I see tons of very young children eating snack chips that brag about how spicy they are. You know the kind I'm talking about, right? They are usually some very bright reddish color and leave a residue on your fingers that you don't want to get anywhere near your eyes. Well, it turns out that chips like Flamin' Hot Cheetos and other four alarm fire chips are landing children in emergency rooms and putting them at risk for intestinal issues.
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Dr. Martha Rivera of White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles warns that kids are being "set up for ulcerations, erosions and peptic ulcer disease." Eating too many of these snacks can lead to inflammation of the stomach lining, which can lead to abdominal pain.
Andrew Medina is a 12-year-old boy who claims to eat about 20 to 30 bags of these spicy snacks a month. That's almost a bag a day! After getting stomach pains, he went to see a doctor who told him the snacks were giving him gastritis, which can cause bloating, burning, and vomitting.
Some school districts have banned these snacks because–let's face it–they don't have much of a nutritional value. If your kids are already hooked on these types of snacks, it's best to limit their intake and get them excited about healthier snacks. Shoot, if they like spicy give them some regular ol' chips and salsa instead of the phony stuff.
I have to say that I'm always kind of surprised to see kids eating these spicy chips like they are no big thing. I can't get through an entire bag of them without a tummy ache. They burn uncomfortably going down and they burn uncomfortably on their way out. Ouch!
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