By Dr. Mercola
The British BBC documentary above originally aired back in
2008. At the time, one in four preschool children in the UK were
overweight or obese, closely matching childhood obesity rates in
the United States.
According to the latest statistics,1
30 percent of British children between the ages of two and 15
are now overweight or obese.
Similarly, in the US, more than one-third of children and
adolescents are overweight or obese. Eighteen percent of
American children between the ages of six and 11 are in the
obese category—up from seven percent in 1980.2
Five percent of American children are “severely obese,” which
puts them at grave risk for chronic diseases typically reserved
for adults, such as heart and
liver disease.
One interesting fact is that, in contrast to third-world
countries, in the US the poorest people have the
highest obesity rates.
This seeming contradiction is, I believe, a clear indication
that the problem stems from the diet itself. Something in the
cheapest and most readily available foods is creating metabolic
havoc.
In short, the obesity epidemic is a direct outgrowth of a
diet of processed foods with their cheap non-nutritive
fillers, artificial ingredients, and synthetic chemical
additives (many of which are
banned in other countries due to health effects).
Most importantly, virtually all processed foods are
loaded with refined fructose, primarily in the form of high
fructose corn syrup—and in the US, most of it is genetically
engineered (GE) to boot. This type of diet is a major factor in
the recipe for obesity.
Obesity Is an Inevitable Outcome of a Processed Food Diet
Many parents, including those featured in this film, are
confounded and befuddled about the cause of their child’s excess
weight gain. The root of the problem becomes quickly
recognizable when you start looking at the foods your child
eats, and that includes baby food.
If you feed your child commercial infant formula, baby food,
and/or miscellaneous fruit juices, you need to beware that
you’re feeding your child enormous amounts of sugar, several
times a day.
In fact, some
baby foods contain as much sugar and saturated fats as
chocolate cookies or cheeseburgers. One 2009 survey of more than
100 foods for babies and toddlers found examples that were 29
percent sugar, and others that contained trans fats, which have
been linked to heart disease.
When a child starts out with a diet of processed fructose and
trans fats, excessive weight gain is not a mystery outcome—it’s
more or less an inevitability.
Parents need to wake up and face the reality that
processed foods have dramatically changed over the years.
The level of processing and chemical additives has increased
exponentially and a majority of foods are now boxed or canned
for your convenience.
Today’s pre-packaged convenience foods have been processed and
altered to the point of being virtually unrecognizable,
nutritionally, from the real deal.
The documentary features Paul Gately, a Professor of Exercise
and Obesity at Leeds Metropolitan University, who organized
Great Britain’s first weight loss camp for kids under the age of
five. As Gately says, it’s important to get your child’s weight
under control as early as possible, as obesity dramatically
increases his or her risk of a wide variety of
chronic diseases, including:
Diabetes, which can lead to a whole host of other
medical issues |
Congestive heart failure, a condition in which your
heart can’t pump enough blood to your body’s other
organs |
Pulmonary embolism, a potentially fatal blockage of an
artery |
Fatty liver disease, in which large pockets of fat
accumulate in your liver cells |
Osteoarthritis |
Gout, caused by uric acid accumulation in your blood |
Gallbladder disease, resulting from high blood
cholesterol levels, which can cause gall stones |
Cancer, particularly estrogen-sensitive cancers like
breast cancer |
Are You Feeding Your Child Sugar All Day Long?
I disagree with the notion that young children are simply
eating too many calories and not getting enough physical
exercise. Toddlers have eaten heartily for many centuries
without getting obese and sick. Again, the heart of the problem
lies in the source of those calories.
If you want to give your baby the best start nutritionally,
do not follow the advice in most baby books encouraging
you to start your baby out on rice cereal—a refined
carbohydrate. Other than breast milk or formula, rice is the
number one source of calories for infants in the first year of
life, according to Stanford University pediatrician Alan Greene,
and this is nothing short of a
nutritional disaster.
For many kids, it’s downhill from there. Refined fructose,
typically in some form of corn syrup, is now found in virtually
every processed food and fast food meal you can think of, and
fructose actually “programs” your body to consume more calories
and store fat.
Grains are another culprit, as they are quickly converted
into sugar and then fat in your child’s body. These types of
carbs (fructose and grains) affect the hormones insulin and
leptin, both of which are very potent fat regulators. (Fats and
proteins affect them to a far lesser degree.) So please don’t
fall for the flawed notion that cereal is an ideal breakfast
food. Two years ago, Kellogg had the gall to claim, on their web
site, that “sugar does not cause obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart
disease or hyperactivity.3"
At the time, I commented that, was the truth to be accepted,
they’d be fined for advertising fraud. Since then, they’ve
removed that crazy statement, and now just urge you to “put
sugar in perspective,” pointing out that:4
“Sugar in cereals — including kids cereals
—contributes less than 5 percent of daily sugar intake. Yet
it adds taste, texture and enjoyment to cereal, while
encouraging the consumption of fiber, vitamins and minerals
— essential nutrients that you and your kids might not
otherwise get from any other meal.”
Their assertion is still ridiculous, as the nutrients your
child really needs are found in whole fresh foods; not
in a box of processed cereal loaded with sugar and synthetic
chemical additives, but at least it’s not blatantly fraudulent
like so many other food industry lies and deceptions.
Many Kids Are Hooked on Soda and Sugary Fruit Drinks
Many children also drink soda every day. Many also drink
‘fruit juices,’ some of which contained little, if any, actual
fruit juice and hundreds of grams of sugar in a liter.
