Girls who get enough dairy  products in their diets may weigh less than other teens with the same age. Girls who consumed more dairy products were found to have slimmer  middles than girls of the same age and race who ate the same number of calories and got the same amount of exercise. Girls who drank more soda, but also ate the same total calories, tended to be heavier. The newly reported study included 323 white and Asian girls between the ages of 9 and 14. A number of studies, mostly in adults, have shown that calcium may be key in maintaining normal body weight and fat stores. One reason may be the nutrient's effects on hormones that help store calories as fat. In the new study, reported in the Journal of Nutrition, calcium from dairy sources, but not non-dairy foods, was related to lower weight and less abdominal fat--the link was particularly strong among girls of Asian decent , who made up 47 percent of the study group. This suggests that "the dairy ingredient of the calcium intake is the key factor," write the study authors, led by Dr. Rachel Novotny of the University of Hawaii in prefix = st1 /Honolulu. It's possible, they explain, that other nutrients in milk play an important role in weight balance. For reasons that are unclear, the effect on body fat was stronger for Asian girls than for white girls, according to Novotny and her colleagues. They  _ that ethnic differences in which dairy products are usually consumed, or in eating habits-having small amounts of dairy throughout the day, for instance, rather than a single large serving--may help explain the finding. According to the researchers, soda may increase pounds by adding calories to kid's diets, or by replacing milk. Milk, they note, has a range of nutrients, including protein and fat, which means it is metabolized  ly slowly. Soda contains only sugar, which is quickly metabolized, easily causing hunger. According to this passage, dairy products_.
always prevent girls from becoming fat can lower body fat in girls are most favored by girls of Asian descent contain more calcium than non-dairy foods