http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2647748

'Put Fat Children on Atkins Diet'

By PA News reporter


Overweight children should be put on Atkins-style diets to lose weight and prevent life-threatening diseases, a cancer specialist claimed today.

Professor Julian Peto, from the Institute of Cancer Research, believes high protein, low carbohydrate diets could be the solution to the country’s soaring obesity problem.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We have a major obesity problem in this country. It is now overtaking smoking as the number one killer and I am very concerned that we need to tackle it early.

“Children especially need to be targeted. We should be weighing children in school regularly and we need to rethink dietary advice because the current advice clearly isn’t working.”

It is estimated that more than half of the UK is either overweight or obese, with the problem soaring among children. In 1998, 9% of two to four-year-olds were considered obese – almost double the figure in 1989. The World Health Organisation says being overweight causes diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer.

Prof Peto says the Atkins diet, which involves eating lots of meat and other high protein foods, works because proteins suppress the appetite and people do not eat as much.

“I am sure the Atkins wasn’t developed on this basis but that is why it works. The levels of salt and fat are anything but healthy but the basis of the diet – which is low carbohydrate and high protein – is ideal for losing weight.”

The controversial diet was developed by Dr Robert C Atkins, who published his first book in 1972. Since then more than 15 million Atkins diet books have been sold worldwide and the eating regime has become an international phenomenon.

But its opponents claim that, over the long term, it can cause kidney damage, thin bones and constipation, raise cholesterol levels and increase the risk of diabetes and an early heart attack.

Despite these concerns, some British doctors are already putting obese children on Atkins-style diets.

Dr Dee Dawson, medical director at Rhodes Farm Clinic, a residential home for treatment of children with eating disorders, says the diet is good for children.

“The children who come here are not just overweight, they are ill, and in danger of dying. Some of them can’t breathe and some of them can’t lie down.

“I do think the basis of Atkins – low carbohydrate and high protein – is a good diet for children and the priority is for these children to get weight off.”

But nutritionist Dr Toni Steer, of the Medical Research Council, warned that there is not enough research into the long-term health effects of being on the diet.

“We realise obesity is a major problem which we need to tackle as a matter of urgency but I would be very concerned about advising children to follow diets like Atkins.”

Well, I think they have the right idea, but I certainly wish they would get it through their thick skulls that Atkins is (a) not high protein - it's moderate protein, (b) not a diet - it's a way of life, and (c) the fats we are eating are far healthier than that hydrogenated crap found in nearly everything these days. It's also NOT high in salt unless someone is dumping salt on their veggies.

Jeesh, if folks would just read and research before writing they wouldn't come off hitting so many wrong points.

As for no longer term studies, this way of life has been around for 32 years - how much more long term do they want!

As for the main point of the article, something healthy needs to be done to help obese children, I totally agree. Two of the main things they can do is properly educate parents or caregivers on nutritious meals and stop using the tv, electronic games and computers as babysitters. Get those kids out riding bikes, playing team sports or just on healthy walks with their parents. In other words, stop sitting on their ever-increasing butts stuffing their faces with soda and chips!

shortstuff

I do NOT agree with weighing children in school - we had that done, and even though I was NOT fat, it was absolutely humilating!!..they do it in front of all your friends, etc!!

As for the obiesty issue - I think it needs to be a joint issue between families and schools. Quite honestly, take the junk food, white flour and sugar out of the equation, and these kids would drop tons without a "formal diet" approach. Introduce them tothe wonderful world of veggies,etc, and make it FUN so they want to do this. Bring back cafeteria lunches where there are no unhealthy choices. Most parents would probably be willing to pay a couple dollars more to know their kids are getting healthy and nutricious food choices. But also, they have to do the same at home - we can't expect our kids to follow a healthy lifestyle if we don't.

My 2.5 year old rarely gets sugar, and when she does she knows it is a treat, and I can see the difference - as soon as that sugar rush hits, she is like a drunk, she is hyper and all over the place. To be honest, my personal opnion is that there are probably a lot ofkids who have been misdiagnosed as ADHD, who instead are just living off of full time sugar highs.

I certainly don't think children should be weighed in front of everyone (had a similar experience here) but I do think it should be done. There are far too many people (myself included, sadly) who don't go to the doctor on a regular basis, and many parents (mine included) will laugh off the chubby child and say it's merely baby fat that hasn't been lost yet (apparently I'm a 32 year old with baby fat).

