What is trans fat? Why do you need to stop giving that to your child?

Trans fat for kids

Trans fats are becoming a serious concern in dietary consumption and are something which everyone should be avoided by all means. Trans fat is quite different from normal fats as it is said to have worse effects on our health. Trans fats are a variety of unsaturated fatty acids which occur in nature as well as in artificial forms and are often added into processed food artificially.

Artificially synthesized trans fats are hydrogenated fats that are added to foods since they possess a longer shelf life and do not expire easily. Some vegetable oils that possess trans fats should be avoided as well.

While thinking of a kids’ diet plan, it is important that you exclude anything that causes some serious issues to their health, especially trans fat. A child’s nutrition plays a quintessential role in their overall development, and in that situation, you cannot afford to hamper the process by giving them something which is as harmful as a trans fat.

Why do you need to keep trans fat away from your children’s diet?

  1. According to studies it was seen that trans fat is very much capable of causing severe heart-related disorders in adults, and in children, it can cause atherosclerosis. In their adulthood, there is a high chance that children will have heart issues from high consumption of trans fats.
  2. Trans fat can also have impressive amounts of negative effects on the brain and nervous system. It hampers the communication between the neurons and also slows down mental performances.
  3. Trans fats are effective in causing severe coronary heart diseases.
  4. Trans fats play a quintessential behind obesity as well. People who tend to consume a greater amount of trans fats found it difficult to lose weight.
  5. Trans fat can be responsible for causing colon cancer later in life as well.
  6. Immunity is hampered along with cell wall integrity and is also degraded for consuming trans fat in excessive amounts.
  7. The chances of developing type II diabetes become very high if you keep incorporating trans fat in your child’s diet.
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Trans fat can cause momentary complications, but they are definitely not going to make your child’s life better in the longer run. If you don’t stop feeding them trans fat now, over time, they will develop all the above-mentioned health issues and also will gradually step away from leading a stable and healthy life as well.

What food items should be excluded from your child’s nutrition plan?

  1. Fried/processed food: mozzarella sticks, processed french fries, chicken nuggets; all these foods contain an excessive amount of trans fat to enhance their shelf lives. Any sort of processed food should be kept away from the diet plan as they possess very less nutritional value and cause more than instead.
  2. Vegetable oils/margarine: these are some of the richest sources of trans fats. It is always better to use normal unsalted butter or olive oil.
  3. Cakes and cookies: these are not supposed to be consumed in excessive quantities anyway due to the excessive sugar content and also the trans fat.
  4. Dairy products: dairy products like ice creams and other unhealthy alternatives should not be consumed regularly due to the fact that the quantity of trans fat is excessive.
  5. Popcorn: the trans fat content in popcorn is 5% which is not a lot, but if consumed daily, it can be quite lethal for our health.
  6. Animal products: the content of trans fats in animal products is 21%. On regular overconsumption of animal products, especially meat, the emergence of health problems will become evident.

Following the child nutrition guidelines, it should be known that at an early age, it is extremely important that parents develop good and healthy eating habits in their kids so that in the future, they can live a healthy life devoid of health issues. In such situations, foods with trans fats, preservatives, and other harmful ingredients should be absolutely kept away.

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