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Effects of junk food to children

Junk food can be appealing for a variety of reasons, including convenience, price and taste. For children, who do not always understand the health consequences of their eating habits, junk food may appear especially appetizing. However, regularly consuming fattening junk food can be addictive for children and lead to complications like obesity, chronic illness, low self-esteem and even depression, as well as affecting how they perform in school and extracurricular activities.However, fast food is extremely attractive to most children because of the taste, comparatively lower price, and convenience (doesn’t require any cooking or preparation). Since children typically do not understand how this kind of food negatively impacts their health, it can be quite addictive.
   Below are effects of junk food
Junk food will encourage your child to eat more
The fats, sugar and salt in fast food draw kids like a magnet, largely because they appeal to a child’s “primordial tastes”. “From an evolutionary point of view, humans are hard-wired to crave high-calorie food as a survival mechanism, so each time we see, smell or eat junk food, many chemicals and neurotransmitters are released in our body,”“When your child bites into a burger, his brain reward system gets activated since dopamine, which is the main neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure and excitement, gets secreted. And then he will feel a complete lack of control and an intense demand from his brain for more,” adds Chowdhary.
     Regular junk food intake leads to long-term health problems such as obesity, accompanying emotional and self-esteem problems, and chronic illnesses in later life. A single fast food meal could add 160 and 310 extra kilocalories to the daily caloric intake for teenagers and younger children, respectively.
Lack of vitamins such as A and C, and minerals such as magnesium and calcium, encourage the development of deficiency diseases and osteoporosis, as well as dental caries due to higher sugar intake.
The presence of hazardous food coloring agents and/or unhealthy trans fats in many fast food items, and issues with food preparation safety, often complicate the issue further.
   Atopy
Fast food intake more than three times a week is associated with greater odds of atopic disorders such as asthma, eczema or rhinitis, while asthma severity is almost 40% higher in teenagers and more than 25% in younger children.
    Constipation
An overdose of calories, fats, sugars, and other carbohydrates in repeated meals changes the food desires of the child, and makes it less likely that the child will eat fibers, fruits, milk, and vegetables. This can result in greater chances of constipation.
Addiction
Eating a lot of fast food in childhood makes it hard to eat healthy in later life, even if related medical problems are already evident, because childhood food habits solidify by adulthood. The addictive taste of fast food makes it quite unlikely that the palate will later savor the less complicated and less spicy flavors of ordinary food.
Poor Academics
Fast food can lead to impaired academic performance because high sugar levels followed by sugar crashes and poor concentration levels make it difficult to accomplish tasks which need extended periods of focused attention. Blood sugar fluctuations can also result in mood swings and lack of alertness, lowering classroom participation.
Less Energy
Fast food can inhibit participation in extracurricular activities because it doesn’t provide adequate nutrients for physical activity. Lack of physical activity not only keeps children out of peer groups but also impairs physical and mental health.
Depression
Obesity can result in lowered self-esteem, and perhaps depression. Some children who eat junk food are at risk of developing depression even without obesity. Depression in turn affects growth and development parameters, academic performance, and social relationships. It also results in a higher risk of suicide.
Sleep Disturbances
Pop and cola drinks often contain caffeine which can make bedtime an ordeal by postponing normal sleep-wake cycles.

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