Twelve weeks low glycemic load diet reduced body weight, fat mass and hunger in overweight/obese children

Abstract

This is a preliminary report on the benefit of a weekly low glycemic load (GL) diet intervention designed to positively effect body weight (BW) and body composition by reducing satiety in overweight/obese (BMI=28.38±5.86 kg m −2 ) pre-pubertal children over a 12-week period. Thirteen otherwise healthy (11.46±1.94 years) children participated in the study. The low GL diet intervention included attending a weekly nutrition consultation, exchanging of at least 50% of the high glycemic index (GI) foods with low GI foods in the diet and portion control. Dietary changes were made based on weekly 4-day food-diaries over the 12-weeks. There were significant reductions in BW (68.08±22.03 vs. 65.64±22.12 kg), body mass index (BMI; 28.38±5.86 vs. 27.09±6.2 kg m −2 ), fat mass (26.02±12.8 vs. 23.64±12.8 kg) % body fat (36.82±6.1 vs. 33.81±7.4), and circumference measurements; waist (95.73±14.01 vs. 90.76±14.26 cm); hip circumference (97.23±13.37 vs. 93.34±18.80 cm); thigh circumference (59.08±7.9 vs. 56.80±8.1 cm). The significant reduction of self-reported hunger level (3.46±0.92 vs. 1.51±1.11) was also observed. The 12-week low GL diet seems to be a practical, effective approach to treat obesity in children.