“A major misconception is that heart health is only a concern to be learned in middle adulthood and dealt with in later ages. Indeed, a strong cardiovascular health foundation is laid early in life, during childhood and adolescence,” says Dr. Ali Rahimi, MD, MPH, a cardiologist with Kaiser Permanente in Georgia.
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While parents shouldn’t obsess over their child’s heart health, all of the cardiologists we talked to say that helping children establish a healthy relationship with food and teaching them that what they eat and drink impacts their body is important.
With this in mind, we asked four cardiologists what food they wouldn’t give their kids. They all had the exact same answer.
Dr. Ben Reinking, MD, a clinical professor of pediatric cardiology at The University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine, explains that part of teaching kids to have a healthy relationship with food is avoiding labeling any food as “good” or “bad.”
But there is one type of food in particular that all four cardiologists say they avoid giving their kids regularly: ultra-processed foods. “Highly processed foods with predominant components of sugar or fat should be avoided on a regular basis,” Dr. Knoll says. Dr. VandeKappelle adds to this, saying, “The worst foods are ultra-processed foods such as hot dogs, French fries and ice cream. Ultra-processed foods are often high in saturated fats, sodium and sugar, all of which can lead to heart disease over a lifetime.”
To this point, a 2024 scientific study that included 1,426 children found that kids who ate ultra-processed foods regularly had a higher body mass index and higher LDL cholesterol than kids who didn’t eat ultra-processed foods regularly.
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Other Foods and Drinks Cardiologists Avoid Giving Their Kids
“Liquid sugar bypasses normal satiety cues, meaning kids consume massive amounts of calories without feeling full. A single can of soda easily exceeds a child's recommended daily limit for sugar. This rapid influx forces the liver to convert excess sugar directly into fat, driving up triglycerides, which are fats in the blood, and increasing the risk of insulin resistance and early heart disease,” Dr. Rahimi says.
While we’re on the subject of drinks, Dr. VandeKappelle and Dr. Rahimi say that many parents don’t realize how much sugar is in many fruit juices. When shopping for fruit juice, look for juices that are 100% fruit juice with no added sugar, artificial dyes or high-fructose corn syrup.
The food habits formed in childhood can have a lifelong impact. That doesn’t mean kids should never have sweet treats or ultra-processed foods. But it does mean these types of foods should be saved for specific occasions and not eaten every day.
Don’t forget to model heart-healthy habits yourself. “When heart-healthy eating is modeled by the whole family, and not forced on the child, the habits are more likely to be a mainstay of their life,” Dr. Rahimi says.
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Sources
Dr. Ali Rahimi, MD, MPH, cardiologist with Kaiser Permanente in Georgia.Dr. Robert VandeKappelle Jr., MD, pediatric cardiologist at Akron Children’s.Dr. Christopher Knoll, MD, pediatric cardiologist and the medical director of Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support at Phoenix Children’s.Dr. Ben Reinking, MD, clinical professor of pediatric cardiology at The University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine.Khoury, N., Ángeles Martínez, M., Garcidueñas-Fimbres, T., et al. (2024). Ultraprocessed Food Consumption and Metabolic Risk Factors in Children. JAMA Open Network. 7(5):e2411852.Cordeiro, Gonçalves, K., Antônio Batista Tonaco, L., Augusto Veloso, G., et al. (2025). Association between soft drink consumption and cardiovascular disease risk among Brazilian adults: a cross-sectional study. Sao Paulo Medical Journal. 143(4):e2023422.Gardener, H., Rundek, T., Markert, M., et al. (2012). Diet Soft Drink Consumption is Associated with an Increased Risk of Vascular Events in the Northern Manhattan Study. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 27(9):1120-1236.Hence then, the article about we asked 4 cardiologists what food they would never give their kids and they all said the same thing was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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