In this episode of The Care Circle powered by Motherhood Hospitals, host Sahiba is joined by Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Senior Consultant- Paediatric Intensivist & Neonatologist at Motherhood Hospitals, Sarjapur Road. Together, they unpack a growing but often misunderstood issue: why children are eating more but staying undernourished.

From the dangers of junk food and processed snacks to rising cases of obesity, weak immunity, and constipation, Dr. Rajiv explains how “hidden hunger” is silently impacting children’s health. This practical and insightful episode offers guidance on building healthy eating habits, the impact of lifestyle choices, and how parents (and even grandparents) can become positive role models.

Here are the key points you shouldn’t miss from this episode:

• Kids may look full but can still be malnourished if their diet lacks essential nutrients.
• High salt, sugar, and bad fats in junk food rewire taste preferences and harm long-term health.
• Obesity, diabetes, and low immunity are showing up in children due to poor diets and sedentary routines.
• Constipation is increasing in kids because of low fibre intake, lack of activity, and high screen time.
• Distracted eating during screen time leads to overeating and poor food choices.
• Simple snacks like roasted makhanas, homemade laddus, cut fruit, and nuts are nourishing alternatives to junk food.
• Children mimic parents, families who eat and play together shape healthier habits.
• Homemade fried snacks and packaged juices are not always healthy just because they’re made at home or look natural.
• Replacing junk food, reducing screen time, and having family meals can transform a child’s health.
• Eating together and modeling good food habits helps children eat better without force or stress.

Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Senior Consultant – Paediatric Intensivist & Neonatologist, Motherhood Hospitals, Sarjapur, Bangalore

0:05 – Host intro: Why kids fall sick despite eating well
0:36 – Introducing the episode: Junk food, nutrition & hidden hunger
1:03 – Guest intro: Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal
1:47 – Why kids eat well but still fall sick
2:26 – Can children be overfed and malnourished?
3:08 – What makes junk food dangerous?
3:50 – Food and immunity: What’s the connection?
4:19 – Constipation and gut health concerns in children
4:59 – Easy alternatives to junk food for busy parents
6:04 – Grandparents & snacks: Making tradition healthier
7:01 – Screen time and snacking: The risky combination
7:46 – Decline in physical activity and its health impact
8:33 – Biggest concern for Gen Alpha and Gen Beta
8:58 – 3 simple tips to build better food habits at home
10:28 – How to manage picky eaters without pressure
10:51 – Real-life story: Reversing poor nutrition habits
11:55 – Myth vs Fact: A rapid-fire round on junk food beliefs
14:23 – One golden rule for all parents
15:01 – Final thoughts: Small changes, big impact
15:19 – Outro: Nourishment over calories

(0:05) Sahiba: You have probably said this before or heard another parent say it, my child eats well, but still falls sick all the time. Or maybe you have noticed your little one reaching more often for chips, biscuits or soft drinks and fighting off every fruit or subzi like it’s the enemy. Welcome back to the Care Circle, a podcast series by Motherhood Hospitals, your expert-led safe space where we talk about real health concerns that families face every day.

(0:36) Sahiba: I am your host, Sahiba and today we are diving into a topic that hits home for every parent: junk food, childhood nutrition and the silent crisis of hidden hunger. What happens when children are full but not nourished? Why are lifestyle diseases showing up so early? And more importantly, what can parents do to change the narrative one plate at a time? Joining us is someone who sees this first-hand every day. It’s a pleasure to welcome Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Senior Consultant, Paediatric Intensivist and Neurotologist at Motherhood Hospitals, Sarjapur.

This is also the first time we are welcoming a paediatrician to the Care Circle and we couldn’t have asked for a better voice for this important conversation. Welcome to the podcast Dr. Rajiv. 

(1:28) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Hi Sahiba, thank you so much for inviting me today for talking on such an important topic because nutrition is at the forefront for all our kids’ health, and it’s an important issue which affects all our children today. So we should discuss this, yeah.

