(Newswire.net — September 29, 2013) Portland, OR — An important observation is that, in contrast to third-world countries, the poorest people in the U.S. have the highest obesity rates.
There appears to be a strong indicator that the problem could stem from the diet itself. Apparently something in the cheapest and most readily available foods is reeking metabolic havoc in children.
This obesity epidemic can be a direct result of a diet of processed foods with their artificial ingredients, cheap non-nutritious fillers, and synthetic chemical additives.
At the top of ingredient list in nearly all processed foods is refined fructose, usually in the form of high fructose corn syrup – most of that genetically engineered. This is a nutritionist’s nightmare in the making.
Starting at infancy, baby food, infant formula and fruit juice, babies are being feed enormous amounts of sugar, several times a day. Some baby food contains as much sugar and saturated fats as chocolate cookies or cheeseburgers. A survey in 2009 found that foods for babies and toddlers found examples that were 29 percent sugar, and others that contained trans fats, which have been linked to heart disease.
Starting out a child with a diet of processed fructose and trans fats, excessive weight gain is the norm – not the exception.
Processed foods have changed dramatically since they were first introduced. The level of processing and chemical additives has exploded and much of today’s food supply is now boxed or canned for everyone’s convenience. These foods have been processed and altered to the point of being virtually unrecognizable, nutritionally, from the real deal.
Don’t start your baby out on rice cereal which is a refined carbohydrate. Second only to breast milk or formula, rice is the number one source of calories for infants in the first year of life, according to Stanford University pediatrician Alan Greene, and nothing short of a nutritional disaster.
Another culprit is grain as they are quickly converted into sugar and then fat in your child’s body. These types of carbs (fructose and grains) affect the hormones insulin and leptin, both of which are very potent fat regulators. Parents shouldn’t fall for the flawed notion that cereal is an ideal breakfast food.
As children age they move up to ‘fruit juice’, which contain little, if any, actual fruit juice and hundreds of grams of sugar in a liter. Parents have been led to believe that fruit drinks were healthy for their kids, exactly what the manufacturers want them to believe. As recently reported in the Guardian Express, kids today are 40 percent heavier today than just 25 years ago, and a growing number of studies have linked rising childhood obesity rates to increased consumption of sugary beverages (including those sweetened with no- or low-cal sweeteners).
Generally, the beverage industry has denied or strongly downplayed its role in the childhood obesity epidemic, despite the fact that beverage companies spend over $1 billion annually on youth-targeted marketing—especially in school settings. According to the Guardian Express, 80 percent of American schools have contracts with Coke or Pepsi to stock their products in school vending machines.
As parents, shouldn’t we know better? Isn’t it important to start children on the right path, as soon as we can?
Children learn from adults and they do not know which foods are healthy unless you, as a parent, teach it to them. Wholesome food is “live” and typically raw food, and the hallmark of live food is the fact that it will wilt and decompose. Considering the fact that burgers and fries do not decompose, even after a decade, should be an indicator that this “food” isn’t real.
Kids need nutrients, not chemicals, to grow strong and healthy. Focus on foods that have not been processed or altered from their original state; food that has been grown or raised as nature intended, without the use of chemical additives, pesticides and fertilizers.
Also someone in the family will need to invest time in the kitchen cooking fresh wholesome meals from these whole foods so that you can break free from the processed food diet that will ultimately make you sick.
This will give your children what their bodies need during the important developmental years while also developing a love for whole fresh foods that will last them a lifetime.
Source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/09/28/childhood-obesity-rates