With Kids, Unhealthy Habits "Hang Out" Together  

In a second GEMS study, CNRC researcher Dr. Russell Jago examined the relationship between young girls' dietary behavior and activity levels.

Jago used sensitive activity monitors to collect three days of physical activity data from two hundred 8- to 10-year-old African-American girls enrolled in the multi-center GEMS project. He then compared three measurements of physical activity recorded by the monitors to the girls' dietary recall records, which detailed their intake of fruits, vegetables, fat, calories, and sweetened beverages. The girls' heights, weights, age, and information related to their family's economic status were also collected.

"We found that the less active girls had diets that contained more fat,” said Jago, also an instructor in the department of pediatrics at Baylor, "While those who ate more carbohydrates were also more active."

Inactive girls also had higher BMI values, suggesting that physical activity helped to prevent weight gain. Jago's findings, as well as those from other GEMS researchers working at the CNRC, the University of Memphis, University of Minnesota and Stanford University, were recently published in a September supplement to the journal Obesity Research.  

Why girls who are less active tend to consume diets higher in fat is unclear.

"Perhaps girls who are more health-conscious in general also choose to be more active and select healthier diets," Jago said. "Or, perhaps high-fat diets make girls feel sluggish, which makes physical activity less attractive."

Editor's Note:

Jago's study was part of a multi-year NIH-sponsored project called the Girls Health Enrichment Multisite Studies (GEMS). GEMS is designed to identify effective ways to prevent excess weight gains among 8- to 10-year-old African-American girls, a group that appear particularly susceptible to weight problems during childhood.