Take a look at this scenario- Parents promise their child that if he/she gets good grades, they will reward him/her with a ‘Large Hamburger’ or an extra-large pizza.
Let us be honest. How often do we parents feed our children with Colas, burgers and pizzas? Since generations we have been poisoning our children with these food stuffs. Did I say poisoning? In my conversation with parents, I have come across excuses such as ‘they love desserts’, ‘my child craves for pizzas’ and so on. Children are not born with love for pizzas or donuts. They learn about these only when we expose them to TV commercials and/or munch on such items in their presence.
It is not quite possible to completely avoid children from developing interest in unhealthy food stuff like French fries and pastries. However, with a little guidance and patience, we can control the eating habits of our kids. Remember healthy breakfast is the first step towards improving children’s health.
By gorging on junk food, elders foster unhealthy eating habits in their offspring. No doubt that the American Journal of Pathology, in one of its articles, claims that kids consuming American diet show early stages of atherosclerosis by the age of three. For those who are not familiar with the medical term atherosclerosis, it is artery damage caused by fatty streaks. Don’t you think that by allowing our kids to eat such fatty diets, we are slowly killing them?
We become what we eat. If we eat fatty foods we become obese. At present, the United States is reeling with Obesity Epidemic. Obesity, especially among the teenagers, is growing at an alarming rate. More and more kids are falling prey to heart diseases. What is the reason behind this? Our carelessness? Or our ignorance?
The concept of balanced diet needs to be brought back. We must teach our kids the importance of eating healthy. There is no shortage of information pertaining to healthy food and eating habits. The need of the hour is to expose our children to such positive information instead of letting them watch commercials of colas and pizzas.TV commercials, on one hand, develop craving in our kids for junk food, and at the same time, show them beautifully sculpted bodies of celebrities, and develop frustration in them.
Look around and you will see that most healthy children eat healthy food. Parents and teachers should work towards educating children with the numerous benefits of a healthy breakfast. What can we do to save our children? Parental involvement is the answer. Ensure that your child leaves home only after consuming a healthy breakfast. Educate children about the harm done by junk food.
Our ignorance has poisoned the taste buds of our next generation. We never miss a TV commercial of McDonalds or Pizza Hut. But do we pay attention to the articles that claim how harmful can such food be to the health of our children? The irony is that we tend to ignore articles backed by scientific evidence, and believe in marketing gimmicks having no ‘science’ in them. We do not have any right to take ‘health’ away from our kids. We are parents, not butchers!