 This week we learnt about so many different micronutrients, you know, we learnt about magnesium, potassium, vitamin D, calcium and you know we have to understand that nowadays the food that we eat specifically when you know our youngsters are eating lot of outside food, ultra-processed food, you know ready-made food and we have to know that you know it's not healthy actually. They are devoid of lot of these nutrients, they are devoid of micronutrients, you know they are high on starches, they are high on bad fats, you know omega-6 loaded oils, some of them have trans fat actually you know and lot of sugar and salt, I mean very salty lot of sugar. So we have created this two tutorials actually one is on junk food and another one is in why you know why junk food has kind of increased in our community. So do watch them, you know lot of times we feel that okay if we make something at home then it's healthy and you know lot of communities like in Gujarati you know people love to have farsan and they love to have sweets but please understand that even if it is made at home but if the ingredients are not right and the cooking techniques are not right then it's not necessarily healthy okay. So just kind of use good techniques in a sense you know if you want to use oil, use some staple oils to fry, you know don't use metha, don't use rice starch, you know use some more healthy grains or millets, millets are really good actually and also I've explained what happens when you have a lot of sugar, you know sugar is basically one molecule of glucose and one molecule of fructose. So I've shown very specifically what happens you know and insulin resistant is one more important aspect that I've mentioned a little bit in junk food and because of insulin resistant you know not only we have risk of diabetes but we also have risk of high blood pressure okay. So all these lifestyle disorders are because we are eating not right kind of food. So what happens in young children what I see in community you know they start with biscuits, maré biscuit, pardajie biscuit, by the time they are four months, three months old and you know that junk food continues to increase in the diet you know so they would spend five rupees on junk food but they would not use five rupees to buy you know say one cup of dahi or maybe eggs you know. So it's important to understand what are these junk food, how they are made, what does it include you know. So let's watch it and learn about it. Thank you. Welcome to the spoken tutorial on junk food. In this tutorial we will learn about contents of junk food and harmful effects of junk food on our body. Any food can be considered as junk food depending upon three factors. First two factors are ingredients and the method of cooking. The nutrient content of the food is the third important factor. Junk food contains a high amount of sugar, salt, refined fat and refined flour. Most of the junk food is usually prepared by frying or baking. Many artificial colors, flavors and preservatives are added to these food. This is done to enhance the taste, appearance and shelf life of the food. Junk food are high in calories. They have none or little amounts of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. A few commonly consumed junk food are deep fried salty snacks. Majority of the fast food are also junk food. For example, pizza, burgers, french fries, noodles, chips, wafers, puff pastry, samosa, etc. Some beverages are considered as junk food. For example, cold drinks, fruit juices and artificially flavored drinks. Even caffeinated drinks, soda and energy drinks are included. Sweets, deep fried sweets, jams, jellies, sauces, ketchups are also junk food. Biscuit, cake, chocolate, candy, ice cream are other examples. Let us now see the effect of junk food on our body. Junk food which is high in sugar causes immediate rise in blood sugar levels. As a result, the pancreas releases insulin in our blood. Insulin is a hormone which acts like a key to open the cells. The cells absorb sugar from the blood to provide us energy. Excess sugar gets stored as fat in the body. Regular eating of high sugar food can cause insulin resistance. During insulin resistance, the body is unable to respond to insulin or use it. Therefore, sugar is not taken up by our cells from the blood. As a result, there is a rise in insulin levels and blood sugar levels. The high insulin levels send signals for hunger to the brain. The body starts craving more food even if it is not hungry. This creates a vicious cycle and causes overeating. Let us understand this with an example. While eating a biscuit or laddu, we can't restrict ourselves to one piece. We crave to eat it more and more. We mostly finish the entire packet of biscuits or many laddus at a time. This is because of the hunger signals which are sent to the brain. Sugar also has an effect on blood pressure. On eating food high in sugar and salt, our sodium level increases. Sugar enhances the sodium absorption in the body by the kidney. As a result, sodium gets retained in the body. This causes an increase in blood pressure and water retention in the body. As a result, puffiness in hands and feet can be seen. Let me give you another example. After eating chips, we usually feel thirsty. This is because sodium levels in our blood increases on eating salty food. The brain then sends signals of thirst so that we drink more water. Drinking water will dilute the sodium levels in the body. But, drinking juice or cold drinks will increase the sugar levels in the body. This will result in a rise in the blood pressure. Apart from sugar and salt, most junk food have a lot of refined flour. Refined wheat flour is most commonly used. These refined flours are low in fiber and lack essential nutrients. Fibre has a very important role in the body. It gets digested slowly and gives us a feeling of fullness for a long time. Therefore, when we eat junk food low in fiber, it gets quickly digested. Our stomach gets empty very quickly and we feel hungry again. Another important benefit of fiber is to maintain a healthy gut. Our gut comprises of both good and bad bacteria. Fiber promotes the growth of good bacteria, thereby helping in proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. Other benefits are strong immunity, healthy skin and reduced inflammation. Fiber is also necessary for our stools to absorb water. This makes the stools soft and bulky. Thus, the stools move easily through the intestine. Since junk food is low in fiber, eating it regularly can cause constipation. The other disadvantage is that junk food reduces the good bacteria in the gut. This increases inflammation and the risk of various diseases. Some junk food are high in refined fats like trans fat, cakes, biscuits, baked products, margarines, vanaspati all have trans fat. Trans fat raises the level of bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol. Cholesterol is a type of fat found in our blood. Good cholesterol helps in