More than 40% of children who eat out eat French fries for dinner! May cause obesity and constipation

If schoolchildren are allowed to prepare their own meals, what will they eat? The Children's Welfare Alliance Cultural and Educational Foundation released the "2012 Children's Eating Out Survey Report" today, the 24th. Surprisingly, among the 30% of schoolchildren who eat out for dinner, as many as 44% eat French fries as a main meal. They also drink sugary drinks and eat fried foods more frequently than ordinary schoolchildren, which may easily lead to problems such as obesity and constipation.

The Children's Alliance released the "2012 Survey Report on Children's Eating Out", which found that among the 30% of schoolchildren who eat out for dinner, as many as 44% eat French fries as a main meal. (Photography by Zhang Yawen)

From April 9 to April 20 this year, the Children's League conducted a sampling survey on students in grades 5 to 8, and collected 1,428 valid questionnaires. It was found that 60% of the students often eat out for breakfast, and the top three foods they eat most are sandwiches (56.2%), omelets (56%), and rice balls (39.5%); 30% of the students often eat out for dinner, and the top three foods they eat most are noodles (55%), braised pork rice or chicken rice (44.8%), and French fries (44.5%).

Not only do they always eat three meals out, the survey found that 33% of school children need to take care of their meals on their own every week. Some of them are "paid by their parents to buy food themselves" or "cook it themselves", but 9% of school children choose not to eat breakfast and 5% not to eat dinner.

The Children's Alliance pointed out that the most common problem when allowing schoolchildren to eat out alone is that they eat snacks as a full meal. Not only is French fries the third most popular food for schoolchildren who eat out for dinner, many schoolchildren eat cookies, shaved ice, and two hot dogs as a full meal. Surveys show that as many as 70% of schoolchildren only buy what they like, regardless of whether it is nutritious or not.

In addition, giving students money to eat does not necessarily mean they will actually eat the food. The survey found that 52% of students have saved the money and bought what they like instead.

The Children's Alliance pointed out that schoolchildren who eat out obviously do not consume enough fruits and vegetables, but eat too much junk food. Compared with schoolchildren who do not eat out, they generally suffer from constipation and have more serious obesity problems.

Obesity is certainly a problem, but there are also students who follow their idols in their pursuit of losing weight. The survey found that 70% of the students have bought low-calorie foods, and 44% of the students have eaten less or not eaten at all for fear of getting fat. This is not good for their health as they are in the developmental stage.