Overweight and Obese Children Eat Less Than Their Healthy Weight Peers

Proof there is no shortage of bad research re:fatsos.

A study on caloric intake in a large, nationwide population of children and adolescents has revealed the surprising finding that those who are clinically overweight and obese consume fewer calories than their healthy weight counterparts, beginning at around 7 years of age.

The study, which was presented here at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2010 Annual Meeting, was undertaken to clarify the inconsistencies in previous research on caloric intake and weight in children. Researchers have assumed that variation in caloric intake at different ages was the basis of the variation in weight, but this had not been explored.

"Our study provides the surprising finding that older overweight children report consuming fewer calories than their healthy weight peers. The finding indicates that intervention strategies solely targeting energy intake in older children may face difficulties," study presenter Asheley C. Skinner, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, Department of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, told Medscape Pediatrics.

Dietary reports of 12,316 children and adolescents from 1 to 17 years of age that had been complied as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 to 2006 were examined. The diet records were gathered using the Automated Multiple Pass Method (AMPM), a validated system of self-reported recall of the foods consumed in the previous 24 hours, and "the best available tool for reporting on a population basis," according to Dr. Skinner.

For children 5 years of age and younger, data were supplied by the parents. Both parents and child supplied information for the 6- to 11-year group, and those 12 to 17 years supplied their recollections. The AMPM is structured to provide ample opportunity to include initially overlooked daily diet information, Dr. Skinner pointed out.

"The subjective nature of self-reporting is always a limitation of studies such as this. But, the validity of AMPM for such reporting purposes has been documented. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in caloric intake among children close to age cut-offs, reducing the possibility of recall bias," Dr. Skinner explained.

Apparently these idiots missed the memo re: fat people lie about how much they eat. (e.g., see here.)

Apparently, Skinner also missed the part where parents can't even tell that they are fat and that their fat kids are fat, too.

Imagine how bad they must be at guessing how much too-much food their piglets consumed.

Fat person research - the career choice for people with s**t for brains.