KARACHI, Jan 9: Physicians have warned parents to desist from providing junk food to their offspring as this severely denies kids of balanced diet, leads to poor nutritional status, increasing their vulnerability to a wide range of ailments.
Prof Iqbal Memon, in charge Paediatrics Ward (Unit II), Civil Hospital Karachi, talking to APP, said that unhealthy eating habits increasingly noticed among children were causing surge in the incidence rate of respiratory infections, recurrence of diarrhoeal episodes and pain in abdomen.
The paediatrician divided these children into two distinct groups; one pertaining to upper as well as middle class strata of the society, resorting to expensive but low nutritional value food; second, those from the lower strata having easy accessibility to low quality, injurious items.
“All children are thus alarmingly and almost equally exposed to severe health hazards through varied modes,” the doctor said holding parents responsible for the situation.
Elaborating the situation, he said that while some resorted to increased intake of carbohydrates, fat, rich items along with aerated water (carbonated soft drinks), many more went for sweetened supari (betel nuts), low quality sugar made products, artificially coloured and deep-fried stale items.
The outcome, he said, was surge in incidents of acute abdominal pain, diarrhoeal diseases, obesity-related problems including onset of diabetes, lack of concentration and slow physical ability.
Chest infection was also a severe repercussion among local children, he stressed adding that the condition followed by acute respiratory tract infections in acute instances might even cause meningitis, joint and pore inflammation besides the possibility of lungs being damaged.
“Recurrence of chest infections can also lead to cardiac failure,” he warned.
With reference to the fact that junk food along with tea and carbonated drinks is usually of little nutritional value, the paediatrician also reminded that since their consumption severely affected children’s appetite immunity of kids against diseases was severely compromised.
He said excessive use of tea and aerated water containing oxalate was also extremely harmful for kidneys. Intake of sweetened betel nuts and sweets was not only causing severe damage to gums but at times even led to cancers.
As a simple measure to prevent children of varied ailments, the doctor said that besides ensuring proper and balanced diet parents must also ensure availability of boiled water for their children.—APP