A Varied and Diverse Diet Can Lead to Increasing BMI for Poor Children

In this month’s issue of Pediatrics, Fernandez et al¹ invite us to consider that a diverse diet (DD) and varied diet should not be advocated to prevent obesity. They studied children and their primary caregivers who were enrolled in Head Start in southeastern Michigan to provide a window on US low-income, preschool-aged children of mixed race/ethnicity. They applied the Harvard Service Food Frequency Questionnaire to assess usual frequency of food consumed in low-income mothers and preschool-aged children and the Berry Index to develop a DD. The authors found that the mean BMI for the primary caregiver was 32.4. Girls and older children ate a more diverse diet. Whites had a lower mean DD and food-insecure households had a higher mean Moderation Foods Variety score. Moderation foods (fried, salty, high-fat, and sweets) are foods that should be decreased in the diet. Healthy foods (grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and protein)...