Salty products provoke childhood obesity

Surely many people know from their own experience or were eyewitnesses of how children, stopping near a shelf with chips or salted rusks, ask their parents to buy a pack of them. Many parents try to fight such desires and explain to the child why there are such products harmful, but sometimes their patience bursts and the child gets what they want. However, scientists advise fathers and mothers not to succumb to the provocation of the child, because this can lead to obesity and as a consequence - to serious health problems.

Salty snacks, such as chips, crackers and other salted snacks, can cause childhood obesity, say Australian scientists from the University of Deakin. In addition to the fact that such products are dangerous in itself because of the high content of all kinds of additives, carcinogens and trans fats in it, children who drink it like to drink all the sweet drinks that further increase the risk of obesity.

The results of researches of scientists are published in the pages of the scientific journal "Pediatrics".

The study was conducted in Australia and its participants were 4,200 children from two to sixteen years old. As it turned out, a large amount of salt, contained in snacks, was the reason that children drank more liquids and, at the same time, they gave preference to sweet fizzy drinks or sweetened juices. Each eaten 390 milligrams of sodium consumed about 17 grams of beverages.

Experts say that children who consume more than one serving of sugary drinks a day have big risks of developing obesity. In particular, the risk of an increase in overweight in children rises by 26% compared with peers who do not consume so many additional calories.

"There is nothing surprising in that children whose parents allow a child to absorb salty unhealthy foods also have a predilection for equally unhealthy beverages," says Lona Sandon, assistant professor of the Department of Nutrition at the University of the Texas Southwest Medical Center in Dallas. - Allowing the child to eat such food, fathers and mothers personally undermine the health of the child. Carbonated sweet drinks and salty snacks are inappropriate food for children. Parents should try not only to restrict the child in the use of such harmful products, but also to try to ensure that their children receive the necessary amount of vitamins and minerals through a healthy diet. "

Experts advise both adults and children not to abuse salty foods. The recommended daily dose of sodium should not exceed 2,300 milligrams.

But according to recent studies of scientists from the same university, the recommended sodium dose is exceeded and American teenagers consume more salt, about 3,400 milligrams. A considerable part of sodium is contained in restaurant dishes and food products that have been processed.

Experts advise not to forget that the child is difficult to convince that the product is harmful if the parents themselves give him an example and use this food.

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