The foods making your kids fat

The foods making your kids fat

If you've wondered why Australia's children are getting chubbier, it's partly down to the fact the amount of sugar in food has doubled over the last 30 years. According to The Composition of Foods, a guide written for the UK's Institute of Food Research, more sugar than ever is being added to packaged foods such as muesli, bread and soup.

Add that to the fact that many children are encouraged to eat too much of the wrong things - the National Obesity Forum has reported a 30% increase in the average portion of takeaway food over the last decade - and you can see why a regular diet of nachos and fish and chips will cause kids to put on excess kilos. Spare tyre be-gone: here's the Kidspot guide to keeping your child at a healthy weight…

Foods your kids should avoid

  • Most breakfast cereals

    A recent Choice survey only recommended two Australian breakfast cereals as suitable for everyday eating for kids: Sanitarium's Weet-Bix Kids and Uncle Tobys VitaBrits. Even many so-called ‘healthy cereals' are often too sugary - check the label and if it contains more than 10g sugar per 100g, put it on the banned list.
  • Tinned soup

    You might not suspect it, but tins of creamy soup often contain high levels of sugar. Over the years, manufacturers have added more sugar to tinned soup, with children (and adults) slowly becoming reliant on the increasingly sweet taste.
  • Pasta sauces

    Even though they're a quick dinner solution for busy mums, ready-made supermarket curry and pasta sauces are also often heavy on the calories for kids, with many brands containing up to 30g of sugar per 100g.
  • Hot chips

    As much as we all love a portion of hot chips, they are one of the fattiest things you can feed a child - hot chips bought from a shop are often pre-cooked and then re-fried, meaning they're actually fried twice. With the early signs of heart disease now being found in some children, it's artery-clogging central!

Foods your child should be eating

  • Baked beans

    Tinned beans come with high levels of protein and fibre, both essential for healthy development. Just as heartening is the research that shows a tin of baked beans are just as beneficial as fresh. Baked beans on toast never sounded so good!
  • Guava juice

    Boost your children's immune system by giving them guava juice - half a cup contains 188mg of vitamin C, which is more than double the amount of an orange - and more of the antioxidant lycopene than watermelon and tomatoes.
  • Sweet potato

    Mash up a sweet potato for your child and they'll be fuller, quicker, compared to eating a regular spud. A sweet potato is also packed with potassium, containing over a third more of this skeleton-strengthening mineral than a banana.
  • Dried fruit

    Kids need iron to keep up their energy levels and keep them mentally sharp in the classroom. Dried fruit, such as raisins and apricots, are a portable source of iron, and perfect to pack in the school bag.

This article was created by Joanna Bounds for Kidspot, Australia's parenting resource for family health.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Nutritious first foods

  1. Apple and mango puree
  2. Apple and raspberry porridge
  3. Apple and raspberry puree
  4. Apple yoghurt
  5. Apple, pear and cinnamon puree
  6. Apricot chicken
  7. Baby bolognese
  8. Baby crispbread
  9. Baby guacomole
  10. Baby porridge
  11. Baby spaghetti bolognese
  12. Baby yoghurt
  13. Baby's first apple puree
  14. Baby's first vegetable purees
  15. Baby's rice pudding
  16. Baked custard
  17. Banana and avocado puree
  18. Banana oatmeal breakfast
  19. Banana pudding
  20. Banana teething biscuits
  21. Banana, raspberry and mango sorbet
  22. Bean, pea and potato puree
  23. Beef and vegetable dinner
  24. Beetroot and chickpea dip
  25. Beetroot and potato puree
  26. Blueberry, pear and raspberry swirl
  27. Boiled eggs
  28. Broccoli trees
  29. Broccoli, pear and pea puree
  30. Carrot and swede puree
  31. Carrot, corn and chicken
  32. Chicken and corn chowder
  33. Chicken, rice and vegetables
  34. Creamy sweet corn puree
  35. Delicious chicken dinner
  36. Easy beef casserole
  37. Easy chicken casserole
  38. Egg and vegetable omelette
  39. Eggless baby cereal cookies
  40. French toast soldiers
  41. Fruit jelly
  42. Fruit puree
  43. Fruity chicken and rice
  44. Homemade baby oat cereal
  45. Homemade brown rice cereal
  46. Homemade cheese sticks or cubes
  47. Homemade cottage cheese
  48. Homemade teething rusks
  49. Homemade yoghurt
  50. Hot corn cereal
  51. Lamb and pumpkin
  52. Nutritious teething biscuits
  53. Pea and zucchini puree
  54. Peach and mango mash
  55. Peachy chicken
  56. Pear and apricot puree
  57. Pear and rice puree
  58. Pear, peach and banana puree
  59. Penne pasta
  60. Pikelets
  61. Pumpkin and potato mash
  62. Pumpkin and spinach risotto
  63. Red egg
  64. Rice and lentil dinner
  65. Roasted pumpkin puree
  66. Steamed and julienned carrot sticks
  67. Stewed prunes
  68. Sweet corn and avocado puree
  69. Sweet potato and sweet corn mash
  70. Sweet veggie puree
  71. Weet-Bix custard
  72. Weet-Bix with apple and cinnamon
  73. Zucchini, potato and spinach mash