This Is Why Children Should Not Eat Sausages and Nugget

Medical Video: What Are Chicken Nuggets Made Of?

Processed meats such as sausages, nuggets, ham, and bacon not recommended for consumption by your child. According to health experts, processed meat has the potential to cause cancer later in life, especially in children. This is because if you are accustomed to eating processed meat from small, children are then accustomed to entering processed meat in their diet so it increases the risk of suffering from cancer as adults.

Meat usually has a long shelf life and quickly decreases in quality. Processed meat has been modified in such a way that the meat becomes durable. Some processing methods commonly used include fumigation, curing (use of salt mixed with nitrate to preserve meat), addition of salt and preservatives. Examples of processed meat that you usually know are sausages, nuggets, hot dogs, salami, corned beef, beef jerky, ham, canned meat, and others.

Why should consumption of processed meat be limited?

There are several reasons why processed meat should not be a routine menu for your child:

High salt and sodium

Processed meat is usually high in salt and sodium. Salt is used to preserve meat, which is able to absorb water making salt can reduce the water content in the meat so as to minimize the possibility of bacterial growth. As you know, high salt can increase the risk of hypertension. Salt in the body can trigger an increase in blood volume, forcing your heart to work harder and cause pressure in the arteries. High salt consumption is associated with damage to the heart, aortic, kidney, and even blood vessels.

Processed meat also usually has a sodium content that is 4 times greater than ordinary meat. Bacon for example, containing, 435 mg of sodium per serving. Too much consumption of sodium can make the kidneys work harder. When sodium levels in the body are too high, the body will hold back water, this aims to dissolve excess sodium. This will cause fluid to gather around the body's cells and increase the volume of blood into the blood vessels, increasing blood volume means the heart must work harder and the pressure received by the blood vessels is also higher. If this condition is allowed, it can cause blood vessels to harden, increasing the risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes.

High in saturated fat

Red meat is naturally high in saturated fat. The limit of consumption of saturated fats is 5-6% of your daily calorie needs. So if your daily calorie needs are 2000 calories, then the amount of saturated fat that you can consume is a maximum of 13 grams. At 75 grams of sausage there are 7 grams of saturated fat in it, this is almost half of your maximum daily saturated fat consumption. In children, the daily calorie needs are certainly smaller, for children aged 4-6 years, for example, need 1600 calories per day. This means that the maximum recommended fat consumption is around 9 grams per day.

The high levels of saturated fat you consume can cause various health problems. In children it can increase the risk of obesity and obesity in the future. Overweight and obesity are the main risk factors that can cause degenerative diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

Contains cancer-causing components

In order to last long, processed meat products usually contain high preservatives. The components of nitrite and nitrate contained in processed meat will be converted into cancer-causing components when they enter the body. According to Cancer Research UK, nitrates and nitrites are naturally found in red meat, but are often added when making processed meat to be used as preservatives and colorants. In the body, nitrites and nitrates can be converted into nitrosamines and nitrosamides, these are components that can cause cancer.

In addition to preserved using chemicals, fumigation is also one way of processing meat. Smoked beef or smoked meat is one type of processed meat through the fumigation process. When fuming, meat can absorb large amounts of tar contained in smoke. Tar is one component that can cause cancer.

A study conducted in Europe revealed that processed meat consumption increases a person's risk of dying of cancer by 11%. The types of cancer commonly associated with the consumption of processed meat are colon cancer and colorectal cancer. According to WHO, consumption of processed meat by 50 grams per day (equivalent to one hot dog) increases the risk of colon cancer by 18%. Some components in red meat and processed meat can cause damage to the intestinal lining by increasing the speed at which the cells divide. The mechanism of cell division like this can increase the risk of developing cancer cells.

READ ALSO: