Chidlhood nutrition under the microscope

Childhood nutrition is a big concern and has been under investigation for a while the pandemic of childhood obesity keeps growing. Together with childhood obesity the increasing occurrence of allergies, attention deficit disorder and the early onset of insulin resistance are under the microscope.

Who is to blame?

Every case of childhood obesity has a story with different factors behind it. All those stories result in overeating, overfeeding, decreased physical activity and the excessive intake of refined, fatty, high GI foods.

What do they need?

Because children are growing and developing bones, teeth, muscles and blood they actually need more nutritious food in proportion to their weight than do adults. They can become at risk for malnutrition ( over and under nourished) when they have poor appetite of long duration, accepts a limited number of foods, or dilute their diets significantly with nutrient poor foods and foods very low in roughage and very high in sugar and fat.

Where do we draw the line?

It is difficult to make sure your child is getting all the needed nutrients without overfeeding them. Energy intake from food and drink should be sufficient to ensure growth and spare protein from being used for energy, without being in excess, which may result in over nutrition and even obesity, depending on their age, metabolic rate and physical activity levels. This means that energy intake should be different for every child. The best way of ensuring a healthy balanced intake without excessive kilojoules, is monitoring your child against the set standards of growth such as growth charts.

GENERAL GUIDE FOR FEEDING CHILDREN:

1.     Make sure your child eats a variety of food from all the food groups such daily. This includes:

·       Starch such as: maize, rice, potato, pasta, bread, samp etc

·       Milk : milk, yogurt, cheese

·       Protein: beans, meat, eggs, fish, chicken, kidney, liver, peanut butter

·       Vegetables: pumpkin, spinach, carrots, cabbage, beetroot

·       Fruit: banana, orange, mango, peach, apple, pear

·       Fat: margarine, nuts, avocado

2.     Children should eat regularly to avoid getting very hungry and overeating at next meal

3.     500 ml of milk or milk products are very important for good bone and tooth development

4.     Avoid sugary foods and drinks. Even fruit juice contains lots of sugars and will lead to weight gain. If fruit juice is consumed, always dilute it by adding half juice and half water.

5.     Avoid sweets and chips. Let your child snack on fresh fruit.

6.     Avoid take-away food. Choose fresh home prepared food

7.     Make food interesting by using different colours and shapes. Children have to be stimulated by what they see. Food should be easy to eat.

8.     Encourage physical activity as a family to get the child active from an early age.

9.     Let the child sit down and eat at meal times with the family. Not eating on the run.

10. Pack healthy lunch boxes and keep it interesting