strongernow
09-17-2004, 07:23 PM
Diets improve with maturity, 20-year eating survey shows
JOHN INNES
ADULTS eat around twice the amount of fruit and vegetables and less fat and sugar than they did as children, according to a study.
Nutritionists at Newcastle University found that most people’s diets get healthier from childhood to young adulthood.
They examined the food consumption of 200 Northumberland schoolchildren aged 11 and 12, then revisited the same people 20 years later in their early 30s.
On both occasions, participants kept detailed food diaries and were also questioned about their diets and the factors which influenced what they ate. The findings were published in the academic journal Appetite.
Neil Nevens, a policeman, took part in the study, which showed a stark contrast between his breakfast as a schoolboy and that as a working adult. While he used to load his cereal with sugar and ate sweets before school, he now accompanies it with a banana.
He said: "As a kid I didn’t often have breakfast. Now I’m a parent myself, I want to make sure my kids eat healthily. I think we have a better choice of foods nowadays, and my diet is more varied as a result."
Those who took part in the survey said their food intake was influenced by their families, work pattern and the amount of time they could spend on cooking.
JOHN INNES
ADULTS eat around twice the amount of fruit and vegetables and less fat and sugar than they did as children, according to a study.
Nutritionists at Newcastle University found that most people’s diets get healthier from childhood to young adulthood.
They examined the food consumption of 200 Northumberland schoolchildren aged 11 and 12, then revisited the same people 20 years later in their early 30s.
On both occasions, participants kept detailed food diaries and were also questioned about their diets and the factors which influenced what they ate. The findings were published in the academic journal Appetite.
Neil Nevens, a policeman, took part in the study, which showed a stark contrast between his breakfast as a schoolboy and that as a working adult. While he used to load his cereal with sugar and ate sweets before school, he now accompanies it with a banana.
He said: "As a kid I didn’t often have breakfast. Now I’m a parent myself, I want to make sure my kids eat healthily. I think we have a better choice of foods nowadays, and my diet is more varied as a result."
Those who took part in the survey said their food intake was influenced by their families, work pattern and the amount of time they could spend on cooking.