中低收入家庭兒童更易攝取垃圾食品

Children from poor families are more likely to eat junk food, claim researchers.

研究者稱，來自貧困家庭的孩子更易傾向於吃垃圾食品。

Young children from poor families are more likely to consume junk food and fizzy drinks than their better off counterparts, it was claimed today.

今天的一項研究聲稱，相較於生長在富裕家庭的同伴，來自貧困家庭的的孩子更易傾向於消費垃圾食品和碳酸飲料。

A study of 1,800 four and five year olds found more than half (54.5 per cent) of those from deprived backgrounds drank at least one a week, compared to just four in ten affluent also drank less milk and consumed more fruit juice which is also linked to child obesity caused by high sugar intake.

一項在1800名4-5歲的兒童之中進行的調查發現，超過一半的貧困家庭出身的兒童每週至少飲酒一次。富裕家庭中的兒童比例則只有40%，同時相較於家境不太如意的同齡人，他們喝更少量的牛奶，但是卻有更多的果汁，而這種過多的糖分攝取正是引起兒童肥胖症的原因之一。

The phenomenon also related to children who spend more than two hours a day in front of a TV or playing computer games - whatever their social circumstances.

兒童肥胖的現象還和他們每天在電視機前或者電腦前呆坐上一兩個小時有關，而跟他們的生活社會環境關係不大。

A companion study also found children from low and medium-income neighbourhoods were more likely to eat chips, sweets and chocolate.

一項類似的研究還發現，來自中低收入家庭的孩子會更喜歡吃薯條甜食和巧克力。

Professor Kate Storey, of the University of Alberta, Canada, said: "When you are looking at that age group, and such a large percentage of very young kids in the study are consuming a large amount of soda, it is quite concerning."

加拿大阿爾伯特大學的Kate教授說：“當你看到這個年齡段的兒童中，每天消費大量蘇打水的兒童高比例之高，這種情況很讓人擔心。”