Kids can’t stop eating Junk. Why?

Kids love eating junk food and so do adults! And yes, junk food is one swap away from the plate full of healthy veggies or the plain routine food they have.

Junk food has always been appealing for a number of reasons, including convenience, price and taste. Specially for children, who do not understand the health consequences of their eating habits, junk food may appear especially appetizing. But regularly consumption of junk food can become an addiction for children and lead to complications like obesity, chronic illness, low self-esteem and even depression, as well as affecting how they perform in school and extracurricular activities.

Also, trying to get kids off their go-to junk foods baggage can be difficult. It is usually met with resistance, screaming battles and tears. Well, to take away foods means leaving a gaping hole in their eating routine

Hence let us understand what are the reasons why kids can’t stop eating Junk:

• Food Peer Pressure – One of the roadblocks to healthy eating is peer pressure from outside the home. Children often get negatively influenced by their peers when it comes to choosing healthy items in the lunch line, or consuming a healthy packed lunch.
• Devoid of cooking – With the on-going and growing economic independence among millennials and a wide variety of options to order in, cooking is not a compulsion any more. Cooking and eating healthy has become a secondary option for their kids leaving room for unhealthy or processed food which can be packed or prepared within no time.
• Developed Taste Buds – Junk foods are easier to eat because they have a flavour that kids respond to, and most junk food is carb based. Children are literally wired to eat carbs. Seriously, they seek out foods that are sweet from a biological perspective because it gives them energy and that feeling of satisfaction.
• Serving same food – In-order to save time and money, children are fed on the same food for most of the days and so it’s no wonder children are reluctant to eat them and hence tends to grab on the bites of the food that seems attractive and even taste better thereby accepting junk food in their life.

Mostly, life whirls around eating, so you want to be sure that your child is equipped to make healthy choices when you’re not right there because it all starts from Home. At the end of the day, it’s important for a parent to make suitable changes in their kids diet to make kids wean off junk food. Children follow what adults are eating and doing (especially parents).

Over to you:

As parents one should talk and show them that healthy eating is doable and introduce them in their diet hence making “Healthy” the norm and fun for kids.