We know that it’s difficult to find foods that your kids will actually eat; and when it comes to protein, kids are usually more receptive to processed meats than they are to beef, pork or chicken. Processed meats are easier to chew and have lots of added salt, which plays in favorably with kid’s taste buds.

However new information from the World Health Organization should change the way you feed meat to your child. Processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, pepperoni, sausage and ham have been placed on the same cancer hit list as cigarettes. 

That doesn’t mean that a hot dog is as dangerous as smoking around your child, only that both processed meat and cigarettes both increase cancer risks, and that the greater the exposure, the greater the risk. Estimates suggest that 34,000 deaths a year can be attributed to a diet high in processed meat, as opposed to one million cancer deaths caused by smoking.

Eat Less Processed and Red Meat

The report found that just 50 grams of processed meat a day (less than two slices of bacon) significantly increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer.

Red meats were also found to probably have an effect on cancer.

While this doesn’t mean that your child can never have a hot dog or slice of pepperoni pizza again, it does mean that you should limit processed meats (and red meat) to a maximum of one or two times a week and rely more heavily on chicken, eggs and beans as a source of protein.