JUNK food may make children fatter, but it also makes them happy, scientists have revealed.
Experts now believe efforts to cut children's consumption of fast food and soft drinks would be more successful if they were made happier in other ways.
Researchers set out to investigate the relationship between the consumption of junk food, su
gar-laden fizzy drinks and happiness among children. They said that childhood obesity is a major public health issue worldwide and it is accepted that unhealthy eating patterns are partly responsible for the increase in overweight children.
But little was known about the link between fast food and soft drink consumption and children's emotional well-being.
The researchers, from Taiwan and the US, looked at the relationship between an unhealthy diet and children's psychological health. In particular, they studied the effects of fast food and soft drink consumption on body weight and unhappiness.
Using data from the national health interview survey in Taiwan in 2001, the authors looked at the fast food and soft drink consumption, body weight and level of happiness of 2,366 children aged between two and 12. One in four of the children were overweight or obese and approximately 19 per cent sometimes or often felt unhappy, sad or depressed.
A key finding was that children who ate fast food and drank soft drinks were more likely to be overweight, but they were also less likely to be unhappy.
Last night health experts said we were "sleep walking" into a serious problem if we pandered to a child's desire for junk food.
Carina Norris, a nutritionist, said: "A lot of things make people happy, but they are not necessarily good for them. We should not give people carte blanche to say that if they don't eat (junk food], they'll be miserable. People being overweight has become the norm and junk food has become the normal way of eating."
The report also highlighted a number of factors influencing children's body weight, eating patterns and happiness. For example, a mother's consumption of fast food and soft drinks predicted her child's eating habits.
Those children who ate fast food were likely to have lots of soft drinks and those from lower income households were more likely to have poor dietary habits and be overweight or obese.
The authors, professors Hung-Hao Chang, from Taiwan University, and Rodolfo Nayga, from the University of Arkansas, concluded: "Policies and programmes that aim to improve children's overall health should take these effects on children's objective and subjective well-being into account."
Ms Norris said the key was to try to make healthier foods enjoyable so that children did not feel they were missing out.
The Scottish Government is facing increased pressure to tackle Scotland's obesity crisis. One in five Primary 7 children was believed to be obese in 2004-5, and it is estimated that the problem is costing Scotland £171 million a year.
Diet lacking vitamins may increase risk of asthmaA DIET low in vitamins A and C increases the risk of developing asthma, research suggests today. A review of 40 studies found people with low levels of the key vitamins were more likely to suffer from asthma than those with normal levels.
Each vitamin was independently linked with an increase in the risk of asthma.
For vitamin A, people with the lowest levels tended to have more severe asthma than other sufferers.
The findings, published in the journal Thorax, contradict those of a large-scale study last year which found no link between levels of antioxidants in the diet and asthma.
But the latest researchers claim theirs is a more robust study. Experts say people can get their daily supply of vitamins A and C from a healthy diet. Good sources include cheese, eggs, oily fish (such as mackerel), milk, fortified margarine and yoghurt.
Recommended intakes are 0.7mg a day for an average man and 0.6mg a day for a woman, according to the Food Standards Agency. Vitamin C is found in fruit and vegetables. Good sources include peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, oranges and kiwis.
It is recommended that adults have 40mg a day.
A total of 5.4 million people in the UK suffer from asthma.