 (1:43) Sahiba: Glad to have you here, doctor. So, doctor, let’s start with something many parents say. I feed my child well, yet he still falls sick often. Why does this happen, doctor? 

(1:53) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal:  It’s very common for children to still to be eating well and still falling sick because it is important not only to eat well but to also have the adequate nutrients, specific nutrients in the food. So if you’re eating a lot of food, which is junk food, which is low in nutrients, your stomach may be full, but you’ll still end up getting infections very often.

(2:12) Sahiba: That really flips the script, doctor. As parents, people equate a full tummy with good health, but if what’s going in is poor in nutrient, it’s like running on empty. Let’s talk more about the contradiction. Can kids actually be overfed but malnourished? 

(2:29) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Yes, I mean traditionally we’ve always thought that undernutrition means malnutrition, that if a child is not eating well, he’s more liable to get infections. But now we’re seeing even children who are well-fed, obese, even they are at risk of infections because although they’re eating well, they’re lacking, their food is lacking in essential nutrients, and that places them at risk for infections. 

(2:52) Sahiba: That’s such an important point, doctor. It’s not just what’s on the weighing scale but what’s missing in their nutrition. Now let’s address the elephant in the room, doctor, the junk food. A lot of parents believe it’s just one burger or packet of chips. What harm can it do to the kid? But what really makes processed and junk food dangerous for the children? 

(3:13) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: I wish it was just one burger, but what happens is you eat one burger, you get addicted to the burger, and then you want a burger every day. So junk food unfortunately has a lot of salt, sugar and bad fats which can affect the health of the baby, and therefore when you’re eating a lot of junk food, invariably it goes on to obesity, diabetes and other nutrition-related issues and even heart issues. So, children, junk food should be reduced or at least controlled as much as possible.

(3:42) Sahiba:  So it’s not just about that one meal, it’s a pattern, doctor and over time that pattern rewires the taste, habits and the health outcomes. Now, let’s talk about immunity, doctor. We are seeing more kids with weak immunity, even autoimmune issues. Is food and lifestyle a part of that puzzle? 

(4:00) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Definitely. Poor diet, processed foods, sedentary routines, all of these weaken the immune system and add on to that poor sleep, minimal play and pollution. All these things will reduce the immunity and increase the risk of infection in children.

(4:15) Sahiba: Understood, doctor. That’s quite an important perspective. And speaking of gut health, another concern I hear from so many parents is constipation. It seems to be becoming increasingly common these days, doesn’t it, doctor? 

(4:29) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal:  Yes, see, constipation is related to two things. One is normal exercise and fibre in your diet. Unfortunately, due to our present lifestyle, we eat a lot of less fibre. There’s less of vegetables and less of fruit in our diet. And we also tend to be less active because we have a lot of screen time. So both these things contribute to children having more of constipation nowadays.

(4:52) Sahiba: Now, many parents are juggling work, school, routines, and they say, I don’t have time to make fancy healthy snacks. Are there any realistic, quick alternatives to junk food, doctor? 

(5:04) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Yes, junk food is easily available. So we can also make homemade foods and store it so that it is easily available for children when they want to just munch on something. For example, you can have roasted makhanas, popcorns, or you can have cut fruit kept in the fridge and even, you know, nuts and homemade snacks. 

So these things, if they’re easily available and they’re kept on the table, then children will tend to eat these rather than look for, you know, biscuits and chocolates in the fridge. So these homemade snacks should be easily available to children. And then they will have these rather than the market and the junk food. 

(5:41) Sahiba: That’s quite simple and doable, doctor. Doctor, many of us grew up with a very familiar scene: our grandparents handing us biscuits whenever we were hungry.

Back then, biscuits were one of the few quick snacks easily available for children. But today, knowing what we do about nutrition, what would be a healthier alternative parents or grandparents can keep handy, something that’s just as convenient but more nourishing for kids? 

(6:08) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: We used to always look forward to the time when our grandparents used to visit us or when we used to go and visit our nani’s house or dadi’s house because we knew that when we were there, we would always get more and more snacks and biscuits in it. But I think it’s all right for our grandparents to give us snacks.

