bad habits. Just because children who eat more fast food are the most likely to become obese does not prove that calories from fast foods bear the brunt of the blame.' The study observed data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Survey between 2007 and 2010. Researchers looked at the diets of 4,466 children aged 2-18. They looked at whether they ate at fast food restaurants or if they ate somewhere else. The children were then placed in groups based on how much calorie intake they consumed from fast food restaurants. 50 per cent of the children were non consumers of fast food. 40 per cent were low consumers who gained 30 per cent of their calorie intake from fast foods. 10 per cent of the children were high consumers who gained more than 30 per cent of their calories from fast food. The study was lead by Barry Popkin, the the W.R Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at UNC's Gillings School of Public Health . Kids learn from their parents: Children often eat a diet low in fruits and vegetables because their parents don't take the time to cook healthy meals for them . After separtaing the children into groups and observing their calrie intake, researchers attempted to discover what aspects of childrens diets made them more susceptible to childhood obesity and why. What they found was that health goes beyond where children eat, it's why they eat there, and what sorts of eating habits they observe in their families. 'The study presented strong evidence that the children's diet beyond fast- food consumption is more strongly linked to poor nutrition and obesity,' said Jennifer Poti, doctoral candidate in UNC's Department of Nutrition and co-author of the study. 'While reducing fast-food intake is important, the rest of a child's diet should not be overlooked.' Furthermore, Popkin said that taking the time to enforce healthy eating habits from a young age will lead children to become healthier adults. 'Children who rely on fast foods may tend to have parents who do not have the means, desire or time to purchase or prepare healthy foods at home,' Popkin said. 'This is really what is driving children's obesity and what needs to be addressed in any solution.' According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity has more than doubled in Children and more than tripled in adolescents in the last 30 years. The CDC's tips on obesity prevention supports the importance of families and schools in impacting children's dietary decisions. They say that, 'The dietary and physical activity behaviors of children and adolescents are influenced by many sectors of society, including families, communities, schools, child care settings, medical care providers, faith-based institutions, government agencies, the media, and the food and beverage industries and entertainment industries.' Childhood obesity is on the rise and parents are the ones to blame .
A study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that poor eating habits linked to obesity are learned in children's homes .
Fast food does contribute to obesity as does diets low in vegetable and high in preservatives served at home and at schools .
Some parents don't take the time to cook healthy meals for their children, and this leads to poor dietary decisions later in life .
By . Alexandra Klausner . PUBLISHED: . 20:13 EST, 15 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 08:37 EST, 16 January 2014 . Fast food is not to blame for childhood obesity, poor eating habits learned in children's home are, says a new study conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study entitled, 'The Association of Fast Food Consumption with Poor Dietary Outcomes and Obesity Among Children: is it The Fast Food of the Remainder of the Diet?' was lead by Barry Popkin, the W.R Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at UNC's Gillings School of Public Health and was publsihed in the latest issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers for the study found that while fast food does contribute to unhealthy children, the main culprit for childhood obesity is learned dietary habits children observe at home. Science Daily reports that the poor eating patterns consist of drinking sugary drinks and eating processed foods as oppose to eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Even though fast food is unhealthy and contributes to childhood obesity, eating healthy is a learned skill that starts in the home . The UNC School of Public health researched the relationship between a fast food diet and calories gained elsewhere and found that children also eat unhealthily at school and at home . Not only are these bad habits observed at home, they are enforced in schools that lack healthy food options. 'This is really what is driving children's obesity,' said Popkin. 'Eating fast foods is just one behavior that results from those bad habits. Just because children who eat more fast food are the most likely to become obese does not prove that calories from fast foods bear the brunt of the blame.' The study observed data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Survey between 2007 and 2010. Researchers looked at the diets of 4,466 children aged 2-18. They looked at whether they ate at fast food restaurants or if they ate somewhere else. The children were then placed in groups based on how much calorie intake they consumed from fast food restaurants. 50 per cent of the children were non consumers of fast food. 40 per cent were low consumers who gained 30 per cent of their calorie intake from fast foods. 10 per cent of the children were high consumers who gained more than 30 per cent of their calories from fast food. The study was lead by Barry Popkin, the the W.R Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at UNC's Gillings School of Public Health . Kids learn from their parents: Children often eat a diet low in fruits and vegetables because their parents don't take the time to cook healthy meals for them . After separtaing the children into groups and observing their calrie intake, researchers attempted to discover what aspects of childrens diets made them more susceptible to childhood obesity and why. What they found was that health goes beyond where children eat, it's why they eat there, and what sorts of eating habits they observe in their families. 'The study presented strong evidence that the children's diet beyond fast- food consumption is more strongly linked to poor nutrition and obesity,' said Jennifer Poti, doctoral candidate in UNC's Department of Nutrition and co-author of the study. 'While reducing fast-food intake is important, the rest of a child's diet should not be overlooked.' Furthermore, Popkin said that taking the time to enforce healthy eating habits from a young age will lead children to become healthier adults. 'Children who rely on fast foods may tend to have parents who do not have the means, desire or time to purchase or prepare healthy foods at home,' Popkin said. 'This is really what is driving children's obesity and what needs to be addressed in any solution.' According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity has more than doubled in Children and more than tripled in adolescents in the last 30 years. The CDC's tips on obesity prevention supports the importance of families and schools in impacting children's dietary decisions. They say that, 'The dietary and physical activity behaviors of children and adolescents are influenced by many sectors of society, including families, communities, schools, child care settings, medical care providers, faith-based institutions, government agencies, the media, and the food and beverage industries and entertainment industries.' Childhood obesity is on the rise and parents are the ones to blame .
childhood obesity, poor eating habits learned in children's home are, says a new study conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel food does contribute to unhealthy children, the because their parents don't take the time to cook healthy meals for them . After separtaing the consumption is more strongly linked to poor dietary decisions. They say that, 'The dietary