Parents often believed that fruit drinks were healthy for their
kids, and that is precisely what the manufacturers want them to
believe. As recently reported in the Guardian Express,5
kids are 40 percent heavier today compared to just 25 years ago,
and a growing number of studies have linked rising childhood
obesity rates to increased consumption of sugary beverages
(including those sweetened with no- or low-cal sweeteners).
As a general rule, the beverage industry has denied or
strongly downplayed its role in the childhood obesity epidemic,
despite the fact that beverage companies spend over $1 billion
annually on youth-targeted marketing—especially in school
settings. According to the Guardian Express, 80 percent
of American schools have contracts with Coke or Pepsi to stock
their products in school vending machines. It’s an untenable
position, really. Clearly, marketing WORKS, or else they
wouldn’t be doing it, and when ads target an audience of 2- to
17-year-olds, it’s hardly an accident that kids in that age
range opt for soda whenever they’re given a choice.
Children Are Also at Increased Risk from GMO Side Effects
In the US, parents also have to contend with the fact that a
vast majority of corn-based fructose is genetically engineered
and heavily contaminated with the toxic herbicide glyphosate,
which is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s
Roundup. Experts like Dr. Don Huber strongly believe that
glyphosate is actually
more toxic than DDT.
Compelling evidence now suggests that glyphosate residues,
found in most commonly consumed foods in the Western diet
courtesy of GE sugar, corn, soy and wheat, enhance the damaging
effects of other food-borne chemical residues and toxins in the
environment to disrupt normal body functions and induce disease.
Glyphosate also severely disrupts your gut flora, thereby
further exacerbating metabolic havoc and poor health.
Other genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can also be found
in
infant formulas, and no one really knows what the health
risks of such ingredients might be, especially long-term. It’s
important to remember that pound for pound, infants experience
greater exposure to chemicals than adults, and have immature and
porous blood-brain barriers, which allow greater chemical
exposures to reach their developing brains. Hence an all-organic
diet is really crucial for infants and young children.
Breastfeeding Is the Healthy Start Your Baby Needs
Breastfeeding is clearly the best option. Besides lacking
the full arsenal of critical nutrients obtained from breast
milk, many infant formulas also contain far too much sugar (your
baby doesn’t need any). But it's not just a matter of
vitamins, minerals, proteins and fats that makes breast milk far
superior to formula. Breast milk also contains substances that
may significantly enhance your baby's gut and support the
healthy development of her entire nervous system.
If you are unable to breastfeed, you may want to consider the
option of purchasing human breast milk, which is becoming a hot
commodity online. Nursing women are now selling their extra milk
to other families, many of whom are pairing up online via
Craigslist and other classified sites. This trend harkens back
to ancient times when wet nurses (women who breastfeed babies
other than their own) were used. For more about this option and
some cautions, please refer to this article on the sale of
breast milk.
Please avoid feeding your baby
soy based formula, as it can contain dangerously high
concentrations of
manganese and estrogenic compounds. Aside from GMOs, infant
formulas have also been found to be contaminated with a variety
of problematic chemicals over the years, including:
- Perchlorates (a component of rocket fuel)
- Melamine
- Advanced glycoprotein end products (AGEs)
How to Introduce Solid Foods
Outside of breast milk, the best foods you can give your baby
are those you prepare for your family fresh at home.
Store-bought versions just cannot compare nutritionally, as they
frequently contain unhealthy ingredients your baby is far better
off without. When your baby is ready to start eating solid
foods, introduce new foods one at a time at intervals of two to
three days. This helps your baby get used to the food, and will
also help you reveal any food sensitivities or allergies. Small
serving sizes, even just a spoonful or two, are best to start.
As your infant gets older you can progress from pureed whole
foods to finger foods she can feed herself, but be sure they are
chopped small enough so they are not a choking hazard. Raisins,
nuts, popcorn and other small foods should not be given to young
infants due to the choking risk. For some simple baby food
recipes and ideas for homemade solids, see this
previous article.
Baby-led weaning (BLW) is also a great way to establish
long-term healthy attitudes to food among children. For more
information, please see the article,
The What, Why, and How of Baby-Led Weaning.
Your Child's Healthy Diet Is Up to You
Children will simply not know which foods are healthy unless
you, as a parent, teach it to them. Remember, wholesome food is
"live" and typically raw food, and the hallmark of live food is
the fact that it will wilt and decompose. The fact that fast
food
burgers, buns, and fries do not decompose, even after a
decade, is a clear sign that it's just not real food and serves
no beneficial purpose as part of your child’s diet.
It’s very simple: kids need real nutrients, not man-made
chemicals that are nonexistent in natural food! These
substitutes are NOT equivalent to the real deal.
Food is a part of crucial lifestyle choices first learned at
home, so you need to educate yourself about
proper
nutrition and the dangers of junk food and processed foods
in order to change the food culture of your entire family. To
give your child the best start at life, and help instill healthy
habits that will last a lifetime, you must lead by example. If
you're not sure where to start, I recommend
reading
my nutrition plan first. This will provide you with the
foundation you need to start making healthy food choices for
your family.
The simplest way back toward health, for children and adults
alike, is to focus on WHOLE foods -- foods that have not been
processed or altered from their original state; food that has
been grown or raised as nature intended, without the use of
chemical additives, pesticides and fertilizers. You, a family
member, or someone you pay will need to invest time in the
kitchen cooking fresh wholesome meals from these whole foods so
that you can break free from the processed food diet that will
ultimately make you sick.
By doing this, and eating meals together as a family, your
children will receive the proper nutrition their bodies need
during the important developmental years while also developing a
love for whole fresh foods that will last them a lifetime.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.