But we can change the kind of snacks that are being offered to the kids nowadays. Because these snacks can be homemade also. For example, nani’s and dadi’s make very good burfis and laddus, and, you know, even homemade chocolates and homemade snacks.

And these, if they’re offered, if our kids can get used to these homemade snacks, these are healthy options and again are treated as snacks given by grandparents to the children. So homemade sweets or homemade goodies are better than market junk food. 

(6:56) Sahiba: That’s quite interesting to know, doctor. Doctor, now let’s talk about screen time. Kids today are watching, scrolling, gaming and snacking while they eat. How risky is this combo? 

(7:07) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: It’s very risky. Because one is that when you’re having screen time, you’re just sitting and watching the screen. It removes that recognition of hunger getting satisfied. So you keep on eating. And second is that when you’re watching screen time, you tend to have junk food. So both these things contribute to children becoming obese and putting on weight. 

(7:27) Sahiba: I love how you said that, doctor. Screens are a part of life now. But how we use them makes the difference. This reminds me, doctor, of the time when our parents literally had to drag us inside the house while we were playing.

But now the tables have turned. Now parents are dragging the kids outside. What’s the health cost of less physical activity, doctor? 

(7:49) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: It’s ironic. In olden times, when we used to be kids, we used to play outside, and our parents had to literally drag us back home. That’s been almost three, four hours of playing. And now kids don’t want to go out because they’ve got an alternative in screen time.

So we have to have a balance, maybe even the screen time. Because some of our education is also done on screen time. So that needs to be regulated. But they should also be encouraged to spend some time in physical activity. Because both of them will contribute to the growth and development of our children nowadays. 

(8:23) Sahiba: Absolutely, doctor. It’s a reminder that play isn’t just fun. It’s medicine for growing bodies and minds. Now, doctor, you have seen kids across generations. Looking at Gen Alpha and Gen Beta, what’s your biggest worry? 

(8:37) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: This convenience is becoming the default. See, fast food, ready-to-eat snacks, and gadgets are becoming lifestyle nowadays. If we don’t correct this now, we’ll have teens battling diabetes and lifestyle diseases in the next decade.

(8:51) Sahiba: That makes so much sense, doctor. But parents are often caught between busy schedules and children’s demands. In such a scenario, what are some simple, practical steps they can take at home to build healthier eating habits without making it feel like a punishment for the kids? 

(9:08) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: The first thing is that kids look at their parents. So the parents have to be a role model. If we don’t want our kids to eat junk food, we have to give up junk food as well. If we don’t want our kids to have screen time, then we have to give up screen time as well.

So the kids will look at parents. So we need to be a role model for our kids. Second thing is that healthy options should be readily available. For example, as I mentioned before, healthy snacks made at home should be easily available. And junk food, for example, especially chocolates, biscuits, burgers, which we don’t want our kids to have, should not be easily available. So they should either not be stocked in the fridge or at home, and they should not be available.

And we can involve our kids in activities like cooking so that they see and they are encouraged in the nutritious food at home. And last thing is that even if you are having, you know, bread or junk food, sometimes we can make it nutritious, rich by adding things like vegetables and fruits in our diet. So they can have an occasional fast food, but that can be enriched by adding fruits and vegetables in the diet.

For example, you can make Maggi, right? Instead of just having plain Maggi, you should have Maggi with lots of vegetables. So you can have the Maggi as well and the vegetables as well. You’re getting the nutrition as well.

(10:26) Sahiba: These tips are gold, doctor. (10:28) And what about picky eaters? Mealtime can become a war zone for such picky eaters. 

(10:34) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Yes, that’s very common. I don’t think we should make eating time a big fight. Just keep offering healthy options in different forms. Avoid using junk foods.

And with time and consistency, children generally learn, and they start eating normal food.

(10:49) Sahiba: That’s quite reassuring to know, doctor. Do you have a story that shows how small changes made a big difference? 

