What Happens When You Feed Kids Fattening Foods?

Running through the drive-thru after soccer practice, tearing into a bag of chips after school or using candy as an incentive for good behavior can be convenient for parents. However, these behaviors are anything but healthy, and a diet full of fattening foods can negatively affect your children in a number of ways. Understand the effects of fattening foods, which will help guide your nutrition choices for your growing kids.

  1. Weight Gain

    • Kids who dine on a diet of fattening foods can experience weight gain, which can result in them becoming overweight or obese. A January 2004 study in the journal "Pediatrics" highlighted the negative effects of fattening fast foods on kids. Of the more than 6,000 children who participated in the study, about 30 percent reported eating fast food on a typical day. Those children consumed up to 187 more calories than their non-fast-food-eating counterparts. Thus, researchers concluded that regular consumption of fattening fast foods can increase a child's risk of weight gain and obesity.

    Diabetes Risk

    • An unhealthy diet rich in fattening foods and the subsequent weight gain that comes with it has the potential to increase kids' risk of contracting Type 2 diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about 95 percent of all diabetes cases in the U.S. are Type 2, and 1 in 3 adults may have diabetes by 2050. Diabetes can have life-long health implications for kids, leading to kidney failure, blindness and amputation of feet and legs.

    Unhealthy Lifestyle

    • When fattening foods are the norm, kids adopt this unhealthy diet as a lifestyle, carrying these unhealthy eating habits into adulthood. Amara Rose and Jaelline Jaffe of Education.com explain that children develop a natural preference for the foods they eat most often. When your child is used to high-fat, low-nutrition foods, he'll reach for those instead of healthier options like fruit and vegetables when the choice is his.

    High Cholesterol

    • Cholesterol levels might not seem to be a concern for kids, but a fattening diet can set children up for high cholesterol levels later in life. Trans fats, which feature saturated fats, can lower HDL -- or "good" -- cholesterol while minimizing the body's ability to eliminate LDL -- or "bad" -- cholesterol. A kid diet rich in these unhealthy fats can result in high cholesterol levels, especially if this diet is maintained as the child matures.

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