Pizza is the most favorite junk item among all the fast foods for almost everyone, especially children. It is one of the most popular junk food among American kids.
A new study has poised serious questions about the impact of pizza of children’s health.
There are several previous studies that have revealed that children are more fascinated towards this junk delicacy than the adults. But many health experts have expressed their concerns about this food and therefore have always advised the parents to keep a check on their children’s consumption.
Study researcher Lisa Powell, from the University of Illinois, and her colleagues conducted a new study involving children and teens between 2 and 19-year-old and analyzed the data about their diets with the help of questionnaires from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which were completed every two years between 2003 and 2010.
During the study, it was found that the calories intake by the children from pizza has declined by 25 percent between 2003 and 2010. Despite this drop, the condition is worrisome for the researchers as the junk food was found to be very common part of the kid’s diet with nearly 20 percent of children and teens eating pizza at any given day.
During the study period, the researchers found that during the days when the kids ate pizza, they end up consuming high amount of saturated fat, more calories and more salt overall.
According to the researchers, the children consumed nearly 230 more calories and 484 milligrams of sodium after eating pizza. Younger kids consumed nearly 84 more calories and 134 milligrams of sodium in comparison to the general days when they do not eat pizza.
The high consumption of calorie, salt and saturated fat could cause unwanted health problems like obesity and heart disease, which has turned very prevalent among American kids.
Concluding the study, Powell said, “This is not saying don’t eat pizza. It’s a nice opportunity for us to make some small changes because it’s such a prevalent item in children’s diets. Hopefully we can make healthy pizza the norm.”
The study’s findings were published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
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