TWELVE WEEKS LOW GLYCEMIC LOAD DIET REDUCED BODY WEIGHT, FAT MASS AND HUNGER IN OVERWEIGHT/OBESE CHILDREN

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.