(10:56) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Yes, in our clinical practise, we see a lot of children who come who’ve been exposed to a lot of junk food. Common things are parents are busy. Child just has full access to junk food. So the thing is that, for example, there was a child with us who had come who was eight years old, obese, and not eating normal food, eating only junk food.

So they were counselled for the child to have regular mealtimes, spend more time with the child during eating, and give healthy options available in the home to them. We replaced junk food with homemade food, added fruits and vegetables and reduced the screen time. Within six months, the child’s health had improved.

He was more active, cheerful. The best part is the whole family started eating together, and that helped in changing the habits of the child. 

(11:50) Sahiba: That’s such a heartwarming reminder, doctor. Kids don’t change in isolation; families do. Doctor, let’s do a quick myth-busting round on kids and junk food. I’ll say what are some common misconceptions and you tell us if it’s a myth or a fact.

Are you ready, Dr. Rajiv? 

(12:06) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Yeah, sure.

(12:07) Sahiba: Myth one is, doctor, it’s okay if kids eat junk food daily as long as they are active.

(12:13) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Junk food contains not only calories, but it contains a lot of harmful salt, sugar, as well as bad fats. So you may spend the energy, but the harmful effect that this high salt and high sugar has on the gut health, immunity and long-term metabolism that can still be harmful for the body. So we should have healthy food and not junk food all the time. 

(12:36) Sahiba: Myth two, doctor, juices and packaged drinks are healthier than aerated soft drinks.

(12:42) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal:  The packaged juices are also harmful because they have a lot of sugar and they have a lot of preservatives. The best alternative is either to have the whole fruit as it is or get fresh juice taken out immediately. Better to avoid all kinds of packaged foods, all packaged drinks.

(12:59) Sahiba: Myth three will be, doctor, homemade fried snacks like samosas or pakoras are safe because they are made at home. 

(13:06) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Anything that is deep-fried cannot be totally healthy. They are okay, they are good as an occasional snack, but not something that we can have daily.

Homemade pakoras, samosas are better than market samosas, but still, they have their own harmful effects and therefore should be used only in moderation. 

(13:25) Sahiba: Next one, as long as a child is not overweight, junk food is harmless. 

(13:29) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: No, that is not true because junk food has a problem not only of the calories, but also, as I mentioned before, it has the problems of excess salt, excess sugar and even bad fats.

And once you get used to having more sugar and salt in your diet, it has long-term implications. So it’s not just the calories. You may say that I will have junk food and I will work it out,  but then there are other things that the junk food affects in your body metabolism that has long-term implications.

(13:56) Sahiba: Next one is, doctor, sugar is only bad if kids eat chocolates and candies. 

(14:01) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Sugar is, I mean, sugar gives a sweet taste in chocolate, but sugar is present in other foods also. So, for example, it is in the form of even in breads, cereals, flavoured yoghurt. So we have to eat sugar in moderation because if you get used to very high sugar levels,  then it becomes harmful in the long term. 

(14:20) Sahiba: Those were some amazing insights we got from you, doctor. Doctor, if there’s just one golden rule you could leave parents with today, what would that be? 

(14:29) Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal: Eat together and spend time together. If the whole family sits at the dining table together and eats together and eats healthy food together, children will start eating healthy food. They look at their parents, they look at what their elders are doing, and they imitate or mimic the same food. So if we want our kids to change, we have to be a role model for them.

We have to reduce our own screen time and we have to ourselves develop good eating habits. 

(14:55) Sahiba: Thank you so much, Dr. Rajiv. Your guidance today has been eye-opening and quite reassuring. Thank you for giving us your time. 

And to every parent listening, your child doesn’t need perfection. They need consistency, love and small intentional changes.

Remember, junk food may fill the stomach, but it empties out their health. What they really need is nourishment, not just calories. Thank you for joining us on The Care Circle,  a podcast series by Motherhood Hospital.

If today’s episode resonated with you, do share it with a fellow parent. Follow us on social media for updates and expert tips.

 Until next time, stay healthy, stay kind and take care.