Stop childhood obesity It should be a joint struggle between parents, schools, institutions and the food industry. The truth is that little by little, society is becoming aware and carrying out measures that help to fight against the high obesity figures of which WHO has been warning for some time.
The last company in Acquire a nutritional commitment with your products It has been the French multinational Danone, which has announced that it will reduce the added sugars of its yogurts by 22% over the next two years. One more step that we thank all consumers, and especially parents concerned about the feeding of our children.
Healthier yogurts: it's possible!
Currently, and as reported by the newspaper El País, 48% of Danone brand yogurts are sugary, 39% are sweetened and only 13% are natural. The company has set itself the objective of reducing, within two years, the amounts of added sugars in its fermented dairy products in Spain, to offer the consumer healthier alternatives.
Further, Encourage your competitors to do the same. And it is essential that all companies in the food sector come together and commit to offer increasingly healthy products, with less saturated fat and less sugar content.
Yogurt is an excellent way to introduce dairy products into children's diet and a food that kids usually love. But we must bear in mind that it is not necessary to give it before the first year of life, although in the market we find yogurt adapted to babies.
Now when our children You are old enough to start taking yogurts, and in the face of such a variety of brands, presentations and flavors, parents are asked the question of which ones contain the least sugars or which brands are the most suitable, nutritionally speaking.
Personally at home we have always opted for natural yogurts, without artificial sweetening. Except for special occasions my children do not consume custard, actimeles, danoninos or any other similar dairy dessert, because of the high sugar content they have.
If you are going to have a daily yogurt, I prefer it to be natural and they prepare it to your liking, mixed with seeds, oat flakes, pure chocolate chips or pieces of fresh fruit. Because reducing sugar consumption is very simple if we become aware of it and, above all, We get used to the palate since childhood.
More example, awareness and social support
However, and it is something that we have commented several times, it is useless to be concerned about the proper feeding of our children if the parents do not set an example. And how can we do it?
Promoting the practice of physical exercise in family. It will be fun, motivating and will help us fight obesity and lead a healthy life.
Inculcating the importance of eating in a healthy and varied way.
Search also healthier ways to cook food and involve our children in the kitchen. Because cooking and eating well you learn from childhood and these good habits will be maintained throughout life
Run away from breakfast, school lunches and quick and industrial snacks. The stress of the day and the rush can make we end up falling into foods with many saturated fats and high sugar content.
Sweetened industrial cereals, packaged juices, bread with cocoa cream, biscuits or industrial pastries they should not have a place in the children's diet; At least not as usual.
Let's bet on homemade pastries, for varied and healthy snacks, and for different, healthy and energy-filled breakfasts. And let's not forget the fruit and how important it is to consume at least five daily servings.
- Eat with family, without televisions or screens in between and enjoying being together and the tranquility of a meal without hurries or watches.
Too it is important that our surroundings become aware and, together with the school, help us to ensure a healthy diet. Some schools have implemented special physical education programs to combat walking and there are already many centers that ensure healthy school menus.
Raise the tax on sugary drinks or prevent children who go alone to certain fast food restaurants can not buy junk food, are small steps that we are taking together to end a real crisis of malnutrition, which takes time WHO alerting.
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In Babies and More Healthy Eating, Childhood Obesity
