Instant soup or noodles are just one of those packaged products we have a few of in our cabinets or pantries.
All you need to do is add water in the noodle cup and place it in the microwave for a few minutes to get a tasty meal.
It's so easy that a child can do it all by themselves. While that may be the case, doctors are warning against young children preparing their own ramen.
Instant noodles: For children 13 and up?
According to new research by the American Academy of Pediatrics, these instant products are to blame for at least one in five scalding burns that send children to the emergency room each year.
The researchers examined data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System between 2006 to 2016 and found that scald burns related to instant soups and noodles affect nearly 10,000 children annually between ages 4 and 12 years.
They found that the most common area for a child to get burned is the torso, likely caused by the container tipping over while they try to take it out of the microwave.
And the most common age for soup-related burns was seven years old.
"Once they're heated up they become a dangerous burn risk. Caregivers need to closely supervise younger children who might otherwise get hurt if cooking for themselves," Dr. Courtney Allen, a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Emory University in Atlanta, said in a news release.
Some people think the design of the product is to blame, since most of these instant meals come in flimsy paper or Styrofoam cups.
While we have yet to see major changes to the structural design of these popular packaging to prevent injuries, all we can do now is keep a watchful eye on youngsters.
"It's important for us to remember, and for parents to remember, that these are just thin containers with boiling water in them," Allen added.
"I think there's an assumption that these are safer than soups coming out of a stove," she said, "when, in fact, they're not."
It's not only burns that you should be worried about...
By now, you must know that instant ramen isn't the healthiest thing to eat, but once in a while it's okay, right?
While that may be true, it's important to pay attention to your kids and take notice of how much instant noodles they consume per week.
The high sodium content and the preservative-filled noodles can have long-term effects on a child's health and development.
[H/T: Eureka Alert]
