Thursday, 25 May 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The State women empowerment and child development (WECD) minister Rekha Arya has recently urged the scientists to find an alternative to junk food for the children while addressing an international conference. The experts The Pioneer talked to have supported the minister and said that consumption of junk food has a negative impact on the children. They warned that it may seriously affect the immunity system and internal development of the children.
Sharing her view of the matter, Dehradun-based dietician Richa Kukreti said that the parents must stop their children from consuming junk food. “From my experiences I can say that the parents are responsible for this matter. They indulge their children in having such food. Later, this becomes an addiction,” she said.
She further said that the habit of consuming junk food affects the children not just physically but mentally. “This begets anxiety, frustration and irritation in the children,” she said and added that the parents must say an emphatic no to their children at the right time and must find out better alternatives for them.
Commenting on the matter, public health consultant Dr Mahesh Bhatt said that the spiralling rate of junk food consumption among the children can be ascribed to multiple reasons. “These foods taste good as they are high in fat, sugar and salt content. But this is an unhealthy choice. Here the parents must play an important role. They themselves must become aware of the harmful effects of consuming such food like obesity, weak immunity, loss of appetite, indigestion, high cholesterol, diabetes, skin and dental problems and many others. Not just on the physical plane but on the mental plane too, consumption of junk food has its harmful effects. The children addicted to junk food become irritable and frustrated,” he added.
