There is no doubt that one of the most important things we need to monitor regarding our children is their nutrition – after all, today we know very well how much the things we put in our mouths significantly affect our health, and this is even more true for our children, who need a regular supply of essential nutrients to develop properly. However, there are quite a few very common foods that we simply don’t realize how harmful they are to our children in a clear and immediate way. There are also many foods that we know are not necessarily healthy, but we don’t suspect the damage they can cause to children in the long term, and therefore, from time to time, we let them eat these foods. To help you understand which foods you should actually get your children to stop eating, or at the very least reduce their consumption as much as possible, we’ve prepared a list of 8 such foods that you should definitely know about.
Various children's yogurts, offered in colorful packaging with cartoon characters that appeal to little ones – are very popular food products, and most of us also believe they have certain benefits for our children. But the truth is, that’s not entirely accurate – a significant portion of these products contain sugars, food colorings, and other ingredients that, even if present in small amounts that may not necessarily harm adults, can trigger allergies in your young children or, at the very least, cause hyperactive and disruptive behavior, according to a study conducted at the University of Southampton in the UK.
Therefore, instead of industrial children's yogurts that may harm them, prefer serving your children plain white yogurts without added sugar. To adapt them to your children's taste and encourage them to eat them, you can sweeten them by adding a little honey (only if your children are over one year old!) or chopped fruits.
Various snacks and breakfast cereals made from rice puffs are certainly common and widespread in the food market, and many children love eating them. So you might be surprised to hear this, but according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), consuming these products may expose your children to high levels of inorganic arsenic – a dangerous compound that is not healthy for humans at all. Since we often give our children cereals and snacks based on rice puffs, their rice consumption is three times higher than that of adults, which can, of course, have a harmful impact on their development and learning abilities.
Therefore, to prevent potential harm, it’s recommended to prepare the healthy snacks and breakfast cereals you give your children at home (you can do this together with them) using healthy ingredients that don’t contain arsenic.
Admittedly, the presence of processed meat products on this list shouldn’t surprise most of you, who likely know that these industrial products have long been considered unhealthy and not nutritious in any way. However, many parents, in moments of weakness or when they don’t have time to prepare a proper meal, give their children such food products, like hamburgers, hot dogs, nuggets, and the like. If you do this to some extent, you should know that according to a study conducted by the American Cancer Society, consuming 50 grams of processed meat per day increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer by 18% – so the harm to your children may not always be immediate, but it can be significant in their adulthood.
The best solution for this issue is to let your children consume fish dishes – even industrial ones, as their impact is still less harmful than that of processed meat products. Of course, the most recommended way to address this is to prepare delicious and nutritious fish dishes for your children yourself, and you can find recipes for some surprising and original ones in the following link.
On hot summer days, many bring home industrial ice creams in family-sized packages from the supermarket, which kids love to devour as much as they want (or until they’re told to stop and the package is taken away). What many of you probably don’t know is that many of these products contain substances called "emulsifiers," which a 2015 study showed interfere with the normal functioning of friendly gut bacteria, leading to obesity – a particularly dangerous phenomenon for children.
Therefore, instead of the industrial ice creams you buy at the supermarket, the recommendation here is to turn the preparation of this sweet treat into a homemade activity you can do with your children. You can get some great ideas for making homemade ice creams from the following article.
Potato chips, sold in various packages, sizes, and colors, are undoubtedly a salty delight for every child (and quite a few adults), but it’s clear they are not a healthy choice for your children in any way. Although they are made from potatoes – a vegetable with some health benefits – they are also rich in less healthy ingredients and packed with fats, calories, salt, and other things children should avoid, as they are even more harmful to them than to adults. From increased blood pressure that could be fatal later in life, to obesity and kidney stones – you have every reason to limit or completely eliminate your children’s consumption of these industrial snacks.
As with most cases we’ve presented here – if your children love potato chips, the solution isn’t to deny them completely but to know how to prepare them at home in the right way, giving them the benefits of the snack while sparing them its negative effects.
Many of us are already aware of the dangers of excessive sugar consumption, and to avoid it while still enjoying our favorite carbonated drinks, we switch to their diet versions, which have gained significant popularity in recent years, and we also let our children drink them to reduce their sugar intake. But the truth is that the artificial sweeteners found in large quantities in these diet carbonated drinks don’t have significant advantages over sugar, and they may even cause more harm to you and your children. For example, a study published in 2018 found that aspartame – a common artificial sweetener in industrial diet drinks – restricts essential enzymes in the body that prevent obesity and diabetes, so their consumption by children who drink these beverages without restriction can cause physical harm.
All you need to do to solve this problem while still providing your children with sweet drinks is to let them drink as much freshly squeezed, natural fruit juice as possible.
Popcorn in a paper bag, ready in 2-3 minutes after heating in the microwave, is a convenient solution for many of us who want to provide our children with a tasty, salty snack for the hours they’re glued to the TV. But despite the convenience and ease for us as parents, you should know that some of these products’ paper bags contain various harmful chemicals. For example, some paper bags contain perfluorinated compounds, a substance that, when exposed to high heat, can cause the bag to release substances into the food that may harm children’s development and are even linked to the development of certain types of cancer in the future.
Therefore, despite it being a bit more effort, revert to the traditional method of preparing popcorn – by heating corn kernels in a pot with a little olive oil. It takes only 5-7 minutes, it’s just as delicious or even more so, and it will harm your children much less than the microwave version of the snack.
Another type of food you should prevent your children from eating, as it won’t benefit them in any way, is instant noodles – the kind where you “pour hot water, stir, and eat.” These products often contain more sodium than the recommended daily intake for a child; furthermore, the noodles in these products are made from white flour and lack fiber or any other nutritional value – so while these meals may fill your children, they certainly won’t nourish them or provide the essential nutrients they so desperately need.
Instead of these instant noodles, which children usually eat for lunch or dinner, it’s recommended to prepare a large batch of whole-wheat pasta for the week in advance, so they can consume it whenever they need a carbohydrate boost. If your children struggle to adapt to the texture of whole-wheat pasta, try mixing regular white flour pasta with whole-wheat pasta at first until they get used to it.
Source of images: Mike Mozart, theimpulsivebuy
