Cutting Out Sweets Lowers Rate of Childhood Obesity, New Study Finds

Simply banning sugary foods and drinks and encouraging kids to replace junk with healthy, fiber-rich foods, decreased the rate of childhood obesity, according to an important new Swedish study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet, whose press release about this research appears on Medical News Today.

This study, called the Stockholm Obesity Prevention Project (STOPP), involved children ages 6 through 10 at 10 schools in the Stockholm area. Half the schools removed sweets and sugary beverages from their premises, offering kids higher-quality fare instead. The other half of schools didn't take out the sweet stuff and let the kids continue to indulge in them.

The results were amazing but expected:

• The rate of overweight kids at the schools that just said no to sugar-filled food dropped from 22% to 16%.
• The youngsters allowed to continue eating sugary foods saw their rates of obese and overweight kids rise from 18% to 21%.

(In fact, in Sweden as a whole, the rates of childhood obesity have been climbing, just as they have in the U.S., according to another study reported on by Nicholas Bakalar of the New York Times.)

This study is really good news, because it's proof positive that we can do something about childhood obesity. And thankfully, more and more American schools are getting the message and kicking more and more sugar to the curb.

I hope parents whose kids attend schools that still ply them with needless sugar will use this study to spur their children's schools to change.

But parents need to act on the home front, too. Yes, as a mother, I understand that it's challenging to get your little ones to give up sweet stuff they love. But it's not impossible. In fact, Connie offers great advice on what parents can do to get their kids away from sugar in her book SUGAR SHOCK! (The tips -- provided by a number of experts -- are in Chapter 17, to be exact).

Let's hope news of this study spreads quickly to responsible adults and that they'll take action to fight this very serious problem for our kids.

From Jennifer Moore

Note from Connie: Wow! This is fabulous! I've been eagerly awaiting for this results of this study to be released, and sure enough, the findings are quite impressive. Also, please note that STOPP was financed by the Stockholm County Council, with contributions from the Swedish Research Council and the Masonic Home for Children in Stockholm. Maybe some American organizations will get the same idea to do such a study?