family health
Nutrition
As parents we have a responsibility to keep our children healthy. Canned drinks, burgers and crisps fill them with fat, salt and sugar, but few nutrients. They dull the appetite and reduce the amount of 'real' food kids want to eat. There's nothing wrong with occasional treats, but when sweets and snacks provide the majority of a child's calories, the result is weak health, excess weight, spotty skin and lank hair - just when they don't want them.
Heart disease stems from poor nutritional standards in childhood, and the convenience/junk diets that many children grow up on, combined with inactivity, mean many children are overweight even before they start school. Children do need calories, but the essentials are particularly important for their developing bodies. To use up their calorie allowance with huge ice-cream or bags of chips is asking for trouble.
- At www.bbc.co.uk/health/nutrition you'll find valuable information on dietary requirements for children and adolescents, as well as recipes and tips for healthy living.
- The British Nutrition Foundation website at www.nutrition.org.uk also has extensive information on health and nutrition.
|
|
