Trying to convince my 15-year-old daughter to eat more fruits and vegetables by pointing to statistics about heart disease, cancer, and diabetes is like trying to convince her to think about retirement or funeral arrangements. Thanks Mom, talk to me in a couple decades. But a recent study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine might give me a more compelling argument. It found that teenage girls who ate the most fruits and vegetables were less likely to become overweight later in life.

Researchers in the National Growth and Health Study recorded dietary information on 2,327 girls in three U.S. cities from when they were nine or 10 years old till they were 19. Those whose diets most closely matched the recommendations of the DASH diet—which was developed by the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and emphasizes lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products—had the lowest gains in body-mass index, or BMI, over time. And, at 19, the girls whose diet least resembled the DASH recommendations? They were most likely to be overweight.

So, now when my daughter fusses about how she wants to look good on the beach or at a dance, and worries about her figure, I can hand her a handful of carrots and tell her, “Eat up, kid—not just for your heart, but for your bottom line.”

See our advice on how to control your weight and our new Ratings of seven top diets.

Source
Use of a DASH Food Group Score to Predict Excess Weight Gain in Adolescent Girls in the National Growth and Health Study [Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine]