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

Ironically, salt is put into a lot of food to increase self life by decreasing spoilage, which reduces waste, and saves money.

But cutting salt out of Americans’ diets could save $24 billion in healthcare costs each year.

It boils down to preventing heart disease.

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that removing just three grams of salt per day would lower the number of heart disease cases in the U.S. by 11%.

When you break it down, results show heart attacks will be cut by 13%, stroke 8%, and the number of deaths by 4%.

The problem is a lot of this salt is being consumed as additives to food, not from the salt shaker, so food producers need to make the biggest changes.

Via Food Navigator.

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Spreading caviar on fancy crackers might come back to haunt you.

Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, experts found salted foods have an impact on cancer risk.

Among the 77,500 Japanese men and women studied—ages 45 to 74—4,476 cases of cancer were diagnosed; mostly gastric and colorectal cancer.

Oddly, salt itself was not associated with cancer risk, but rather salted foods, like fish roe (caviar).

Researchers say heavy consumption of dried or salted fish was linked to a higher risk of gastric and colorectal cancer.

This may be caused by the build up of carcinogens in salty found due to nitrates or nitrite preservatives.

Via Food Navigator.

Image credit: The Telegraph.

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 ban junk food marketing targeted to children.

The proposal is aimed at foods with more than 1 gram of saturated fat or more than half a gram of trans fat per serving, 13 grams of added sugar, or 200 milligrams of sodium.

A spokesperson for the group says U.S. government agencies need to do a better job regulating marketing seen by children, and the proposed ban would simply “supervise” food producers.

Some food producers have already reworked their products to take health concerns into account, such as Froot Loops and Cocoa Puffs, which both started to reduce the amount of sugar in foods advertised to children.

But not everyone thinks it’s a good idea. The Association of National Advertisers insists advertisers are not responsible for the increasing number of overweight and obese children. So marketers feel as if they are being punished and being censored.

Via Reuters.

Image credit: Integral Elementary

You remember the mashed potatoes plopped onto your tray with an ice scream scoop and endless piles of tater tots, right?

That’s the school lunch most of us know, and that’s not going to cut it anymore.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) says meals need more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and less salt. Plus more skim and low-fat milk.

An IOM committee was formed to make recommendations to the government to help revise current school lunch programs.

Ultimately the IOM’s suggestions will be made into regulations, and schools will be required to adhere to them or risk not getting reimbursed for school meals.

The IOM’s major recommendations include reducing sodium in school lunches to 740 milligrams, today’s average is 1,600 milligrams; meals must contain one cup of fruit and three-quarters to one whole cup of vegetables; half of all breads and pasta should be whole grain; milk should only be skim or 1%; and meat limited to only two ounces.

But money is a major issue. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains cost more than potato flakes, churros, and cheese burgers under heat lamps.

Via HealthDay News.

Image credit: USA Today