Costly fruits and veggies linked to higher BMI in children

Costly fruits and vegetables are linked to a higher body mass index (BMI) in children of low-to-middle income households, says a new study.

The study's lead author, Taryn Morrissey, assistant professor of public administration and policy at American University's School of Public Affairs (SPA), says the cause for this link is the rising cost of fruits and vegetables. Families forego the luxurious fresh produce when prices increase for less expensive food that may not be the healthiest and that contains more calories.

Co-author Alison Jacknowitz agrees.

"These associations are driven by changes in the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables rather than frozen or canned," the associate professor of public administration and policy at SPA said in their news release.

Realizing this association is important because BMI is an indicator of total body fat, which can put you at risk for dangerous diseases. Body fat is a major concern among young children, given that more than 26 percent of kids ages 2 to 5 have a BMI in the 85th percentile, classifying them as being overweight. That's more than the 21 percent it was a decade ago.

The researchers looked at nationally representative data of children from their infancy to 5 years of age - in four-person families earning $70,650 in 2013, or 300 percent under the poverty line - in comparison with local food price data from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) Cost-of-Living Index.

They found that fruit and vegetable prices increased 17 percent from 1997 to 2003 alone, and that children living in areas where the price of produce skyrocketed had higher BMI scores than their friends living in areas with lower-priced fruits and vegetables.

"There is a small, but significant, association between the prices of fruit and vegetables and higher child BMI," Morrissey concluded.