The Modern Diet: A Disaster for Jaw Growth and Development
In addition to the genetic and developmental reasons, our modern society has created many more issues that contribute to our children’s poor jaw growth and development. If you haven’t already read the book Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic, I highly recommend it. Sandra Kahn and Paul R. Ehrlich, a pioneering orthodontist and a world-renowned evolutionist, explain how we got to where we are today. One of the main contributing factors to growth is what we consume.
Our diets have changed drastically over the last one hundred years. We have moved away from raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, meats and whole grains, replaced instead by easier to cook and eat options. Convenience has become a primary factor, and companies are now able to offer longer expiration dates, shelf stable and “no refrigeration required” labels due to the addition of preservatives and stabilizers. Most recently, the invention of ultra-processed “foods” have become staples on our supermarket shelves. These ultra-processed products include very few whole ingredients, and often contain a long list of artificial flavorings, colors, and additives.
The makers of these portable, easy to eat products have flooded our markets with countless options such as breakfast cereals, sodas and sports drinks, packaged breads and baked goods, chips and crackers, and a wide variety of cups and pouches filled with purees, mashes, and fortified items marketed specifically to children.
Some of the top foods that children are often eating at home and at restaurants are macaroni & cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, all of which are processed or ultra processed options.
The vitamin and mineral deficiencies our children face when they aren’t getting enough nutrient dense whole foods is just one aspect of how our modern diets do not support growth and development. The fact that the action of chewing is lost when we only feed our children soft foods is a critical component. Research from the University of Kent showed that a soft diet may lead to a smaller jaw and more teeth crowding. The act of chewing varying textures, tough, chewy, and fibrous foods is essential for optimal growth. According to a study in Scientific Reports, the jaw develops in response to the demand put on it. So, if a child is chewing on meat, raw fruits and vegetable, and whole grains it has to grow and strengthen in order to meet the demands. Our jaws develop on a need-to-grow basis, and we aren’t giving them the reasons to grow. We are getting jaws exactly suited to our modern diets.
It can be difficult to change the way we eat. To get started, we recommend the following guidelines:
Eat whole foods as much as possible, focus on nutrient dense options.
Limit processed foods, and choose those with the fewest ingredients (aim for 3 or less).
Try to cut out ultra-processed foods completely, as they offer very little in the way of nutrients or chewing benefit. If the ingredient list contains things you don’t recognize, or can’t pronounce, you probably shouldn’t eat it.
One of the best ways to get children excited about trying different foods is by having them help in the kitchen. There are some great books on the subject of healthy eating for children including Raising a Healthy, Happy Eater by Nimali Fernando MD MPH and, Melanie Potock MA CCC-SLP, and Adventures in Veggieland by Melanie Potock.
If we want our children to grow to their full potential and live free of disease, we need to be supplying their bodies with nutritious diets and the opportunity to CHEW!
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