Eating Bad – 3 Snacks Kids You Should Avoid

It takes a lot of time and energy for kids to grow up, literally. Children need a good source of protein and vitamins to help with their body’s constant changes so they can become healthy and strong. As a parent, your main goal is to provide your children with the vitamins to help them on their path from childhood through puberty and into adulthood.

However, raising kids is tough. As a parent, you have to become proficient at juggling between school, extracurricular activities, homework and bedtime. Quick snacks are a go-to for parents when a lunchbox needs to be packed or when breakfast time is only 15 minutes long. Along with homemade sandwiches, these typical snacks are thrown in to satisfy children but in the end it does more harm than good. Here are 3 foods that you should avoid feeding your children.

Chip Away the Chips

Kids love chips. They are packed with flavor and crunch, especially nowadays when Lays offers flavors such as Bacon Mac and Cheese that are hard to say no to. Unfortunately, chips contain trans fat and hydrogenated oils that lead to obesity and cardiovascular disease. Baked chips are seen as a better option but, in reality, they contain higher amounts of sugar to make them taste better.

When you’re at the grocery, muster all your strength and walk past the chip aisle. Instead, make your own chips at home but with other vegetables, such as carrots, kale and beets. You can find an array of recipes for baked vegetable chips online that you can cook at home and have control on what you put in it.
Chips1

Ice Cream vs. Frozen Yogurt

A couple of scoops of ice cream are a perfect way to end a summer day of running around in the hot sun. Available in many flavors, ice cream is a preferred dessert amongst kids and the ice cream truck never fails to circle the neighborhood every day to remind them.

Although tasty, one scoop of ice cream alone holds more calories and fat than its competitor, frozen yogurt. If your child is craving a cold treat, then go for frozen yogurt instead. Just watch out for the add-on ingredients, usually topped on frozen yogurt, to control your child’s sugar intake.
Ice Cream1

Sunny D is Not a Delight

Everyone remembers the Sunny D commercials so much that it’s become nostalgia. Just watching them made you want to be just as cool and drink Sunny D instead of not-so-cool orange juice, but there comes a price.

Sunny D is only 5 percent real juice while the rest of the 95 percent is basically highly processed sugar water. Not only will your kids have an explosive sugar rush but there’s a risk for metabolic dysfunction, which can cause elevated blood sugar and weight gain.

Nowadays, many grocers offer fresh-squeezed orange juice in their deli or fruit section. Fruits have natural sugars but they are a much better choice than artificial sweeteners. You can also get your dose of vitamin C from fresh-squeezed orange juice!
Sunny D

January 19, 2016
Written by Hazel Ramos
Content Writer at Nutex Health, Inc
Nutex Health, Inc supports you and your family’s health. With our 24 Hour Emergency Rooms in Port Arthur and Orange, we can treat you promptly with our expert team of nurses and board certified ER doctors.