Kids are consuming fewer calories a day now than they did a
decade ago, according to government data out Thursday. Calorie
intake for boys ages 2 to 19 dropped by 158 calories from 2000
to 2010. For girls the same age it fell by 76 calories. The
average calorie intake for boys was 2,258 calories in 2000 vs.
2,100 in 2010. For girls the intake dropped from 1,831 calories
in 2000 to 1,755 in 2010. "This is a surprise," says the study's
lead author, Bethene Ervin, a nutritional epidemiologist with
the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. Energy intake among adults
during this time period did not change, she says. The
recommended caloric intake for children and teens varies
greatly, from 1,000 to 3,200 calories a day, depending on age,
gender and activity level. The findings come "as we're seeing a
leveling off of obesity in recent years," says the report's
senior author, Cynthia Ogden, an epidemiologist with the
National Center for Health Statistics. "Obe