Natalie the Nutritionist in Tempe AZ

Who will win? Adults or Kids

My favorite type of news to read is health news. I’m sure you probably could’ve guessed that  But, simply keeping up on the current health happenings can be complicated and overwhelming.

When I was catching up on some fast food & obesity studies that were showcased in the New York Times, I came up with a great idea for a little health competition. Read on . . .

In June of this year the New York Times published some statistics on health trends. One article focused on children’s health trends. The other article focused on adults’ health trends.

But before you take a look at the following comparison I put together, see if you can make any predictions. Let’s make this a family affair. Go get your kids from the other room. I’ll wait . . . and see if your children can try to make some better predictions than you.

Parents & Children, Welcome to the Face Off!

Who is Healthier & Smarter?

Make your predictions first:

1.) Who has been getting more fruits and veggies into their diet? Adults? or Kids?

2.) Who has been slacking because they have been eating less fruits and veggies than they used to? Adults? or Kids?

3.) Who has been making healthier beverage choices this past year than they have ever made before? Adults? or Kids?

4.) Who has been consuming more before & after-dinner-drinks than in previous years? (I guess this one is a ‘give-away’ because we aren’t gonna even touch the topic of underage drinking here.)

5.) Who have been seen to take steps to fight obesity? (One example is by choosing the healthier options on fast food menus) Adults? or Kids?

6.) Who has seen an overall rise in obesity? (One reason is a decrease in exercise) Adults? or Kids?

Let's See Who Wins!

O.k. – No Cheating!

Only read on after answering all 6 questions!

The NY Times article on adults highlights data gathered over the past 20 years on 40-74 year olds by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. So, one big difference between this study and the children’s study is that heart disease research was the purpose for the adult study.

The NY Times article on children highlights data gathered by Chicago based NPD Group over many years from 500 teenagers and 3,500 households.  Another difference between the studies is that the purpose for the children’s study was to research consumer trends.

Nonetheless, take a look at how the Adults stack up next to the Kids:

1.) Kids are still going to fast food restaurants, but when they do, they have been getting more fruits and veggies into their diet. Here’s how much. The amount of fruit has gone up 6%; carrots has gone up 9%; yogurt has gone up 21%; grilled chicken sandwiches have gone up 26%; and soup has gone up 29%. If kids order the healthier menu items, that means the unhealthy items haven’t been purchased as much. Hot dogs were purchased 6% less; french fries 7% less; chicken nuggets & strips 8% less; and colas were purchased 10% less.

2.) Adults: over the last 20 years, the share of Americans age 40-74 who eat five fruits and vegetables a day has dropped to 26% from 42%.

3.) Kids: in the past year, like I said, fast food restaurants saw a drop in cola consumption. Instead, kids have been making more healthy choices with milk.

4.) Adults: the NHLBI study found that moderate drinking – roughly one drink a day for women, two for  men – increased to 51% from 40%, even as the number of abstainers went down, to 40% from 51%.

5.) The NPD Group came to a possible conclusion that children’s healthier choices were spurred by the current recession. Take these examples. Orders for kids’ meals that included a toy were down 11% last year while “value menu” orders were up 9%. The fact that children’s orders for cold-cut sandwiches are up 11% could be due to Subway’s “thrifty” $5 footlong promotion. And, after more than three years of growth, restaurant birthday parties for children dropped 5% this year compared to last year. Nonetheless, it is the kids who are winning by making healthier choices to ward off obesity.

6.) For adults, the obesity rate increased to 36% from 28%. And 43% of Americans said they worked out at least 30 minutes three times a week, which is an amount that is down by half, compared to previous years.

Thanks for competing in the Nutrition Face Off!

Kids, it sounds like there’s a lot you can show the adults, so keep up the good work! I am sure there’s a lot you can tell the adults too, and you can feel free to do it here. Make some comments & tell the world what You are doing right now to make yourself healthier!

Adults, even if we might be a little bit behind in our health, wherever we are is a great place to start! It is more difficult to try to fit new habits into a full-time working schedule now than it was when we were younger, so we need to make sure to reach out and get the support we need. Post your comments here about your struggles and your results.