Diet as infant has lasting effects; low carbs for lower weight?
A series of 11 nutritional studies published in the journal Pediatrics indicate that dietary preferences are determined during infancy, says the New York Times. It says researchers compared the diets of 1,500 six-year-olds to their food patterns during their first year. Says the Times story: “(W)hen infants had infrequent consumption of fruits and vegetables, they also had infrequent consumption at 6,” said Kelley Scanlon, an epidemiologist at the CDC. and the senior author of a few of the new studies. Because of that, the researchers said it was best to introduce children to fruit and vegetables by late infancy.
Also in the New York Times is a story that a new study shows “people who avoid carbohydrates and eat more fat, lose more body fat and have fewer cardiovascular risks than people who follow (a) low-fat diet.” The one-year study of 150 men and women, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, split participants into two groups, one that limited the amount of carbohydrates or the amount of fat they could eat, but with no limit on overall calories. A scientist not affiliated with the study said the research has value because it is easier for people to change what they eat than to comply with caloric restrictions.