Can Food Choices Now Impact Your Child’s Health Later?

We are all conscious of our diets at certain points in our lives, but what about the kids?  Does one really have to be concerned with what kids eat?  After all, they have faster metabolisms and are on the go much more often than the average adult.  The answer, however, is yes; what one eats today – even as a child – can drastically affect his or her health tomorrow.  So, parents should take certain measures to ensure that their children receive healthy foods that contain the necessary vitamins and nutrients they need to grow strong and healthy.  Furthermore, we should attempt to limit the pre-processed, high in trans fat, high in sugar, high in caffeine foods and beverages that can lead to serious health conditions down the road.

Soda Did you know that more than three-quarters of children between the ages of five and twelve consume caffeine daily?  It’s true.  The younger half consumes an average of fifty milligrams per day, and double that figure for the older kids.  Much of that caffeine comes from soda.  Each can of Coke comes with a whopping forty-five milligrams of caffeine.  While there is no research that has determined a safe level of caffeine for young kids, it is known that too much of it leads to trouble sleeping and difficulty performing in the classroom.

Furthermore, what may start as an innocent can of Coke per day today can quickly become an addiction in the future.  A huge proportion of our population is already suffering with sleep deprivation, and by arming your kids with a daily caffeine boost today, you might well be burdening them with that very same condition in the future.  Even the kids are having trouble getting to sleep like never before.  Lack of sleep – as a result of caffeine or for other reasons – can drastically reduce the child’s ability to do well in school.  That, of course, means that the chances for success in the future could also be limited.

Soda is also linked to increased rates of obesity down the road.  With a whopping one hundred fifty-five empty calories per can of Coke, it is easy to see how excessive caloric intake could happen.  Even diet soft drinks can be dangerous, as more and more studies are pointing to a correlation between artificial sweeteners and increased hunger levels.

Fast Food Every so often, the general nutritional needs of children are reviewed and rarely does it happen that those needs are met by a fast food meal.  Currently, there are more than two thousand different kids’ meals available to the general public.  Of those, less than one percent can offer children what they need, nutritionally speaking.  This information was collected after promises were made by fast food chains to improve the nutritional levels of their meals.  Nevertheless, the statistics regarding how much fast food kids eat are still astounding, and advertising is largely to blame.  Kids who watch television today see more of these ads, and a quarter more fast food ads then they did just seven years ago.

Those restaurants are the same that are still serving high amounts of trans fat, soft drinks loaded with sugar, and sodium beyond recommended daily levels.  The fact that eating these meals has a direct correlation with obesity and heart disease, among other conditions, in children and adults is no surprise.  More and more researchers are finding exactly that.  Even with the potential for harm reaching the public, time and time again it seems that families are just so pressed for time that they are forgoing healthy alternatives that could allow their children a healthier, happier head start in life.

Non-Organic No one said that it is easy to maintain a healthy diet for kids today.  In fact, even the foods that we have always been taught to trust are not always worthy of it today.  Many of the commercial grown and manufactured foods are treated with hundreds or even thousands of chemicals before they reach the table.  Though the exact effects of those chemicals on our bodies are not entirely known, there are links that have been drawn between many frequently used chemicals and some forms of cancer.  Prolonged exposure to many of these chemicals have been shown to cause skin, eye, and lung conditions.

This is especially true in growing regions of the world where pesticides frequent the air and water supplies.  If that is happening to others, what might it cause in your children?  The results might not be one hundred percent yet, but one has to wonder, given what is known about many of those chemicals and a huge increase in several serious conditions and diseases over the past couple decades.  Organic foods are grown and processed without the use of those potentially harmful chemicals and can provide a healthier and safer alternative to many of the pre-processed foods on the market.