Young people who make more than four meals a day are thinner
Scientists from the Institute of Science and Technology of Food and Nutrition (ICTAN), of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), ensure that certain healthy habits such as eating four times a day or at an adequate speed have a lower amount of body fat, independently of the sport they practice.
This is clear from the work published in the 'Journal of Adolescent Health', for which they measured the levels of fat (through the sum of six skinfolds and the abdominal perimeter) and physical activity of a total of 1,978 adolescents (1,017 girls) between 13 and 18 years old from Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Santander and Zaragoza.
The objective, as explained by Dr. Sonia Gómez Martínez, author of the work and researcher in the Department of Metabolism and Nutrition of ICTAN, was "to clarify what is the effect on obesity of dietary habits is necessary to study them in conjunction with other habits of life as physical activity ".
In this way, they observed that the boys measured and weighed more, besides having a bigger perimeter of the waist and eating faster during the meals. However, they added, the accumulated fat was lower in them.
Likewise, the authors observed how the beneficial influence that daily breakfast consumption has on obesity may be especially relevant in male adolescents who do not practice any physical activity, since those who skipped this meal showed the highest body fat values .
"With the results obtained, it has been shown that one in four girls and one in three Spanish boys are overweight or obese," says Gómez Martínez, in a statement to the Scientific Information and News Service (SINC).
However, only 18.5 percent of the boys did not practice any type of sport, compared to 48.5 percent of the girls.
NUTRITIONAL NEEDS OF ADOLESCENTS
Sexual maturation and the increase in height and weight are the characteristics that mark the nutritional needs of adolescents, who during this stage increase approximately 20 percent of the height they will have as an adult and 50 percent of their muscle and bone mass. .
These processes require a high amount of energy and nutrients, hence the food must be designed to cover the cost that originates. During adolescence, there are three minerals that have special importance: calcium, iron and zinc.
While calcium is essential in the growth of bone mass, iron intervenes in the development of blood tissues (red blood cells) and muscle tissue, and zinc in the development of bone and muscle mass. It is also related to hair and nail growth.
Therefore, among the daily recommendations for feeding adolescents is taking three or four cups of milk or yogurt to provide calcium, vitamin D and riboflavin; five or more servings of fruits or vegetables; two servings of lean protein foods; from six to eleven servings of cereals, pasta, rice and potatoes; and small amounts of foods rich in fat and sugar.
