We all know that feeding our children overly processed foods may lead to obesity and a host of other health concerns. When we talk of overly processed foods it is not just about all the wonderful nutrients that are lost during processing like vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and fiber. These losses pose a major threat to our growing babies. Also of major concern are all the added junk gained during the process like added salt, sugar, chemical additives, and fillers. 

The most common nutritional disorder in the US today is obesity. Studies have shown that an obese child displays early warning signs of heart disease. Excessive salt intake is linked to high blood pressure which can eventually lead to heart disease and stroke. Children eating overly processed foods eat more than three times the recommended salt intake.

Excessive sugary food can ultimately cause diabetes. Sugar, as we all know, has no nutritional value. It provides nothing but empty calories. Sugar can lead to tooth decay . There has been a lot of research that shows that children who eat surgery foods are more likely to grow into adults with a sweet tooth.

Why is there such a need to have sugar in almost everything when we know it really has nothing to offer? For something with so little nutritional value it seems we can’t get enough of it.  Some food items will have three different sweeteners listed on the label (i.e. sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and honey). How sweet those sweets have to be!

Taking sugar out of your baby’s diet doesn’t mean your child can’t have sweets. If you must feed your child sweets look for sweets made with 100% juice with no added junk. You can easily make fruit sweetened goodies at home by substituting juice for sugar in recipes for cookies, cakes, muffins etc.

Given our hectic lifestyles it is understandable that we all can’t grow our own grain, mill our own flour and churn our own butter. Yet we have the option to buy freshly prepared foods instead of settling for the mainstream refined counterparts that have been robbed of their original nutrients. What are we thinking when we consciously feed our children food that has been robbed of nutrients or give our children foods that have a 2 year shelf-life? When you go past the produce section, past the freezer section, then down the canned food isle, and pick up a can of cooked vegetables that probably has been on the shelf for a year and take it home to your child... What is your intention?

Are you intentionally giving your child a healthy start in life or putting your child at risk for a future full of health issues?

And now we know:

Establish a healthy eating habit now by offering wholesome nutritious meals, fruits and vegetables and you would have set a healthy eating plan for life.