The war on childhood obesity has settled on a new target: pizza. According to a new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics, children and adolescents consume more calories on the days they eat pizza.
Studying 12,000 children over a seven-year period, the study discovered that children ages 2 to 11 consume an average of 84 more calories on the days they eat pizza. Adolescents consume 230 more calories on the days they eat pizza. And across the board, those calories consist of more sodium and saturated fat.
According to lead author Lisa Powell, a PhD at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the problem is that children don't adjust their caloric intake during other meals on the days when they eat pizza. To combat this effect, Powell suggests that parents avoid using pizza as a snack, and encourage their children to pair a slice with a side salad instead of eating multiple slices.
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