Junk Debunked!
Health educators are failing to warn parents that the nutritional content common in most kids’ breakfast cereals is just
as unbalanced if not worse than that found in junk foods, thereby putting our children at risk of being overweight and
obese.
That’s the view of Maria Deveson Crabbe, Founder and CEO of Australia’s leading nutritional supplement company Aussie
Bodies and author of NZ bestseller ‘Your Body Your Life’.
Maria says while recent publicity around childhood obesity has meant that parents are taking greater care in preparing
their kids’ school lunches by eliminating take away food, more attention needs to be focussed on what children are
consuming at breakfast, reducing sugar and refined flour in their diets and ensuring they get plenty of physical
exercise.
“When we think of junk food, we tend to think of fried and fatty foods, fast food and sugary sweets and soft drinks.
Parents and educators commonly malign these foods while continuing to feed their kids what I would classify as junk. For
instance, many health-conscious parents feed their kids breakfast cereals, without taking into account the high levels
of sugar and refined flour/grains many of them contain, and without ensuring the child has some good physical activity
lined up to use all that sugar for energy. White breads are also a problem because they contain sugar and/or refined
flour.
Without physical activity and plenty of it first thing in the morning, such diets can lead to insulin resistance and put
the body in weight gain mode, thereby laying the foundation for an overweight and potentially obese child,” said Ms
Deveson Crabbe.
“I would not hesitate to class many kids’ breakfast cereals, breakfast bars and muesli bars as junk food.”
“For instance, one bowl of rice-crisp cereal with milk may be low in fat and kilojoules but it has a significantly high
glycemic index (GI). This means it raises blood glucose levels and overstimulates insulin, forcing the body to convert
and store the excess glucose as fat. With insufficient activity and protein during the day, the child’s metabolism
remains too weak to utilise this fat for fuel as energy, so the child remains locked in fat forming mode,” she said.
“Protein is an important factor in maintaining a healthy weight range but is consistently being overlooked as parents
opt for the convenience of crackers, juice cartons and pre-packaged foods and snacks,” she said.
Protein lowers the GI of the meal, stabilising blood sugar and building up your metabolism, ensuring efficient use of
kilojoules as energy instead of body fat storage. It actually rescues other foods from being stored as fat,” she said.
Ensuring your child gets adequate protein in their breakfast can be impractical for most parents, especially when there
is more than one child to cater for. A quick way is to whip up a fruit smoothie with a high quality protein powder.
There are many exciting fruit combinations to keep the kids’ senses buzzing. This makes a perfect GI-lowering
accompaniment to breakfast cereals or toast.
Here are some tips when preparing the kids’ lunchbox:
If making sandwiches, try to use wholemeal or multi-grain bread; white bread is made with refined flour and elevates
blood sugar, increasing chances of weight gain. Pre-packed slices of chicken and turkey breast are excellent sources of
protein and very convenient for sandwich making. Eggs are not the cholesterol culprits we once thought they were – feel
free to incorporate this healthy source of protein, vitamins and omega 3s in sandwiches. Cheeses, preferably
unprocessed, are good, especially cottage cheese which has the highest protein content. Incorporate plenty of leafy
green vegetables and tomatoes for antioxidants and fibre. Fruit is always preferred to fruit juice because, even though
both are rich in vitamins, juice is essentially the sugar content extracted from the fruit (in the form of fructose).
The added fibre in fruit lowers the GI. Peanut butter is fine because it contains predominantly poly- and
monounsaturated fats which are not only healthy, they assist metabolism. Use butter but avoid all types of margarine as
these contain damaged, heat-processed fats which upset the metabolism. Yogurts are great for digestion and normally
contain a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat, but avoid the low-fat varieties as these tend to be high in
sugar. Minimise muesli bars, fruit bars and breakfast bars as these are too high in sugar, flour and empty kilojoules.
Cheese sticks, nuts and fruit make for far more nutritious snacks.