It is recommended to have everything in normal quantities. When it comes to kids, consuming too much sugar or processed food comes under the scanner.

Sugar especially is a bad guy and is linked to behavioural problems in kids. Many doctors are of the opinion that the irritability and attention deficit aspects. What looks so safe and fun like cold cereal, granola bars, and yoghurt smoothies are actually marketed keeping kids and parents as the target audience – they have high sugar content. 

Nutritionists put these under the category of “desserts”. The high energy and the sugar rush throughout the day keep our kids in the “rushing” zone. This affects their attention span and moods a lot. 

Some doctors go to the extent of giving a connection between food and the brain. Too much sugar can hamper brain development. If you think all this is a shocking thing, let us be clear that not all sugars are bad and not all processed foods are harmful. 

Simple carbohydrates are sugar. They give energy quickly and such foods are cakes, fizzy drinks, packaged fruit juices, ice creams, and sweet bakery items like cookies or doughnuts. Sweets made during festivals also come under this category. 

Complex carbohydrates are recommended because they contain fibre along with starch. Since these kinds of carbohydrates take a longer time to digest mainly on the fact that they are densely packed with nutrients. There is no instant energy since the body focuses on working on the digestion part. That’s why eating apples takes more time than muffins even though both are examples of simple carbohydrates (muffins) and complex carbohydrates (apples).

As parents who are concerned about how to best tackle the lure of packaged and processed foods, here are the steps one can follow to ensure that the kids are given the best food combinations – 

1. Keep Google Search on as you make a comparison of different foodstuffs available in the supermarkets.
2. Check the ingredients list and do a Google Search on them to find out how safe or dangerous they can be
3. Concerns about what foodstuffs your child is allergic to can be abetted when seeing the ingredient list
4. Concur with your kid’s doctor to ascertain the safety of certain food types
5. The best way out is to make home-cooked meals

Parents need to remember that the brain utilizes the maximum energy that glucose provides ie. 20%. Now, the fact is that the brain is just 2% of the body. Here, you can do the math and see how hugely sugar and processed foods impact the brain and the body.