A recent study shows how much and what fruits US kids are eating on a daily basis. Apparently, the most beloved fruit in their diet is the apple. Let’s find out why this fruit is the most popular among US kids.
The study published in the Journal of Pediatrics concluded that apples represent 18.9% of the total fruit consumption of kids between 2 and 19. Making the fruit by far the leading candidate. The belief that apples are an essential part of any diet is proved once again.
The team of researchers who were in charge with the study believe that kids choose apples instead of other fruits because they are easier to find and they just taste sweet enough. Researchers suggest parents this trend should continue because apples contain a bundle of vitamins and nutrients essential to the child’s growth, also as much as 5 grams per fruit. Fiber is indispensable for growing bodies because it prevents intestinal diseases and it also helps regulating insulin levels. Even more importantly, considering the US population’s weight problem, apples only have about 45-80 calories and no fat and sodium whatsoever. That makes the apple one of the healthiest fruits a kid can get.
The team of researchers have examined nearly 3000 test responses from children and teenagers of a 2011 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Survey. Turns out that nearly half of the total fruit intake of American kids today consists of apples, bananas and fruit juices.
The study also found that US kids eat an average of 1.25 servings of apples a day, that means they are comfortably sitting within the recommended green region of one to two apple servings a day.
If there is bad news about the study’s findings is that it showed only 54% of the children eat whole fruits, whereas the rest prefer fruit juices. Eva Almiron-Roig of MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge, United Kingdom, stated that young children can find it difficult to chew certain harder fruits.
Previous studies showed that including whole fruits in your diet makes you healthier. Moreover, certain researches found that there are possible negative consequences if one chooses to mix fruit or fruit juices with other things, such as sugar, fat, and sodium. In this combination, the fruit will lose a large part of its valuable nutrients that they otherwise would offer to humans. The study’s author said that the majority of sodas may contribute to excessive caloric intake.
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables is an essential part of a well-balanced diet.
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