Over the last few decades the diet of the world has changed drastically, especially in the Western world, where fast food has really taken off since the 1970s. This has had massive implications for families, as well as people who generally want to watch their diet. The explosion in the numbers of fast food restaurants in the world has contributed directly to the growth of major illnesses and diseases across the world.

When it comes to scoliosis, there are implications too as regards the growth of fast and processed food. Processed food is basically food that has been altered in some way, whether through having ingredients added to it or some of the ingredients being concentrated for consumption.

There are a wealth of problems associated with processed food, not least the misleading comments that are available on the labels that adorn the packaging of the food. For example, one of the biggest problems is that much of the packaging of processed food offers enticing claims that are in actual fact at best a half truth. If a package claims that a meal is sugar free for example, this is often a disguise for the truth of the matter, which is that there are additives in the food, such as agave. This particular sweetener is very much like syrup, which offers an unhealthy option.

Another main issue as regards processed food is that they are just plain unhealthy. Even those who are perhaps a little uninformed about the diet they take in cannot fail to see that foods such as hot dogs and canned meat, which is by definition processed food, in that it has been changed by the packers, is seriously unhealthy. In fact, the humble hot dog, and other processed meat products, has been directly linked to cancer. With cancer being one of the biggest killers in the western world, one can see how processed food can pose a direct threat to the health of humans.

Going back to the syrup idea, processed foods have also been linked to extreme obesity. This is when the human body is much heavier than those of the same age and background. High fructose corn syrup and other sugar based products that have been through some kind of processing element, are directly linked to obesity.

Add to this the nature of our issue, which is the development and growth of scoliosis, and the issues relating to diet and scoliosis soon become clear. Processed foods do not contain calcium. Calcium is one element that is most definitely needed for a growing skeleton. The only problem is that calcium is not the simplest thing for the body to absorb.