Industrial pizzas: a priori a risk for the health of children
Industrial and ready-made pizzas would have a severe impact on the health of children . This alarming finding results from an American study published on January 19 in the journal Pediatrics (1) . These industrial pizzas are unbalanced, and represent an excessive intake of calories, especially for children and adolescents.
Consequences for the health of children and adolescents
A study carried out by researchers from the University of Illinois in the USA, shows that the consumption of industrial pizzas would involve a significant risk on the health of children, thus making them dangerous, thus promoting an increased risk of obesity, high blood pressure or the onset of type 2 diabetes.
The scientists therefore analyzed the eating habits of 14,000 children and adolescents aged 2 to 19, in order to understand the impact of pizza on children’s health and weight.
- The results reveal that the group of children consuming pizza absorb 84 kilocalories, 3g of saturated fat and 134mg more salt daily than the group of children having a balanced diet, without eating pizza.
- For teenagers, the figures are more alarming, with an excess of 230 kilocalories, 5g of saturated fat, and 484mg of salt, thus favoring the onset of obesity , and many health problems related to overweight such as diabetes or cardiovascular diseases.
This worrying finding has been observed both for pizzas sold in supermarkets and for fast-food pizzas. However, the researchers observed that the pizzas served at school and therefore made in school canteens have a significantly lower number of calories.
Choose homemade pizzas
Pizzas are an integral part of the diet of children and adolescents, representing around 20% of it. It is therefore wise to favor homemade pizzas so as not to deprive them of this particularly appreciated dish.
The researchers therefore recommend abandoning industrial pizzas, in favor of more balanced recipes, favoring in particular vegetables over fatty and particularly salty foods, such as meat or bacon.
” Since pizza remains a predominant dish in children’s diets, we need to make healthy pizza the norm, ” said Lisa Powell, lead author of the study.
It is also interesting to use wholemeal flour for the dough and to reduce the quantities of cheese, in order to obtain a product with better nutritional values.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.