Guide Your Children Towards Healthy Eating Habits And Keep Them Away From The Temptations Of Junk Food

Today, the health of our children is a serious matter of concern. It's no longer only about childhood obesity. Juvenile diabetes, autoimmune disorders, thyroid conditions, heart problems, skin diseases, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) are all on the rise among children, too. Who is to blame here? The problem begins with the kind of diet we make our children follow. A slice of cake, a bite of pizza, and occasional outside food wouldn't really create a problem, would it? However, if taken in excess, it could.

Overconsumption of junk food - a problem

One of the main reasons is the overconsumption of sugar and junk. Today, a child is exposed to various environments like schools, homes, tuitions, birthday parties, outings, etc., where the food primarily consists of junk food. It's easy for a child to slip off and get into unhealthy eating habits if parents do not intervene. In cases where both parents are too busy to provide home-cooked meals for children, or they have kept their children occupied in extracurricular activities, junk food is the only easy way out. Food marketers use this to their advantage and design foods in such a way that it becomes addictive and numbs their taste buds.

Junk food is often made in a factory and undergoes processing to the extent that it is completely stripped of its nutrients. Foods that fall under this category are loaded with sugar, salt, trans fat, caffeine, and monosodium glutamate, which is highly unhealthy. Aerated drinks, packaged fruit juices, cakes, candies, chocolates, bread, muffins, wafers, biscuits, pasta, instant noodles, namkeens, and burgers are examples of food that come under junk food.

Junk food makes the cells in our body starve for nutrition and then these cells rob nutrition from nearby cells to stay alive. This causes many vitamin and mineral deficiencies, dipping energy levels, lack concentration, stunted growth, psychological issues, hyperactivity and even hormonal imbalance.

Junk food and the immune system

Every time a child consumes junk food, their immune system is weakened. Junk foods disrupt the growth of a child physically and mentally. For example, sugar weakens immunity and brain cells and destroys the gut. It also feeds harmful bacteria, which can overcome the good bacteria.

Since kids are young, their bodies can heal themselves if the right conditions are provided. They needn't undergo any rigid detox plans or cleanse.

Even simple changes in their eating habits go a long way. Here are some of them:

1. Get them on track with hydration

Water is the simplest way to detox. Getting their bodies hydrated ensures the proper functioning of eliminatory organs and maintains an alkaline pH. Add a slice of lemon to their water, and you will further enhance its detoxing power. Junk foods are also dehydrating in a way, so consuming water helps.

2. Get them to eat raw foods

Every time your child eats fruits or vegetables, their system detoxifies. Encourage more of raw foods in your child's diet, like soaked nuts, seeds, fruits, salads, and veggie juices. Explore recipes that revolve around raw food like cacao almond milkshake with dates or a colorful fruit platter, and let your children help make these foods.

3. Add fiber to their diet

Nothing clogs up our gut like junk food. This can lead to constipation and a build-up of toxins within the gut, which is our body's most important detox organ. Design meals and snacks around fibrous foods like hummus with carrot and cucumber sticks, green moong pancakes, grated carrot with honey-yogurt dressing, mashed pea patties, mixed bean salad, and watermelon chunks with crushed nuts/seeds.

4. Encourage outdoor activities

Sweating is another way through which the body gets rid of toxins. Keep their video games out of sight and make them play outdoors. It could be running, walking, jumping up and down, playing in the garden, skating, badminton, football, skipping, cycling, etc. Playing also helps stimulate lymphatic drainage and develop better cognitive function, so it's a win-win situation.

We should join hands and take responsibility to start pushing healthy food as a way of life for our children. This involves teamwork, commitment, patience, sacrifice, and good intentions from every parent to make this work. We need not be extreme and cut it all out but practice moderation, which is key.