proper working of the brain, skin and heart. But excess of bad cholesterol is not good for our health. Mostly fried junk food is prepared using oils containing omega-6 fatty acid. Examples are sunflower oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, even corn oil and cotton seed oil are included. The omega-6 in these oils raises the level of bad cholesterol in our body. Excess of bad cholesterol gets deposited on the walls of our blood vessels. Excess of omega-6 fatty acid also enhances inflammation in the body. This results in the development of insulin resistance and heart diseases. Excessive consumption of junk food has many harmful effects. Obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes are the most common. We can also cause a risk of increased bad cholesterol and heart diseases. Sleep disturbances or development of cysts in the ovaries can also happen. Eating too much junk food can upset the stomach. You may experience nausea, vomiting and reduced appetite. Other effects of junk food are dental caries, allergies and cancer. Junk food lacks the necessary nutrients to keep our body healthy. Therefore, eating too much junk food can weaken our immune system. Due to which, we may often feel tired and weak. Usually, we are not aware about the ill effects of junk food on our health. Without giving a thought, we eat them regularly in large amounts. Therefore, we should be careful about choosing our food so that we stay healthy. This brings us to the end of the tutorial. Welcome to the spoken tutorial on reasons for increase in junk food consumption. In this tutorial, we will learn about factors increasing the consumption of junk food, ways to avoid junk food from our diet. Junk food contains a high amount of sugar, salt, refined fat and refined flour. Harmful effects of junk food has been discussed in another tutorial. Please visit our website for more details. Let us understand the factors that increase the consumption of junk food. Junk food has become easily available these days. You can find it in shops, school canteens, roadside vendors and restaurants. Let us look at another reason for the increased consumption of junk food. Mothers may be busy with job and household work. They may not get time to prepare a proper home-made meal for their kids. Instead, they may give them money to buy food from outside. Kids may choose to buy chocolates, ice creams or chips with that money. Moreover, junk food is often cheaper as compared to healthy meals. For example, a plate of chapatis, lentils and vegetables will cost slightly more. Therefore, people may choose something cheap such as samosa, chips, biscuits. Sometimes, parents ignore the child's likes and dislikes. Children often get bored with traditional home-made meals. Due to a lack of variety in home-made meals, they may want to eat junk food. They may find these food tastier. On eating junk food high in sugar, the brain releases chemicals like dopamine. It is released in large amounts which gives us a feeling of joy and comfort. That is why we get addicted to junk food and crave to eat more and more. We see comfort by overeating junk food. This is common during periods of stress, depression, loneliness and anxiety. Another reason that attracts us to junk food are its advertisements. These advertisements are often attractive and misleading. Children and adolescents get easily influenced by them. Friends also affect our food choices. For example, a student carries chapati and vegetables to school. If her friends bring junk food, then she will also want to bring those items. This shows that our eating habits get affected by what people around us eat. Moving ahead, let us look at some ways to avoid junk food. Parents should understand that children learn and follow what they see. If they see parents eating healthy, they will also be motivated to eat right. Therefore, parents should be a good role model for them. Please remember to never use junk food as a reward. Parents often give junk food as rewards to children in some situations. For example, to complete their schoolwork or to score well in exams. This gives the children a message that it is okay to eat these food. As they grow older, this can develop into a habit. Hence, never offer junk food as a reward to children. Care should be taken to avoid eating food while watching TV or using phones. Eating while watching TV distracts our mind. Therefore, we don't feel satisfied and tend to overeat. Another thing which the mothers should consider is to bring variety in meals. The child's regular meal can be made exciting. Make it more colourful and nutrient dense. Use a combination of ingredients from different food groups. Let me give you an example. Plain rice can be modified by adding lentils, vegetables or eggs. This way, the child will look forward to having homemade meals. Before planning meals, consider the child's likes and dislikes. If they do not like a specific ingredient, disguise it in other dishes. For example, some children are fussy about eating vegetables. You can disguise vegetables in the form of vegetable paratha, chila or cutlets. Vegetables can be chopped or pureed and served in the form of soup. Try to replace junk food with healthy food. For example, vada, samosa or a pack of biscuits costs 5 to 10 rupees. For the same amount of money, you can buy 2 eggs or a glass of milk. Do not add taste enhancing powders available in the market in children's milk. Instead, you can add turmeric powder or nuts and seeds powder. You can also have chutney made of nuts and seeds, instead of ketchup and sauces. Roasted peanuts or Bengal gram can be eaten instead of chips and fried chivda. You can also have boiled green gram, Bengal gram, corn, etc. Avoid fried puris made of refined flour. Instead, have chapatis or parathas made of whole wheat flour. You can also have boiled grains, sorghum or pearl millet. Replace bad fats like refined vegetable oils with good fats. Examples of good fat are coconut oil, pure ghee and butter. Nuts, seeds, eggs and fish also have good fats in them. Avoid drinking cold drinks and juices. Instead, you can drink water, lime water, coconut water, buttermilk or milk. Encourage children to eat whole seasonal fruits instead of fruit juices. Fruit juices and sugary drinks should not be given to children below 2 years. In a day, the consumption of tea and coffee should be restricted. Half a cup or 100 ml can be given to 5 to 9 year old children. For adolescents, 1 cup or 200 ml can be given. Whereas, tea and coffee should be avoided by children up to 5 years. Children and adolescents should completely avoid energy and carbonated drinks. The intake of junk food should be restricted to 1 serving per week. A homemade meal with the right ingredients is healthier than outside junk food. Always remember that it takes time to develop habits. Therefore, children must be taught to choose healthy food from a young age. This brings us to the end of the tutorial. Thank you for joining.