HAZARDS OF CANNED & FROZEN FOOD IN CHILDREN

Q1 .Can children be fed with frozen and canned foods? At what age is it okay for them to eat such items?

Answer:
Yes children can be given frozen or canned foods at times but not on a regular basis, provided you take a special precaution while handling those food like rinse all cans before opening them to avoid the food contamination because it has dust on outside when you purchase it from the supermarket and using of clean and sterile cutter or knife to open the lid of the container. It is important to check the expiry dates before you use them and make sure that the canned foods are used immediately after opening and avoid reusing the leftovers. Since it’s convenient, portable, and ready to eat it becomes a food of choice especially for working mother and while travelling.

 It can be given after the age of 7-8 years provided the nutritional labeling meets the child nutritional demand. While eating a frozen meal serve it with a salad or a side of fruits or vegetables so as to overcome the nutritional and vitamin deficiency associated with frozen meals.

Q2 .How healthy is it for children to consume frozen or canned food?

Answer:
With above mentioned precautions we can still feed our child with these kinds of foods. There are studies which say that even a frozen food is as nutritious as the fresh ones but then it depends upon the way in which these foods are processed and preserved along with some additional nutritional benefits. Sad to say, almost any meal that’s easy and convenient is probably highly processed.  Even though the processed, packaged foods have almost completely taken over the diet of most of the children and teenagers of today’s  world but still these foods are not as nutritious as fresh meal we prepare. They lack many essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals which are lost during the process. So it’s always a choice to encourage them to eat a healthier and freshly prepared food rather than a canned or frozen food.

Q3. If a majority of their diet consists of canned and frozen foods, what are the possible health risks?

Answer:
These type of food items are called Processed foods i.e (soft drinks, cheese crackers, cookies, chips, cakes, candies, instant meals, etc.) which  are  canned, frozen, dehydrated or hydrogenated for safety, a longer shelf life and convenience.

Some of the important hazards of these processed food are as below:

a.  *  Processed food have less nutritive value

Even though the Processed foods are neatly packaged in a box, bag, can or jar with a list of ingredients on the label, these food are very much  detriment to your health and not just because the food is basically nutrition less but due to the high temperatures and pressures required during processing which all affect the amount of nutrients the food delivers to you by up to 20-fold.

Commercial food is usually blanched before it is frozen. In this process, plant foods are cooked with hot water or steam for a short period of time. This decreases the water-soluble nutrients by 10-50%.

Vitamin stability is affected by heat light, air, and pH. Foods that are going to be canned are cooked at high temperatures and usually for a longer period of time. Fewer nutrients are lost when cooking at high heat for a short period of time. Vitamin B2 is more sensitive to light and  Vitamins A, E and beta-carotene are susceptible to destruction by air.

Canned fruits and veggies typically have added sugar or salt, and sometimes preservatives and colors, too. Draining or rinsing off this salty water also lose the water-soluble vitamins and minerals (vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium), which have leeched into the salty water. In general, vitamins E, C, B1, folate, and retinol are the most delicate and likely to be lost through cooking, processing or simply the passage of time.

The amount of time canned foods spend on the shelf also affects their nutritional value. For example, the vitamin C content can decrease another 20% over the course of a year.

Salmon,  which is typically cooked before being put in the can and then cooked again during canning, loses some of its carotenoids during pre-canning cooking, and another 15-35% during the actual canning.  Fish that are not canned with their bones, like tuna, lose about half their calcium due to canning.

b.    * Processed foods contains dangerous additives and chemicals

    However, packaged food (i.e soft drinks, meat, fast food, snacks, biscuits cakes, candies, creams) contains preservatives and additives (i.e artificial flavoring sugar, food colors, sodium nitrate, monosodium glutamate, trans-fat) designed to increase the longevity of the food items, maintain their taste and protect them from harmful germs while sealed inside the container  but  they have a side effect of decreasing the nutritional value of food products along with some common problems like: Allergies-rashes, hypersensitivity reaction, atopic dermatitis, infantile colic, Diarrhea, Constipation, Indigestion, Obesity, Diabetes, heart disease.

c.    *  Canned food are responsible for certain metal poisoning:

Almost all brands of canned food, contain the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A, better known as BPA in  the can lining.  BPA is a byproduct of the chemicals used to prevent can corrosion is known to cause causes massive hormone disruption with the serious problem of early puberty, ADHD, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, etc in human being.

Several other metallic containers used to can food at home or market may cause this metal toxicity like: copper, zinc, tin.

d.    These food are also responsible for certain food borne illness:

Botulism - seen with commercial food sealed in plastic pouches, home /canned foods, fruits, and vegetables, bottled honey, canned and fermented fish.

