Is Samosa a Better Option Than A Burger as Junk Food?

The title of this blog itself brings water to our mouths. We sure love junk food more than the healthy ones for obvious reasons. If we adults love to gorge on junk foods often then why not our children? Since our little ones have the need to satisfy every craving they have, we as parents must be careful about the kind of foods they eat.

While you can't keep your child forever away from junk food, the occasional indulgence of junk food should be restricted to the junk food that is a tad healthier than the other. Junk food and health? You may think. But yes, it is true, junk food can also be healthy at least to some extent just like our good old samosas – the deep fried, spicy and triangular Indian snack that is best savored with mint chutney.

The kinds of junk food are varied today but children tend to love them all. Indian junk foods comprise more of samosas but the western counterparts have their very own burger established in India as well. What does your child crave for more? Many say that a samosa is a better option than a burger as junk food for your child. But is that true?

We all have different opinions over this and debate can go on for this for a long time with no proper conclusion to be reached. So what makes these two junk food different from one another? Let us have a look.

What Is Better Samosa or A Burger?

Here's a comparison between a samosa and burger.

Samosa

A samosa is fried food, to begin with, which consists of potatoes and a lot of spices to enhance our taste buds which is why children often like this Indian counterpart of junk food. But if you compare it with a burger, a samosa even though an entirely fried food, it is much better an option as compared to a burger that has emulsifiers, stabilizing agents along with added flavors that makes it unfit for a young child.

Burger

A burger, on the other hand, may not be completely fried but if you look at the ingredients it is loaded with mayonnaise (excess salt and sugar) processed cheese (again loaded with preservatives and salt). Even though the vegetables are added to a burger they have been cut and kept already to fill in a burger and you as parents know that you should not eat veggies that have been cut and kept.

So while a samosa leads here it is still advisable to not to encourage your child to eat junk food on a regular basis be it samosa or a burger. In fact, encourage your child to eat more fresh fruits as snacks or even dry fruits or boiled veggies as they make for a filling and healthy snacks.

How To Deal With A Fussy Eater?

If your child is a fussy eater then you can become a bit creative and decorate the healthy snack which will entice the child to eat it more often.

Increased Junk Food Consumption In Today's Children – A Worrisome Condition

As the topic of junk food consumption in children becoming a grim reality now, let us talk about other points in regards to it. Children these days have been at par with media which display various advertisements about different junk food. These advertisements lure children into consuming more junk food. Not just the media but even when we take our child out he/she tends to come across a number of shops containing junk food.

Junk food with all its preservatives and extra servings of cheese and mayonnaise becomes more appealing to your child as compared to the boring yet healthy and plain food at home.

This apart, junk food is readily available and is easy to cook as well (the ready to eat food is also considered as junk food as it contains preservatives and added color to make it look and taste the way it does), which is why there is an increased temptation to grab a bite of a burger rather than making a healthy choice. However, as parents, you need to ensure that most of the time you are eating healthy so that your child sees that and develops the habit of healthy eating. Meanwhile, you can also teach should also teach them the difference between healthy and junk food.

Is Indian Junk Food Better As Compared To Other Available In The Market?

It is a debatable issue but let's see how each one fares in the debate.

Indian Junk Food

While junk food is a reality, it is still not the best food to be consumed for a long time. Indian junk food comprises of samosas, vada pavs, Panipuri and chole-bhature and so on and so forth. All these are fried foods and are readily available mostly on the streets, however, at the best of the times, it is not a healthy option. The vendors serving these foods don't maintain basic hygiene, which is why you should keep not let your child have street foods. Instead, let them have the same snack made at home with complete hygiene

Western Junk Food

The junk foods brought in by the westerners are usually burgers, pizzas, and pasta which everyone is fond of, from adults to children. These foods are rich in salt and sugar both and hence instead of satisfying hunger pangs tend to increase it thus making the body crave for more food resulting in an obese child. While occasional indulgence is fine to avoid making it a habit either for yourself or your child.

So Is Samosa Better Than A Burger?

As mentioned earlier, while samosa is a complete fried food but with fresh ingredients, an occasional indulgence won't harm your child, however, a burger with all its bread and extra cheese and mayonnaise will only increase the health issues.

Like mentioned earlier, both samosa and burger should be given to your child in moderation, in fact, if you can prepare them both at home then nothing like it.

You can make samosa for your child at home by using whole wheat flour with good quality potatoes, and low-fat oil. You can also bake it instead of frying it. By using these alternatives, you will not be breaking your child's heart, can fulfill his wishes as well as be satisfied by keeping a quality check on the same.

How Often Should You Let Your Child Have Samosas?

This is a tricky question without a definite answer to it as far as children are concerned. Despite being junk food, a number of parents allow their child to eat samosas in school canteen or on the roadside with their friends due to a number of reasons ranging from lack of time to cook snacks for child's tiffin to giving in to the child's demand to have junk food.

How is Poha Better Than Noodles For Children?

This question has an obvious right answer and that is a “YES”. Poha is definitely a better option than noodles when your child is snacking as it is healthy and light while it also manages to keep your child full. Let us have a deeper look at the difference between the two.

Poha For Your Child

Poha can be fed to your child often as it is healthy and will keep your child's stomach full. You can add a number of vegetables while cooking poha including potatoes and tomatoes with some spices which will make it a tastier option.

Noodles For Your Child

Noodles, on the other hand, are fried and should be avoided largely while indulging in it once or twice a month is normal. Apart from the vegetable noodles also contain vinegar which is acidic and shouldn't be consumed by children which will invite troubles to their health later. Some noodles also contain various spices for enhancing the taste that can lead to adverse health impact on children.

Your child from time to time demand junk food, but as a parent, it is up to you how you can satisfy the cravings with healthy options. There are numerous healthy snack recipes on the internet for your child.

Did you like the blog on samosa vs burger? Given the option between the two which one will you choose for your child and why? Do share your views and feedback in the comments section below. And if you have some recipes for healthy snacks then do share with us in the comments section below as we would love to hear from you.