The Effects of No-Carb Diets on Children

The low-carb craze has swept the nation, and with child obesity rates on the rise, it's no wonder that parents might be interested in putting their children on such a diet. Parents are asking schools to add low-carb options to lunch offerings and buying low-carb diet products from the grocery store.



There are many reasons not to put your child on a no-carb diet or a low-carb diet. Much of the weight loss associated with such diets is due to the resulting calorie restrictions.

Good Carbs/Bad Carbs

• Carbohydrates are an essential part of a healthy diet.

  It's difficult to stick to a no-carb diet because there are carbohydrates in just about everything. Carbohydrates are the body's best source of energy and are a necessary part of the diet. Simple sugars and refined carbohydrates are not good for your children. Complex carbohydrates are broken down slowly and don't have the negative health effects that refined carbs do. Dairy products, fruits, vegetables and whole grains are healthy sources of carbohydrates. They give your children necessary fiber and contain many important vitamins and minerals.

Children and Carbs

• You shouldn't cut any food group from your child's diet. Otherwise, you can easily stunt their growth. In general, half of the calories a child consumes every day should come from carbohydrates. Dr. Stephen Sondike of the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin says that diets aren't necessary for growing children. He recommends carb awareness rather than carb restriction: choosing whole grain over white bread, eating oatmeal instead of cereal.

Low-Carb Diet Health Effects

• Dr. Arne Astrup reviewed 60 studies on low-carb diets and concluded that constipation, diarrhea, headaches and muscle weakness are common side-effects of low-carb diets. Bad breath and rashes also affected people on low-carb diets more often than those on low-fat diets.

  Astrup told CBS News that adults need a minimum of 150 g of carbohydrates every day. Diets like the Atkins diet restrict carb intake to just 20 to 30 g initially and then allow 100 g. This carb deficiency affects brain and muscle function. In children, carbohydrate deficiency shows up right away as reduced attention span and increasing fatigue.

  Many low-carb diets are high in saturated fats and cholesterol, which increases risk of heart disease and cancer. Low-carb diets can also cause ketosis when fat isn't broken down efficiently. Ketosis leads to dehydration, dizziness, irritability, nausea and weakness.

  Eating too much dairy and red meat can increase your risk of diabetes, kidney and liver dysfunction and osteoporosis, reports CVS Health Resources.

  The director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Women's Health Program, Judith Wurtman, warns that low-carb diets can lead to extreme feelings of anger, depression or tension. Low levels of carbohydrate reduce levels of the feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin in animal studies, and Wurtman believes this may be true of humans too.

Children and Dieting

• Society's obsession with being thin can create lifelong problems for children. According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), 45 percent of girls aged 5 to 12 and 20 percent of boys in that age group have been on a diet. In adolescents, 36 percent of boys and 44 percent of girls have dieted and 20 percent to 30 percent of adolescents try dangerous or unhealthy diets.

  Eating disorders are common among adolescents who may move through many different disorders, from anorexic behaviors to binge-eating. The unhealthy practices that many adolescents engage in put them at risk for growth impairments, emotional problems and obesity.