Preschoolers don’t eat enough healthy foods or get enough exercise, according to a new study by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Researchers studied nearly 400 preschoolers over the course of one 24-hour period at school and at home to find out if the children were meeting what’s known as the 5-2-1-0 daily guidelines, which recommend children eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables, watch less than two hours of screen time, participate in one hour of physical activity, and consume no sugar-sweetened drinks.
Only one child actually met those guidelines. Less than 1 percent met the physical activity guidelines, while only 17 percent consumed at least five servings of fruit and vegetables. Half of the students did not drink sugar-sweetened beverages, while 81 percent had less than two hours of screen time a day.
The study was published online in August in the journal Preventative Medicine Reports.
