Snacks and junk food are everywhere, even hardware stores and pet shops have candy and salty snacks up by the cash registers.
So now experts think all this easy access to food and snacking could spur “constant eating” in young children.
Writing in the journal Health Affairs, researchers claim 27% of calories that American kids eat come from snacks; mostly salty foods, candy, desserts, and sweetened beverages.
The scientists say children’s caloric intake has increased by 113 calories per day from 1977 and 2006 – basically a can of soda.
All this snacking may lead to constant eating, which refers to the “physiological basis” for eating is becoming upset and kids confusing when to and when not to eat.
This compulsion, coupled with inactivity, will continue to fuel rising obesity rates. So U.S. health officials have urged food producers to improve the nutritional quality of their products.
And parents to become better educated about nutrition and to encourage their kids to exercise more.
Via Reuters.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
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Three U.S. agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Centers for Disease Control are looking to 
