Is it a good idea to allow junk food manufacturers to fortify junk foods so that they’re healthier? Do you plan to swap out your regular snacks for these foods if they become available where you live?
Vitamins, minerals, and general nutrition are important but so are healthy eating habits. Health Canada has been weighing fortified junk foods and looking at allowing junk food manufacturers to make their food healthier. Sound like a good idea or a bad idea?
Here’s my opinion:
Pro:
Of course if you’re going to eat potato chips and chocolate bars for dinner it’d be nice if it gave you a vitamin C or other vitamin boost.
Con:
But what about all the bad stuff the junk food is still doing to you? Fortification doesn’t eradicate high levels of fat, excessive sugar, and the potential for poor health consequences. Will fortified junk foods give people permission to eat lousy without as much guilt? Will people feel like they can eat more junk food because it has some benefits? That’s a dangerous thing. Won’t it encourage overeating and while you might have great iron levels, you could also end up with cholesterol problems or endanger your health due to extra levels of sugar, sodium,preservatives, and obesity.
If you look at a toddler or pre-schooler’s diet you’d see that a lot of them eat the same food day in and day out because they lack adventure or are “fussy eaters”.
Those parents might think that this is a pro becuase a fortified mac & cheese or fortified cereal would be a good thing to ease their conscience when they let their three year old eat crackers and cheese with hot dogs for dinner yet again. But, while it could be helpful for a quick fix, it’s not going to solve the problem of a child’s unhealthy eating habits which will grow as they do.
The only way to cure fussy eating syndrome in a child is to continually offer a variety of foods. The four year old who won’t eat anything but hot dogs or Kraft Dinner typically is a four year old whose parents have indulged that behaviour for a time.
Question:
What’s the best cure for a picky eater?
Answer:
A junk food junkie won’t cure what ails them if they feel they’ve suddenly got more permission to eat lousily. While fortified foods during a period of illness, where you can’t get down more than some toast and soup, or to pump up your immune system because of a pending flu season can be a good thing, it’s definitely a slippery slope in terms of creating a more healthy society and giving people permission to eat more processed junk food.
Do you agree? If not, what’s your opinion?
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