The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends reducing sugar consumption at all stages of life. Sugars in total calories consumed per day should be less than 10% of daily intake, and should not exceed 5% in order to be healthy.

However, in a report published in the Spanish magazine Quedete Plus, Ana Kayijo Mora says that sugar consumption in children is often 52%, and up to 56% in adolescents, because of their demand for foods such as chocolate, artificial juices, bakery, pastries and breakfast cereals.

The same warning applies to the consumption of processed fats that children eat in excess of what is allowed until foods filled with harmful fats become a kind of reward for the child, such as taking him to the restaurant to eat hamburgers when he gets good grades.

Do parents realize this danger?
The author explains that parents are not aware that their children consume high amounts of sugars and fats.

The second reason behind the demand for these harmful foods is the fast-paced lifestyle, which forces fast and canned meals.

The author warns that the intake of these sugars and manufactured fat may have serious consequences for the health of children in the medium and long term, including obesity and insulin secretion in the body, high cholesterol and blood pressure, and even type II diabetes.

Tips to protect children from these foods
In order to fix this dietary behavior and maintain good health, the author recommends avoiding industrial pastries, juices, milk shakes and processed foods, as they are full of saturated fats and processed sugar.

It also recommends eating whole vegetables and cereals three or five times a day, increasing the consumption of nuts, fish and white meat, in addition to the demand for bread, rice and pasta made from whole grains.

The most important positive food behavior is to get used to cooking at home, so that the food preserves its flavor and nutrients.

The role of schools
The author also points out that schools should also take action to raise awareness and encourage children to stay away from harmful foods, by devoting some lessons to explain the types of foods recommended.

The school restaurant must have a diet supervised by nutritionists who choose foods according to the age and daily needs of children. Schools are also required to dispose of vending machines that make it easier for children to buy a drink or a dessert once a coin is placed.

The author believes that it is also important to hold workshops and events on healthy nutrition in educational institutions, because it is important that children from the earliest age are convinced that the natural and healthy food they are supposed to eat consists of vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish, meat and a few pastries, rather than snacks. Filled with sugar or salt and fast food full of fat.

This strategy may lead to a decrease in the number of obese children and the elderly and various health problems associated with the high consumption of harmful foods.

Food culture
The writer says that there are many parents who are aware of the problems caused by indifference in giving food to children, and in contrast there are many do not pay attention to the seriousness of this matter, and even some still believe that the young child when the weight is over, this is a sign of good nutrition, The skinny child is malnourished.

The writer explains that since the beginning of the industrial age, societies have become fast and suffer from the pressure of time, so many families do not cook food at home and do not sit at the dining table, especially since it is possible to get a meal at any time of the day or night once you go Towards shops or make a phone call to order home delivery.

Another tradition that has become common in recent years is the celebration of birthdays in fast food restaurants and entertainment centers where large quantities of health-damaging food are ordered, and some restaurants have children's menus that include frozen, fried, fatty and carbohydrate foods.

The digital culture has also had an impact on the behavior of children who sit for a long time in front of the screens watching short advertisements promoting the consumption of various types of harmful food, which drives these children to stick to the purchase of these products as soon as they go with their parents to shopping centers.

In conclusion, the author pointed out that when some parents face these doctor advice on changing the diet of their children admit that they have difficulty in this, because all other children consume the same foods, or because of financial difficulties that make them not afford the cost of fresh food.