Healthy Eating

1. What are kids eating today?

  Young people in the Ireland today eat more snack foods, crackers, crisps, desserts and Sweets than in the 1970s, and drink three times as much fizzy drinks, according to studies. They eat more pasta, rice dishes, tacos and pizza, consume less meat, eggs and milk, and are still short on fruit and vegetables. 
  Only half of teenagers drink milk, compared with 75 percent in the 1970s. Those who drink milk average only about 1½ to 2 cups a day, far less than the recommended 3 to 5 servings. 
  Teenage girls have the poorest diets of any group. Only about 15 percent get the calcium and 25 percent the iron recommended. Three-quarters are deficient in many important nutrients. Only about a quarter eat recommended amounts from the meat group.
  Along with the unbalanced diets they are eating, kids today have higher rates of eating disorders, dysfunctional eating and are overweight than ever before, and they are affected by these problems at ever younger ages.

2. Why are kids eating less meat — or none at all?

Irish children and teens are eating less meat today for several reasons. 
  First, many teen girls, desperate to lose weight and be extremely thin, have stopped eating meat and drinking milk because they fear fat in these foods, even though they could consume them with little or no fat.
  Studies suggest that 60 percent or more of teenage girls have dysfunctional eating patterns — they skip meals, diet, fast and binge. Many are undernourished or malnourished, and when they binge it is usually on snack foods, pastries, biscuits and bars, which provide little nutrition and are high in calories — instead of a beef sandwich or boiled egg, which could greatly improve their nutrition status. 
  Teen athletes are at special risk. These girls, their parents, coaches and physicians should be aware that those who do not eat meat risk adverse effects on health, training, and performance. They are at high risk for eating disorders, and the female athlete triad: osteoporosis, amenorrhea, and eating disorders.
  Second, many young people in preschool through college are responding to a frightening message brought by animal rights zealots right into their schools and on college campuses focusing on animal cruelty and urging them to stop eating meat and other animal products. 
  Third, more families are snacking or “grazing” instead of eating regular meals. Meals are more likely than snacks to follow healthy eating principles of balance, variety, and moderation.
  Fourth, many parents fear eating red meat because of food scares by some in the media and the health community that animal fats may raise cholesterol levels, even though there appears to be no basis for health concerns related to eating lean meat.  For example, reindeer herders in Siberia and cattle raising tribes of East Africa, whose diets consist mainly of animal products, have very low cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Excess fat in the diet should be avoided, like too much sugar, salt or alcohol. However, fat is essential for good health. 
  Again, we are reminded to avoid over-emphasizing one aspect of diet or health when it may negatively impact other areas. All foods can fit in a healthy eating plan. It makes good nutrition sense to balance what we eat from all five food groups, choose a variety of foods from each group, and to eat moderately.

3. Why is eating meat beneficial for youth?

  It is well established that eating meat improves the quality of nutrition, strengthens the immune system, promotes normal growth and development, is beneficial for day-to-day health, energy and well-being, and helps ensure optimal learning and academic performance. Yet eating disorder specialists and pediatricians are seeing alarming numbers of young children today with stunted growth, fragile bones and stress fractures who have stopped eating meat and other animal-source foods.
  The long-term Bogalusa Heart Study finds that children who eat more meat are less likely to have deficiencies than those who eat little or no meat. Kids who don't eat meat — and especially if they restrict other foods, as many girls are doing — are more likely to feel tired, apathetic, unable to concentrate, are sick more often, more frequently depressed, and are the most likely to be malnourished and have stunted growth. Meat and other animal-source foods are the building blocks of healthy growth that have made America's youngsters among the tallest, strongest and healthiest in the world.
  Meat is an important source of quality nutrients, heme iron, protein, zinc and B-complex vitamins. It provides high-quality protein important for kids' healthy growth and development. 
  Iron. The iron in meat (heme iron) is of high quality and well absorbed by the body, unlike nonheme iron from plants which is not well absorbed. More than 90 percent  of iron consumed may be wasted when taken without some heme iron from animal sources. Substances found to inhibit nonheme iron absorption include phytates in cereals, nuts and legumes, and polyphenolics in vegetables. Symptoms of iron deficiency include fatigue, headache, irritability and decreased work performance. For young children, it can lead to impairment in general intelligence, language, motor performance and school readiness. Girls especially need iron after puberty due to blood losses, or if pregnant. Yet studies show 75 percent of teenage girls get less iron than recommended. 
  Zinc. Meat, poultry and eggs are also good sources of absorbable zinc, a trace mineral vital for strengthening the immune system and normal growth. Deficiencies link to decreased attention, poorer problem solving and short-term memory, weakened immune system, and the inability to fight infection. While nuts and legumes contain zinc, plant fiber contains phytates that bind it into a nonabsorbable compound. 
  Vitamin B12. Found almost exclusively in animal products, Vitamin B12 is necessary for forming new cells. A deficiency can cause anemia and permanent nerve damage and paralysis. 
  Why not buy food supplements to replace missing vitamins and minerals? Some people believe they can fill those gaps with pills, but they may be fooling themselves. Research consistently shows that real foods in a balanced diet are far superior to trying to make up deficiencies with supplements. We don't yet know all the functions of foods. For example, phytochemicals are known to be protective against cancer, but many are unidentified; there may be over 100 different phytochemicals in one serving of vegetables. Another recent discovery is the cancer protective effect of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) from animal fats, found almost exclusively in animal foods, and one of the most potent natural anticarcinogens ever identified. Missing out on the vegetables they need and animal-source foods can deprive young people of these and other protective foods, some as yet unknown.
  When youngsters choose to give up meat, there is concern about how they are doing it, and to what extremes they might go.
  Vegetarians frequently express concern about their anemia, lack of energy, stomach pain, digestive problems, flatulence, and the stunting of children's growth. The pleasures of eating may also be reduced: Paul Obis, founder of Vegetarian Times and a longtime advocate of vegetarianism, recently began eating meat again, explaining, “Twenty-two years of tofu is a lot of time.”
  Even a small amount of meat can dramatically improve a poor diet. The nutrients in meat are highly concentrated, yet lean meat is relatively low in calories. And studies show that meals with meat satisfy longer. Eating meat along with a variety of foods from the other four food groups ensures a high-quality, healthy diet of real food, the best source of nutrients for growing, developing young people.

4. How did meat benefit early humans?

  Humans are omnivores, with the ability to eat nearly everything. By preference, prehistoric people ate a high-protein, high-mineral diet based on meat and animal sources, whenever available. Their foods came mainly from three of the five food groups: meat, vegetables and fruits. 
  As a result, big game mammoth hunters were tall and strong with massive bones. They grew six inches taller than their farming descendants in Europe, who ate mostly plant foods, and only in recent times regained most of this height upon again eating more meat, eggs and dairy foods.
  Throughout the world, even today, the tallest populations are those that historically ate more meat.

Return To Top