Higher-priced fruits and vegetables linked with fatter kids

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Children living in places where fruits and vegetables were more expensive had higher body mass index scores than kids where produce was cheaper.

"There is a small, but significant, association between the prices of fruit and vegetables and higher child BMI," said lead author and assistant professor of public administration and policy Taryn Morrissey.

Morrissey and her colleagues at American University's School of Public Affairs compared health data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort with local food price records from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) Cost-of-Living Index.

The study, recently published in the journal Pediatrics, zeroed in on children under five from families who fell under 300 percent of the federal poverty line -- a family pulling in no more than roughly $70,000 a year.

More than a quarter of American children ages two to five are considered overweight, five percent more than a decade ago.

Though mass produced, highly-processed foods, like chips, soda, cereal, and other snacks, have gotten drastically cheaper in the last 25 years, fresh fruit and vegetable prices have steadily grown. The prices of fresh produce increased by 17 percent between 1997 and 2003.

"These associations are driven by changes in the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables rather than frozen or canned," explained co-auther Alison Jacknowitz.

The study also found a small correlation between higher-priced soft drinks and diminished levels of obesity among kids.

[American University] [Pediatrics]