Why should children limit fast food?

Fast food such as pizza, fried chicken, sausages, soft drinks… are favorites of many people, especially children. This food source often contains a lot of calories, bad fats, salt, and sugar, which increases the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver disease, cancer, and harms the digestive system and brain.

Easy to get fatty liver

Fast food often contains a lot of sugar and fat, which is one of the factors that increase the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children. Foods containing empty calories can overload the liver’s metabolism, leading to fat accumulation and inflammation. Therefore, parents should equip children with knowledge about nutrition and help them understand the harmful effects of consuming too much fast food.

Metabolic disorders

Metabolic disorders occur when the metabolism of protein, sugar, and fat is abnormal, leading to accumulation or deficiency of nutrients. The cause is often due to poor diet, lack of exercise, stress or genetics, increasing the risk of insulin resistance, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

To prevent this, parents need to build a scientific diet for their children, prioritizing whole foods, increasing vegetables, fruits, lean proteins and complex carbohydrates.

Lack of nutrients

Fast food with little nutritional value can easily cause developing children to lack vitamins, minerals and essential micronutrients. Children with malnutrition often show symptoms such as anorexia, fatigue, poor sleep, dry and weak hair, and getting sick easily.

Parents should feed their babies a variety of foods, increasing green vegetables, fruits, red meat and seafood. When there are signs of doubt, it is necessary to take the child for micronutrient testing for an accurate diagnosis.

Bad effects on the brain

Consuming a lot of nutritionally poor fast food can negatively affect children’s behavior and cognition, reducing their ability to concentrate, causing mood disorders and poor academic performance. Nutrients such as DHA, omega-3, iron, zinc and vitamin B12 play an important role in brain cell development, increasing concentration and memory.

Children should eat foods that are good for the brain such as eggs, fatty fish, green leafy vegetables, berries, walnuts, almonds and tofu.