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Processed foods can negatively affect a child's bone development

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Processed foods can negatively affect a child's bone development

PantherMedia

Eating fast food

Children who frequently eat unhealthy foods may be at greater risk of abnormal bone development. According to experts, this finding is important because many teenagers consume industrially processed foods even on a daily basis.

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Frequent consumption of industrially processed food is associated with negative human health effects. Doctors warn that it can influence a higher risk of premature death, cancer and other health problems.

Although many studies have been carried out on the harmfulness of these products, only a few have shown how regular consumption can affect children.

A recent study by experts at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem focused on the possible effects of processed foods on the developing skeleton.

Even a small amount of processed food can be hazardous to health

The researchers conducted their study on recently born laboratory rodents. Animals given processed food by the team suffered from slow growth and their bones were weaker.

The researchers then combined the rodents' food. We divided their weekly nutrient intake," said one of the study's authors, Professor Efrat Monsonego Ornan. She added that ultra-processed foods accounted for up to seventy per cent of the daily intake.

Even in this case, tests showed a slight damage to bone density - but it was not that significant. 'We concluded that even in reduced amounts, ultra-processed foods can have a clear negative impact on skeletal development,' she noted.

According to the authors, this finding is crucial primarily because children and adolescents regularly consume these types of foods. In the United States, for example, about half of them do so daily.

When one of the world's leading nutrition experts, Carlos Monteiro, said that there is no such thing as healthy, ultra-processed food, he was undoubtedly right, said Efrat Monsonego Ornan.

Even if we reduce fats, nitrates, carbohydrates and other known harmful substances, these foods remain unhealthy. Moreover, any part of the body can be susceptible to it, the researcher added.