Junk food risks weak bones and stunted growth

FEEDING even small amounts of junk food to growing kids could leave them stunted with weaker bones, a new study suggests.

Researchers say highlyprocessed foods have a “definite” negative impact on skeletal growth – even in small amounts.

Tests on mice showed that high fat and sugar foods with lots of additives damaged growth plates.

These plates – made of soft, flexible cartilage – are found at the end of long bones, like those in the arms and legs and, as the name suggests, are areas of new bone growth in children and teens.

Prof Erfat Monsonegoornan, associate professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said: “Our conclusion was that even in reduced amounts, the ultraprocessed foods can have a definite negative impact on skeletal growth.

“When Carlos Monteiro, one of the world’s leading experts on nutrition, said that there is no such thing as a healthy ultra-processed food, he was clearly right.

“Even if we reduce fats, carbs, nitrates, and other known harmful substances, these foods still possess their damaging attributes.

“Every part of the body is prone to this damage and certainly those systems that remain in the critical stages of development.”

While links between obesity and other mental and metabolic diseases on humans of all ages have been shown in previous studies, the researchers wanted to find out more about the possible effects on bones.

This is the first comprehensive analysis to focus on how these kinds of foods affect skeletal development.

Previous studies suggest around half of youngsters eat some form of junk food every single day.

The study has been published in the journal Bone Research.