Regular take away meals linked to higher body and blood fats in kids

Children who eat restaurant carry-out, or takeaway meals once a week or more tend to have extra body fat and long-term risk factors for heart disease, suggests a UK study.

In the study of 9- and 10-year-olds, the kids who ate carry-out most often also consumed more calories but fewer vitamins and minerals compared with kids who rarely or never ate carry-out food, the authors report in Archives of Disease in Childhood, online December 14.

“Frequent consumption of takeaway foods could potentially be increasing children’s risk of future coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes by increasing their LDL cholesterol and body fat," lead author Angela Donin told Reuters Health in an email.

“Takeaway outlets are increasing, as is consumption with more than half of teenagers reporting eating takeaways at least twice a week," said Donin, a researcher at St. George’s, University of London.

In adults, regular consumption of carry-out meals is associated with higher risk of obesity, coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes, but little is known about the effects it may be having on children’s health, Donin said.

“We, therefore, wanted to see how much takeaway food children were eating and...