In today’s world, fast food is so widespread across the world. Almost every village, town or city has at least one fast-food restaurant. It’s something that we can’t avoid. But we can reduce the frequency of going there and as a result, reduce the negative impact.
Fast food can negatively impact any who eats it regularly. But for our children, it can be much more severe and potentially affect their future growth.
First off, let’s talk about the different types of fast food you can find in this world.
Types of Fast Food
Fast food can be a solo business or a chain with multiple restaurants worldwide. This means it can be hard to avoid. But instead of trying to avoid these fast foods, we can try maintaining a healthy diet while still being able to indulge now and again in these foods.
The most popular types of food that fast food places sell include:
- Chicken nuggets
- Burgers
- Kebabs
- Pizza
- Fried chicken
- Fish and chips
Highly processed and mass-produced, fast food is typically not fresh and has a lot of additives and flavours within it. Almost all of them are also fried in oil and filled with sodium which increases salt intake.
They’re cooked in a lot of oil, which when consumed in large amounts, can leave you and your child with numerous health problems. Fast food certainly can cause a lot of McTrouble…
What Fast Food Does to a Child
Fast food can cause high cholesterol which affects the heart. It causes a build-up of fat within the arteries which may lead to heart disease. There’s also the chance of diabetes caused by the amount of sugar. This can lead to an increase in blood pressure and even childhood obesity.
In terms of mental health, there is also the risk of addiction. Fast food tends to have a sort of addictive substance filled that makes you want to consume it again and again, which increases the risks above.
The consumption of fast food can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. Since fast food can be very filling and is highly processed, it means that fresh fruit and vegetables are not used as often. This makes things extremely difficult as you are not eating any of your five a day which is important for your health.
Many children indulge in fast food because their parents do. So, there are multiple things you can do to cut down on fast food consumption within your household. To start, you can simply have it less.
How to Cut Down
This isn’t as simple as it may seem because children who are addicted may misbehave in response to a withdrawal from fast food. But there are other ways to cut down that may be more effective. If you can deal with misbehaving children, however, then try to have it less!
The following ways to cut down will not only help your child in the future but help yourself too!
Buying healthier alternatives is a good plan – swapping fries for a salad or adding a salad to your burger is an easy way to eat a little bit healthier.
Sometimes, fast food has nutritional information attached to it, or at the very least on their associated website. Using this, you can see what sort of nutrition it provides.
Whether the fast food has a lot of fat in it, the sugar contents are high, or whatever unhealthy facts it has, having this information means you can regulate fast food for your child.
Instead of letting your child have a full pizza, one or two slices with a side salad would be better, followed by some fruit or vegetables, or something just as healthy.
Conclusion
With the decreased intake of fast food, your child will be a healthier person, and can grow into a healthy adult. It will also show them how to eat healthy from a young age so in the future they will understand the consequences of unhealthy eating.
We at Veginom want to help you and your children’s health in any way we can! Promoting a healthy lifestyle is our goal for the future of today’s children. If you need any further assistance, then feel free to contact us here.