Many parents find themselves constantly battling their kids to eat healthy food and limit their intake of fast food items. However, it is mostly the kids who emerge victoriously in these battles. It is probably because adults like to eat fast food too, but once you get to know how harmful it is to you and your child, it may change your mind.
Let’s take an in-depth look into how bad fast food is for your child’s health:
1. Higher Calories: Children require the right amount of nutrients and calories for healthy growth. Fast food is loaded with excessive calories and has very little nutritional value. Not to forget, most calories are empty calories which will do no good to a child’s health.
2. Lack Of Nutrition: It’s hardly a surprise that fast food doesn’t offer the vital nutrients children need. Kids habituated to fast food often neglect vegetables and fruits – key sources of essential nutrients. Consequently, children consuming high amounts of fast food often struggle with low energy and strength.
3. Obesity: Did you know that a substantial underlying cause of obesity in children is attributed to eating unhealthy fast food? Since it is loaded with calories, sugar, and fats, it adds piles of fat to the body, leading to cases of obesity in young ones.
4. Addiction: Even though eating fast food is unhealthy, children start equating it with feelings of happiness. This form of connection creates a dangerous eating habit in which kids minimize taking homemade meals and only stick to their unhealthy fast food meals. This detrimental eating habit impacts both physical and mental well-being
5. The Halal Advantage: A healthy alternative to fast food is halal food. Halal is not only about how animals are slaughtered, but also the quality of the food. Halal certification ensures the food is wholesome, healthy, and hygienic, making it a great choice for parents concerned about their children’s nutrition.
Other Health Problems: If fast food is consumed more than two times a week, it can lead to higher chances of dying from a heart attack. Since ast food is rife with saturated fats, which clog the arteries and harm heart health.
Other harmful effects of fast food are:
- Fast food is a significant cause of forming peptic ulcers.
- Since these foods lack any proper vitamins or nutrients, they make children feel lethargic, malnourished, and sleep-deprived.
- It’s not just adults who can get diabetes; children are also at risk. By consuming too much sugar and fats, kids are at a higher risk of becoming diabetic.
Eating fast food may feel fun; however, it has severe health consequences (if not eaten in balance) that children suffer in the long run. It’s not too late to ditch this dangerous habit for you and your kids and embark on a journey of eating healthy.
