Healthy Parenting: Raising Kids In The Junk Food Age

Summer Miller shared her sentiments when she saw her son cooking popcorn in the kitchen. She wondered how he learned to use the stove when she did not even teach him how to do that.

Her son was only eight-years-old and was not even tall enough to manage the stove efficiently. And yet, he was able to shake the corn kernels until it popped.

That scene reminded her of her own childhood and how she grew up without a culinary legacy, according to Miller's Bon Appetit article. Her dad worked as a welder, while her mom worked as a K-Mart cashier.

Miller remembered the family's typical dinner consisted of spaghetti, chicken and pot roast. When her mom remarried, their regular fare at the table consisted of spaghetti and hotdogs. her childhood memories consisted of television nights with junk food like cheese puffs and Kool-Aid.

Just like Miller, Kelly Hall, a working mother with three kids, said her family eats fast food most of the time. She, however, considered herself a strict parent. She believed that junk food can cause health problems but admitted their family's unhealthy diet, as per USA Today.

"It's not easy to take the kids to a grocery store and pick the right things," Hall said. "They always want the sugary things."

A research conducted by experts from the Michigan State University showed that children who are exposed to convenience stores and fast foods buy more junk food, according to Research. Parents also influenced their children's tendency to go for junk food instead of healthy food.

Most parents, however, do not give their kids junk food in order to fatten them up but because it is more convenient. In fact, working parents who do not have time for meal planning give their children food that is easily available.

The diet of American children has led to an increase in the number of children with obesity and diabetes, and the junk food diet has contributed to unhealthy children in the United States. So, as parents, how do you raise your children amid the junk food age?