Were you a whirling dervish when you were little, running around the place out of control (but potentially having a great time in the process)?! Well, I was and guess what, the doctor's told my mum not to give me any food colourings because they made me even wilder. Yet, the myriad of chemicals in ultra processed foods (and of course sweets) has increased year by year. In the US, the food industry can bypass the food agency standards and self-certify the chemicals that go into our food, and there are many of them. Should we be concerned? Well, I reckon we probably should pay attention and maybe try to exclude them from our diet and especially from our children's.
I was the 'fun police' at my children's parties, making all the food from scratch and only allowing what I then perceived to be healthy junk. My friends would rush down to the local convenience store to buy in a load of biscuits and scary brightly coloured sweets to give the kids because they thought I was being mean.
It's funny that we see it as being kind and a treat to basically feed our children potential poison that may interact negatively with their brains and bodies. I remember thinking that standing at a children's party and watching was close to being at a rave. Once the kids had devoured the sweets and all the refined carbs, it was like they were all on ecstasy and then after the party, would be the comedown from hell.
Perhaps there is a balance but I see the balance has tipped with an estimated 59% of a seven year old's diet coming from ultra processed foods according to a study in the European Journal of Nutrition in 2024. It's a well known fact that poor nutrition is linked to various physical and psychological conditions including ADHD, depression and anxiety which is on the rise.
There is a socio-economic piece to this that needs to be addressed, with people living in food deserts where the only available food within walking distance comes in the form of ultra processed from the local convenience store or fast food restaurant. Society is living in a perpetual cycle of ill health, whereby big food feeds so big pharma can medicate. We need to grow more gardens of food inside inner cities, educate our children as to where food comes from, get them out in nature MORE and MORE and teach kids how to cook and when I say cook, I don't mean making puff pastry!
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