The fats, sugar and salt in fast food draw kids like a magnet, largely because they appeal to a child’s “primordial tastes”. “From an evolutionary point of view, humans are hard-wired to crave high-calorie food as a survival mechanism, so each time we see, smell or eat junk food, many chemicals and neurotransmitters are released in our body,” explains  Rashi Chowdhary, a nutritionist based in Dubai.

            “When your child bites into a burger, his brain reward system gets activated since dopamine, which is the main neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure and excitement, gets secreted. And then he will feel a complete lack of control and an intense demand from his brain for more,” adds Chowdhary.

            If that isn’t enough to convince you to ditch the takeaway, a study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (a medical journal published by the American Medical Association) found that once children have eaten fast food, they consume more calories and fewer nutrients for the rest of the day. On days when kids ate fast food, compared with days when they ate at home, adolescents and young children consumed an additional 309 and 126 calories, respectively.

            Experts have known for years that long-term consumption of junk food clogs arteries, but recently they’ve recognized that this damage begins the same day. A study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology indicates that damage to the arteries occurs almost immediately after just one – that’s right, one – junk food meal.

            Diet has a significant effect on children’s study habits. Junk food and foods with hi

By: Leslie L. De Jesus