Small changes in diet such as decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, eating lower-calorie cereal alternatives for breakfast or a green salad could help teens battle weight.
Cara Ebbeling and other researchers at Children's Hospital Boston evaluated 103 teens -- half were asked to pick non-caloric or low-caloric drinks they liked and a supply of them was delivered to their homes, reported the health portal Health Central.The other half were not asked for their favourite non-caloric drinks nor did they receive any. Over the 25-week study, the researchers found that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages dropped by 82 percent in the low-cal beverage group compared to the control group.
The low-cal choices included sugar-free sodas, non-caloric lemonade and ice tea, and bottled water.
When the researchers weighed the teens and re-measured their body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height), they found that heavier teens in the low-cal group lost about a pound a month.
The conclusions were reported in a recent issue of the journal Pediatrics.
The simple strategy comes at a time when many parents of teens are frustrated trying to help their overweight children. The rate of overweight children and teens between the ages 6 to 19 was 16 percent in 2002, triple the figure in 1980.
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Small changes like the one tried in the study can be effective approaches to weight loss, said Lona Sandon, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
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Other small steps can also offer big payoffs for teens who want to lose weight -- or simply control it, Sandon said.
Parents can offer a lower-calorie cereal alternative for breakfast, for instance. And they can be sure a green, leafy salad with low-fat dressing is available with lunch and dinner.
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