LOW-FAT DIETS CAN BE DANGEROUS FOR CHILDREN

MANHATTAN -- Eating less fat may be a healthy thing for adults to do, but putting children on a low-fat diet may do more harm than good, according to Paula Peters, assistant professor of foods and nutrition at Kansas State University.

"When it comes to children's diets, too much emphasis on fat and calorie content can be dangerous," Peters said. "Kids are still growing and need calories and fat to develop properly. For that reason, we certainly don't want to eliminate fat in the diet of children under the age of 2."

To meet children's nutritional needs, parents should be more concerned with providing healthy food choices rather than with the number of calories and fat grams the foods have, Peters said.

"I'm concerned that too much emphasis on fat and calories could push a child into an eating disorder later on," she said. "We are seeing more eating disorders in younger children."

That doesn't mean a steady diet of high-calorie, high-fat and high-sugar foods is OK for children, Peters said. As with adults, moderation is the key. If your child snacks on a cookie or two, try making the next snack a fruit or vegetable or even a dairy product such as cheese or yogurt, she said.

Since children develop at different rates and expend different amounts of energy, calorie needs vary by child. Peters said parents would be better off following the guidelines of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid than worrying about the number of calories a child eats in a day. The pyramid recommends the number of servings from the five main food groups that adults and children should eat daily for a balanced diet.

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Prepared by Beth Bohn.

March 1996