For more a little more (and really, only a little) information about ADD/ADHD, look at this article and this article. There is a lot of conflicting information out there about ADD and ADHD. I believe a low-carb diet could only improve health situations. LC has been known to reduce, even completely remove, symptoms of ADD/ADHD.

Restricting processed and refined foods as well as foods with trans-fatty acids can only benefit one's health. These foods should be restricted at school and at home. Unfortunately, so many teens have cars (and money) or access to cars (and money) that this may/may not actually impact them.

Educating children (yes, it's possible) about foods and nutrition, however, should have a greater impact than simply restricting their food choices. I taught fitness to children as low as 3rd grade and they're fascinated (believe it or not) by good foods/bad foods and what puts foods into those two categories.

I think a lot of people have certain beliefs about Atkins (without reading the book, of course) that the entire diet (the usual food and drink of a person or animal) is induction, where carbohydrate consumption is extremely limited. I'll wager a guess that Dr. Toni Steer is likely afraid that children will not be consuming nearly enough vegetables or fruits to get all vitamins and minerals necessary to a growing child, but put a child on Atkins as it was meant to be done (for those who need to lose weight - other children could jump right into maintenance and see improved health) and I don't think anyone will find negative results.

teresamay: "To be honest, my personal opnion is that there are probably a lot ofkids who have been misdiagnosed as ADHD, who instead are just living off of full time sugar highs."

I agree so much with you!!!!

I read an article on how to tell if your kid has ADD. Some of the questions:

Is your child hard to wake in the morning?
Do you get reports from the teachers that "Sally" is hyper in her morning classes, but calmer late morning? Note added that often early morning and early afternoon classes are the ones most like to be "problem" classes.
Does your child have trouble settling down in the evening to get homework assignments done?
Does your child have trouble falling asleep?

Hmmmmmm....that sure says sugar high to me!

Lets see....can't get out of bed, but gets hyper early classes, as in shortly after breakfast (of sugar, cereal, fruit, etc)....then calmer late morning only to get hyper again early afternoon, as in shortly after lunch (sugary, starchy, etc). Then has trouble concentrating on homework and falling asleep after dinner (as in high carb, low protein, low fat dinner...probably followed by a "low fat" snack before bed).

Wow if that doesn't sound like sugar, high sugars levels might be suspect. Oh no, wait! sugar doesn't cause hyperactivity in children! What am I thinking!

It's bad enough when they stick an incorrect diagnosis on you (or a child) but when they go on to medicate you because of that...hell that's even worse!

As for the "high protein" comment. Any plan that suggests a protein intake higher than the gov't guidelines is considered "high protein" and with the requirements so low, a plan like Atkins that allows for more would certainly be considered "high protein". Personally, I think the recomendations are "low protein" and Atkins is moderate, but to the "health" world, Atkins certainly meets the definition of "high". I guess PP would be considered "extremely high protein". I may be wrong, but I think "moderate" is only used if intake falls within the guidelines, but on the high end.

I remember getting weighed in school and then I thought I was fat. Although asking my parents and siblings and looking at pictures, I wasn't fat at all as a child! It wasn't really until late high school that I started to put the pounds on.

Other than educating children and offering healthy foods, I really don't think the schools are the right place for this kind of monitoring.

If they check the height and weight of EVERY child....with the child in a PRIVATE area and facing AWAY from the scale readings.....that's fine.

If they want to send home letters to ALL parent explaining the dangers of overweight and obesity in children along with guidelines and places to go for help, that's GREAT!

But the children themselves do NOT need to know the numbers....and they must have privacy. No comments from the ones weighing, nothing.

When I was a kid, we were weighed and measured at the beginning of the school year. Of course, back then we also had a nurse in the schools and had a yearly "physical" by the school nurse.

The weight and height was done in the nurse's office with the door partly closed so no one else could see anything.....and the nurse simply wrote down the numbers, never told us what they were (although we could see for ourselves).

Since we all did it and it was done so matter of factly, I don't think it had an impact on us. I was overweight as a child, even in elementary school. And I was never embarrassed during the yearly weigh-ins....even in high school!

I seriously think that the parents and pediatricians should be the ones handling this. If the schools have concerns about severe obesity, they should follow-up with the parents and/or pediatrician.....but that's it!

Teach the kids proper nutrition, put restrictions on foods available in the schools...but otherwise it's not their job!

Use the money they get to TEACH, not monitor weight, growth and development!

Interesting.

The suggestion of weighing kids in schools is likely to cloud the larger message of considering a LC alternative for kids.

This is no less a problem in the US. (The English government pays for the associated health care costs directly, while the US public pay indirectly in the form of higher and higher health insurance premiums.)

"Kids meals" in restaurants is my pet peeve. Breaded chicken strips, pizza, hamburger, macaroni and cheese is the traditional offering, many "balanced" with french fries."

My life as a yo-yo dieter began after being weighed in gym class in 7th grade. While I was not fat, I weighed 135 lbs.- a lot more than the rest of the girls in the class. That was the precise moment that I started to think I was fat. Mom and I were cleaning out some boxes last summer and there was a calendar in there that said "Mom and Christa start diet" on Jan. 1- I was in 8th grade. I have pictures of me then and I wasn't even chubby! So, I don't know that weighing kids regularly in school, unless it's in a private setting, is a good idea at all. Granted, there needs to be something done to curb the obesity in America, but that approach may exacerbate it rather than cure it.

In addition, I also grew up watching my Mom diet on rice cakes and cottage cheese- diet herself right up to 275 lbs. Someday when I have kids, I hope to set an example for them by having a healthy body image of my own and encouraging exercise and good eating habits to avoid a life long struggle with weight. I guess that means I think it needs to start at home, not at school.

I supervise an after school program with about 300 children enrolled in coastal Cailfornia. Everyday I hand out juice boxes (fruit punch/apple) and things like cheese crackers, graham crackers. Many of these items have words like , "healthy" and "low-fat" on the label. All snack items contain transfats and sugar and several contain high fructose corn syrup. By law we must provide a snack and the government provides the snack.
This school has a 67% free or reduced lunch rate, in other words 67 out of every 100 family live below the federal poverty guidelines. Many of these families have no choice but the trust the school to feed their kids. The breakfast and lunch is no better than the snack I serve.
We have a school nurse. She serves 4 elementary schools, about 2200 children.
These folks should visit a few public schools and not the ones in Palo Alto, Carmel-by-the-Sea and/or Beverly Hills.

it breaks my heart to see young kids started off like this. In my daughter's daycare, there are two children who come to daycare at 7am every single morning wiht donuts or oreo cookies. I started bringing extra yogurts and cheerios with me because it bothered me so much. I finally had a bit of a blow out with the mother when she started trying to give my daughter this garbage in the morning. The thing is though, no matter how little money you have (I am a single parent and watch every dime), it is still cheaper to buy a big box of cheerios, and put some in a baggie in the mroning for a snack before the day starts if there isn't time for a full breakfast, or pack slices of cheese and cucumber - rahter than stopping at tim hortons for donuts. One trick I have been using with racheal is that one shelf in the fridge is dedicated to her - it has little baggies adn tupperware containers full of thinly sliced veggies, cheeses, fruits, yogurts, etc. Those are her "snacks" for after daycare, or when she is hungry between meal etc. Plus, it saves me a TON of work running every time she wants something, and teaches her to make choices.

She does get junk food occassionally - maybe once a month I give her a couple timbits or a peice of cake, etc...with a lunch out at mcdonalds. But she loves it becuase it is such a treat, and not a daily meal choice. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. I can't cntrol her eating when she is a teenager, but right now can instill good choice making in her, and hopefully that will carry on whenshe is "out of my sight" later on

My daughter is in high school and she wishes the cafeteria would put options so if you are a vega, low carber, low fat - you can get a decent lunch. She said that the salad are basically green ones and in an hour you are starving.

At least some high school kids can leave campus, those little kids are stuck.

My daughter ate salad every day whle in HS. She'd have a salad with lots of cheese. She said sometimes other kids would laugh at the amount of cheese, but she'd just shrug and say "I gotta eat something! At least this is good for me!"

She's on her own now....got her first appartment last August. And I'm very proud to say she eats very healthy! She does eat a lot of carbs, but not as much as in the past. The first time I went to see her new place I took her shopping and was quite pleased with her choices. A LF mom probably would have had a stroke, but I was thrilled! Butter, real cheeses, lots of veggies. She does like her pasta, but she's also one of those people that actually eats a serving, not a whole plate-full!

CindySue- You mean a plateful isn't a serving