Snacking on a peanut butter may prove to be beneficial for those aiming to lose weight as a study published in the Journal of Applied Research on Children revealed it can help lower the body mass index (BMI).
The study was specifically aimed at finding good nutritional diets for children between the ages of 2 to 19 in the hopes of decreasing childhood obesity. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention cites that over 12.7 million children have weight problems and childhood obesity is a growing and alarming epidemic around the world.
Researchers had 257 Mexican American children respondents in their study, where half of the children were given peanut butter and peanut snacks at least four to five times a week after school. The other half of the respondents were required to snack at fewer frequency, but their choices were not limited. The researchers also followed the activities of these kids after school. Many of them usually watch television when they get home and do little exercises.
The study revealed that after six months, the children who ate more peanut butter or peanuts had decreased their BMI significantly compared to the kids who snacked at fewer times but didn't strictly follow a diet. The study confirmed that energy dense but nutritionally deficient snacks can be bad for diets, and peanut or peanut butter is a good alternative for snacking, especially when a person has limited physical activities.
The kids are apparently more nutritionally satisfied when eating high protein snacks like peanut butter throughout the day, thus, they should be provided these snacks at all times. "What we found is that kids get home from school around 4 p.m. There's less supervision by parents and less structure," said Craig Johnston, the lead study author in a statement. "Kids are sitting down at the TV and eating, eating, eating because they really didn't eat at school."
Johnston also emphasized that it's parents and schools who have to guide the kids to make better choices when it comes to food. "We've just got to make sure that our kids are going to live long, happy lives with that kind of education."
Know more about the health benefits of peanut butter in this video below:
