New research suggests eating a modest amount of nuts appears to lower the risk among teens of developing conditions that raise the chance of heart disease later in life.

Nut intake was independently associated with metabolic syndrome after adjustments for age, gender, race, income, and intake of sugar, fruit, and vegetables for more than 2,000 U.S. adolescents that reported eating at least 12.9 grams of nuts per day.

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The bad news is that roughly 75 percent of U.S. teens eat no nuts, the study authors said.

"The surprising finding is that, in spite of what we know about their health benefits, the majority of teens eat no nuts at all on a typical day," said lead investigator Dr. Roy Kim, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Health in Dallas.

Researchers said the risk of metabolic syndrome decreased with each additional gram of nuts per day, but that plateaued at 50 grams per day, or about 1.8 ounces. Kim noted that at higher intakes, the benefits may be offset by an increase in calories.

About one in nine teens has metabolic syndrome, prior research has shown. The diagnosis is made when a child over age 10 is found to have at least three telltale conditions: obesity in the abdominal region, high triglycerides, low "good" cholesterol (HDL), high blood pressure or high blood sugar.

Kim said a limitation of the study was it was cross-sectional. Absent proof of causation, an increased nut intake can't yet be recommended as an intervention to decrease risk of metabolic syndrome.

He added a further study is require to find out whether nut consumption by adolescents will reduce their cardiovascular risk factors.

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