Precooked food for children: the good and the bad

With the hustle and bustle of families today, parents working outside the home, children doing thousands of extracurricular activities after school, homework, ... Sometimes, time does not come for everything, and precooked meals are a gap in daily life. The reasons are obvious, in the absence of tim

The reasons are obvious, in the absence of time, these packages provide relatively complete meals without having to spend more time in the kitchen than it is to put a tray in the oven, but, how healthy are these precooked meals?

Disadvantages of precooked foods for children

In general, these dishes can be lasagna or other types of pasta with some type of sauce, fish or breaded meat, mixed croquettes, rice, soups and broths, gazpachos, salmorejos and the widely known pizzas or salted pies, including their masses or bases to make at home.

Although we can not put all the precooked in the same bag, the truth is that the vast majority of them have similar characteristics. Among them can be highlighted:

- Sugar and salt in excess. In general, those precooked dishes that contain cheese or ham do not usually need added salt, and yet pre-cooked dishes carry it. As for sugars, the presence of carbohydrates is sufficient, since it is unnecessary to add sugar to make the dish more attractive.

- The amount of meat or fish is much less than the same plate would be if it is made at home. For example, the homemade Bolognese lasagne would probably have a percentage of meat, at least 50%, some of the precooked lasagnes do not reach 20%. Similarly, the batter has a tiny amount of fish (or meat), in favor of the batter, and in the croquettes, for example, is the batter, along with the bechamel what constitutes the thickness of the dish, while the ham It is found in very small amounts. The portions of vegetables are also scarce. On the other hand, the low amount of fish compromises the amount of omega 3 fatty acids, and that of vegetables and cooking, that of vitamins and minerals.

- Sauces (béchamel sauce, tomato sauce ...) tend to carry unnecessary thickeners that would not carry the same sauces made at home, and the amount of undesirable fats is usually much higher.

Advantages of pre-cooked food for children

However, once listed some of the cons of this type of food, it is convenient to add that, depending on how we compare it and how often it is consumed, pre-cooked meals may not be such a bad idea

- Precooked meals are usually more balanced than similar ones but bought in fast food restaurants. For example, a pizza prepared at home from the pre-cooked base, even the one purchased for direct baking, usually contains less saturated fats and better quality products than pizza, in addition to a lower salt content. En - In general, precooked foods are not a good idea for children's diet to replace home-made meals, but the so-called junk food or fast food are even less so.