The purpose of our study was to determine the effects of junk food on body mass, body composition and waist circumference. Twenty three healthy adults with an average age of 37 ± 10 years participated in the study. The testees have decided for themselves which study group they wanted to be in, experimental or control. Experimental group included 11 indivuals (four men and seven women) and control group included 12 individuals (three men nad nine women). In the experimental group the testees had to eat 20 % of the daily caloric intake in the form of junk food every day, while the consumption of such foods was forbidden for the testees in the control group. Every individual was in a 2092 kJ (500 calories) deficit a day (meaning the energy output was greater than the input). The study lasted three months.
The results showed that the experimental group has lost more body mass than the control group (5,2 kg and 3,9 kg, respectively). These results did not show statistical significance. The experimental group has also lost more body fat than the control group (4 kg and 2,6 kg, respectively), has lost less muscle mass than the control group (0,7 kg and 0,9 kg, respectively) and decreased waist circumference more than the control group (5,5 cm and 3,3 cm, respectively). There was no difference in body water and general well-being between groups. No statistical significance was found in any of these results, except in muscle mass percentage. Our results show, despite many flaws in our study, that junk food does not have a negative impact on body mass, body composition and waist circumference after three months.
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