This past October, the New York Times had a story reporting on the rise in kidney stones in children. Putting aside melamine – the now infamous substance that Chinese manufacturers used to phony up the protein results in infant formula, pet food (and likely more) – apparently one factor is excessive salt.
We’re not talking just salty chips and fries either. It’s packaged and processed foods and even sports drinks. Also linked to kidney stones are the sweeteners used in sodas (which have also been identified with lots of other health problems too). On top of all this, kids don’t get enough water.
Let’s face it, for the most part, our kids are so busy scarfing down the mass-marketed products they see us eat and that they see advertised incessantly on TV, they give little thought to how the stuff might affect them. That’s not surprising – after all, kids are kids. What it means for us adults, however, is that we better wake up and pay attention. Our children will pay the price for what we’ve given them.
We are the role models for our kids.If we don’t want them to suffer the health effects of our foolishness, maybe we better start eating better ourselves and show them the better way.