Overweight Kids Lose Weight Eating Peanuts Every Day in School-B...( ALEXANDRIA Va. Dec. 20 -- New re...),Health

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New research published in the December issue of Pediatrics is showing that high risk overweight adolescents, ages 10-15, can lose weight while substituting an ounce of peanuts or peanut butter for other less healthy snack choices. The study, "Weight Loss in Overweight Mexican American Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial" describes the "Family Lifestyle and Overweight" (FLOW) Prevention Program, which is in a school setting. It is being conducted by Baylor College of Medicine and the United States Department of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS) Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston, Texas.

The study found that children often skipped school meals, only eating the low nutrient, high calorie, afternoon snacks often provided at the school. "We know that afternoon is one of the most vulnerable periods for weight management. To address this issue, we provided peanuts or peanut butter with a fruit or vegetable as a healthy, nutrient dense alternative", said Dr. John Foreyt, Director of the Behavioral Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine and principal investigator of the study.

This study is highly significant because it is one of the first to show that the highest risk minority group, Mexican-Americans, can successfully lose weight and improve blood lipids in a school-based intensive intervention program. This is an important feat considering 37 percent of Mexican-American children in the US are overweight and obese, which is even higher than the 34 percent of overweight children in the general population.

FLOW participants lost statistically significant amounts of weight at 3 months and were able to keep it off through 6 months, which is not often seen in weight loss programs. The intervention group also significantly reduced total and 'bad' LDL cholesterol levels at 6 months compared to the control group adolescents.

The FLOW program is address
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