Q4. How can parents encourage children to eat healthy since they are fussy eaters?

Answer:

A healthy diet can confer wonderful benefits to your children. They will be happier, healthier, even more beautiful, and filled with energy and good spirits. With simple games and educational activities, you can have fun sharing with your children the delights of foods that taste good and are good for them.

              The best way to help your child discover the Joys of Eating Healthy Foods is by educating  and inspiring them so that you can transform these foods from the ones your children have to eat to the ones they want to eat. 

Here are some of the tips to help you inspire your children to eat healthy foods.

Educate your children about the world's healthiest foods!

Teach your children why certain foods are good for them. We can probably all remember our parents telling us that eating healthy would help us to grow up big and strong, yet many did not tell us of the benefits we would experience while still being a child. Since kids are very "now-focused," explaining how eating healthy foods will help them feel good, look great, give them the kind of long-lasting energy that will make them stars in their school's sports program, and help them to learn and think clearly. Depending upon their age, explain to them the specific benefits they will notice and appreciate, Tell them how a complete spectrum of vitamins and minerals will increase their concentration and ability to learn and do well in their school work.

Introduce a New Fruit, Vegetable or Grain Every Week
Most young children are fascinated by new things, and the colors, shapes, textures and tastes of different foods are no exception. And since foods have a rich history of tradition and heritage that kids can enjoy, learning about and eating new foods can be a lot of fun -- and it's easy to do.

Make Grocery-Shopping Fun for Your Little Ones

Take your kids with you to the market and make it an educational and participative experience for them. If you purchase food items from bulk bins, let your children help you scoop them into the bags. If they are old enough to read, ask them to read the labels, trying to determine by looking at the ingredients which foods are the most healthy.

Visit a Local Farm, and  Involve Your Children With Growing Foods Themselves

Nature, living things and the process of how things work captivate children. Children love to be productive and creative, and accomplish something on their own. You can help them create their own mini-"farm", kitchen garden by simply growing a pot or two of herbs or sprouting some seeds or grains. Once your child has experienced the miracle of a tender green shoot emerging from the soil you have watered together, he or she will understand through personal experience that food is a miraculous gift from the earth--not from a factory.

Let Your Children "Help" You Cook

All children can participate in cooking. Design their involvement depending upon their age. Small children can help measure and mix ingredients. Older children can cut and cook food and choose new recipes to try. Involving your children in the cooking process will award them with a sense of achievement, pride in eating what they helped to prepare, and cooking skills that they can rely on as adults.

Buy or Make Special Decorative Tiffin box for School Meals and Snacks

Packing the foods your children take to school in bright and decorative containers can help them feel special and loved. Let them select containers they like at the store or decorate any of the new, inexpensive reusable containers with favorite stickers. A healthy meal is a present for your child's body; a gift wrapping adds to the fun.

Thus, by helping your children to develop healthy eating habits, you will be providing them with a great gift - one that will benefit their health throughout their lives.

5. Anything else that you would want to inform our readers?

Answer:
The World's Healthiest Foods provide numerous benefits for everyone, especially in children. Since our children's bodies are in a state of growth and development, they need a constant supply of all nutritional building blocks - protein, essential fats, complex carbohydrates, and a full complement of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients -- to support healthy growth. Because of their smaller size and still developing immune and detoxification systems, reducing the exposure of our very young children to potentially harmful chemicals may play a significant role in promoting a healthy future for them.

But still in case, you prefer a canned or frozen food please follow the tips as given below:

1. Avoid buying canned goods that are bulging, dented or leaking. Throw away any cans in your pantry showing these signs.
2. Store canned goods in a cool, dry place, not above the oven or under the sink.
3. Rinse all cans before opening them.
4. Use canned goods by the date on the can
5. At the grocery store, select frozen foods from the back of the freezer case; items in the back usually remain the coldest and most frozen.
6. At home, keep frozen foods tightly wrapped and store them in the freezer at zero degrees Fahrenheit or below.
7. Don't buy hanging dried or cured meat if the package is open.
8. Reheat pre-cooked foods such as stuffed chicken breasts and pre-roasted chickenbefore serving. Eat them on the day of purchase.
9. When eating a frozen meal, serve it with a salad or a side of fruits or vegetables to meet your daily nutritional requirements
10. Processed foods are often stripped of nutrients designed by nature to protect your heart, such as soluble fiber, antioxidants, and “good” fats. Combine that with additives, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Thus prefer the World's Healthiest Foods above the canned or frozen food. These include fresh vegetables and fruits (organically grown whenever possible), which contain an array of vitamins, minerals and other health-promoting phytonutrients; as well as whole grains and legumes, which provide healthy fibers, proteins, minerals, and fats. These healthy foods will help your children feel better, think better and live better.