Lack of important nutrients can have long-term effects: there are children up to 20 cm shorter due to the wrong diet. This is what emerges from one studio published in The Lancet and conducted by experts from Imperial College London.
The Imperial College London study of children’s height
Children up to 20 cm shorter due to poor nutrition: this is the average height gap between 19-year-olds in nations with taller inhabitants and those with lower populations. The data was identified by researchers from Imperial College London. Experts attribute the height difference to insufficient nutrition during the school years. The research covered the stature of as many as 65 million children, aged between 5 and 19, from 193 countries. The data was collected between 1985 and 2019.
Bangladesh and Guatemala were the states with the shortest girls. In fact, a 19-year-old girl from these countries is as tall, on average, as an 11-year-old Dutch girl. The taller teenagers, on the other hand, come from Central and Northwestern Europe. In particular, from the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark and Iceland.
Nutrition has permanent consequences on children’s health
The authors of the study put the spotlight on an important problem: the lack of quality food during the most important years for development has permanent consequences. Not just about height, but obesity as well, which in turn creates additional health problems. In fact, the most notable improvement in children’s height was observed in China, South Korea and other areas of Southeast Asia. All areas of interest from an economic boom in the period under review. For example, Chinese boys today are 8cm taller than in 1985.
However, there is good news regarding the nutrition of Italian children and young people: their BMI (Body Mass Index) improved during the period examined by the experts. It is important that the positive trend continues: a healthy diet from an early age is one of the best gifts parents can give their children. Their health has been affected over the years.
Deepening
Pay attention to the portions of homemade snacks
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