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. 2002 Apr;26(4):458-63.
doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801967.

Relationship between juvenile obesity, dietary energy and fat intake and physical activity

L J Gillis  1 , L C Kennedy, A M Gillis, O Bar-Or
Affiliations

Relationship between juvenile obesity, dietary energy and fat intake and physical activity

L J Gillis et al. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2002 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the relationship of juvenile obesity to dietary fat, particularly saturated fat, and with dietary energy (controlling for activity patterns).

Design: Cross-sectional, evaluation of diet and activity patterns of obese and non-obese children and adolescents.

Subjects: A total of 181 children, aged 4-16 y. Subjects were divided into two groups: obese (body mass index, BMI, > 95th percentile for age and sex), 40 males and 51 females; and non-obese (BMI < 75th percentile for age and sex), 35 males and 55 females.

Measurements: Dietary intake was analyzed with a dietary history interview; activity patterns were analyzed with an activity interview and body fat was measured with bioelectrical impedance analysis.

Results: The obese subjects consumed significantly more total calories, total fat in grams and saturated fatty acids (SFA) in grams than did the non-obese subjects. Based on step-wise multiple regression, the total energy consumed, not total fat or SFA, had the strongest relationship to the subject's percentage body fat, controlling for activity levels.

Conclusion: We suggest that, although obese children and adolescents consume more dietary energy and fat than non-obese children and adolescents, there is a stronger relationship between total energy consumed and juvenile adiposity than with dietary fat or type of dietary fat consumed.

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