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Fastfood
geeft overgewicht en meer insulineresistentie*
Een vijftienjarige studie toont een sterke link tussen fastfood, overgewicht en insulineresistentie.
Uit
deze eerste lange-termijnstudie naar dit onderwerp blijkt dat fastfood het
risico van vetzucht en diabetes type II verhoogt. Tussen 1985 en 2001 werden
drieduizend zwarte en blanke Amerikanen gevolgd, die in 1985 tussen de achttien
en dertig jaar oud waren.
Mensen
die twee keer per week of vaker een of een andere fastfoodketen inlopen, worden
gemiddeld vijf kilo zwaarder dan anderen die er minder dan eens per week komen.
Na vijftien jaar hebben ze bovendien een twee keer zo grote toename in
insulineresistentie.
In de
studie is rekening gehouden met factoren als televisie kijken, beweging,
alcoholconsumptie en roken. Fastfood bleek onafhankelijk hiervan het gewicht en
de insulineresistentie op te drijven.
Eating At
Fast-food Restaurants More Than Twice Per Week Is Associated With More Weight
Gain And Insulin Resistance In Otherwise Healthy Young Adults
Young adults who
eat frequently at fast-food restaurants gain more weight and have a greater
increase in insulin resistance in early middle age, according to a large
multi-center study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
(NHLBI) and published in the January 1 issue of The Lancet*.
After 15 years,
those who ate at fast-food restaurants more than twice each week compared to
less than once a week had gained an extra ten pounds and had a two-fold greater
increase in insulin resistance, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a
major risk factor for heart disease.
“Obesity and
diabetes are on the rise in this country and this important study highlights the
value of healthy eating habits,” said NHLBI Acting Director Barbara Alving,
M.D.
Fast-food
consumption has increased in the United States over the past three decades.
“It’s extremely difficult to eat in a healthy way at a fast-food restaurant.
Despite some of their recent healthful offerings, the menus still tend to
include foods high in fat, sugar and calories and low in fiber and nutrients,”
said lead author Mark Pereira, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at the
University of Minnesota. People need to evaluate how often they eat meals at
fast-food restaurants and think about cutting back, according to Pereira.
One reason for the
weight gain may be that a single meal from one of these restaurants often
contains enough calories to satisfy a person’s caloric requirement for an
entire day.
Participants were
asked during the physical examinations given as part of the study how often they
ate breakfast, lunch or dinner at fast-food restaurants. Researchers found that
the adverse impact on participants’ weight and insulin resistance was seen in
both blacks and whites who ate frequently at fast-food restaurants, even after
adjustment for other lifestyle habits.
Study participants
included 3,031 young black and white adults who were between the ages of 18 and
30 in 1985-1986. The participants, who were part of the Coronary Artery Risk
Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, received dietary assessments over a
15-year period. CARDIA centers are located in Birmingham, AL, Chicago, IL,
Minneapolis, MN, and Oakland, CA.
According to the
study, men visited fast-food restaurants more frequently than women and blacks
more frequently than whites. Black men reported an average frequency of 2.3
visits per week in 2000-01. White women had the lowest frequency, at an average
of 1.3 visits per week in 2000-01.
“It is important
to watch carefully what you eat, especially at a fast-food restaurant. Knowing
the nutritional content is important. Consumers may want to ask for this
information,” said NHLBI’s Gina Wei, M.D., project officer for CARDIA.
Salads and grilled foods tend to be lower in fat than fried foods, she said.
Keep portion sizes
small, and ask that high-fat sauces and condiments, such as salad dressing and
mayonnaise, be “on the side” and use them sparingly to reduce calories, Wei
said. (The Lancet Jan. 2005)