It seems that kids are exposed to more unhealthy food than ever. It's not surprising considering the number of convenience stores, fast-food restaurants and grocery stores stocked with high-calorie/low nutrition snacks located in every major city around the world. It's no wonder statistics published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that nearly 17 percent of children in the U.S. are considered obese based on their body mass index, or BMI. Avoiding bad dietary habits can help to teach your kids about proper nutrition and how to live healthy.
Fast Food Diets
As life moves at a faster pace than ever, more and more parents seem to be turning to the quickest and easiest ways to feed their families---fast-food. Fast-food restaurants are not only quick ways to get a bite to eat, but they are also very affordable. These two factors make fast-food a hit around the world. While many fast-food restaurants today are offering healthier alternatives, many still offer high calorie foods on the menu. For instance, stopping by Burger King for a Double Whopper with cheese, medium fries and medium soft drink can add up to over 1,600 calories and 82 grams of fat, according to WashingtonPost.com. Kids who are eating this type of food will tend to over-eat; not to mention they are not getting the right vitamins and nutrients necessary for proper growth and development.
Junk Food
Junk food tastes good and it's convenient; this is a recipe for disaster in regards to your child's health. Sugary snacks, candy, sodas, chips and other so-called convenience foods may be a quick and easy treat for your kids, but many of them offer little or no nutritional value. In other words, you child is consuming empty calories that will do nothing more than get stored as fat in their body. The government has got involved in some states regarding the sale of junk food in schools. For example, the Boston Globe reported in 2010 that Massachusetts passed a bill that would encourage schools to sell fruits, vegetables, whole grain items, nonfat dairy products, 100 percent juices and offer free bottled water to students. This is in an effort to curb the nearly one-third of all children aged 10 to 17 who were considered overweight or obese in the state, according to Boston.com. By reducing the amount of junk food consumed by kids and replacing it with nutritionally dense foods, kids are better equipped to live healthier lives and maintain an optimal body weight heading into adulthood.
Fad Diets
These are the types of diets you see on late night infomercials or see advertised in print just about everywhere. While these types of diets are primarily targeted at adults, kids are susceptible to partaking in these unhealthy diet programs. FamilyDoctor.org states that fad diets not only do not work in the long term, but they can also be flat-out unhealthy---especially for children. Many fad diets restrict intake of certain essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates and fats, which are both essential in the development of children during adolescence. FamilyDoctor.org suggests avoiding diets that claim you can lose weight quickly, make claims that you can lose weight without changing your diet and feature shady marketing techniques, such as before and after photos of individuals who have supposedly lost weight on their particular diet plan.
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