Archive for category Children's Healthy Eating
Consume Bright Colored Foods For Better Health
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on October 23, 2009
A plate of colored food is not only very pleasing to our eyes, but also very healthy. What looks good to eat is also very healthy for us and if you are finding it difficult to persuade your children to eat those boring old tired looking vegetables, then try brightening up their plates with some nice bright colors.
Kids love brightly colored pop and candy so it should not be a difficult thing to persuade them to eat some brightly colored vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, quashes and even thinly sliced carrots with a nice dip. The more intense the color the better for you they appear to be. Colored foods are normally packed full of anti-oxidants that help to prevent diseases of the cardiovascular system and to mop up free radicals present in our bodies. These antioxidants are all chemicals, and many of the naturally occurring antioxidants are highly colored. They are very good at destroying free radicals.
Free radicals are a form of chemical that destroy body cells, and not only accelerate the effects of aging, but also harm our heart. A free radical is a molecule with an unpaired electron. Electrons like to go around in pairs. Every atom has pairs of electrons, and one atom has an odd number then it pairs up with another atom with an odd number, so the two form a compound with an even number of electrons.
However, now and again, the body’s metabolism throws up a molecule with an unpaired electron. That electron’s first thought is to find a partner, and it does so by stealing one from a cell in your body. The result is the disruption and destruction of the cell. Free radicals can also be formed by environmental pollution, cigarette smoke, pesticides and so on.
Anti-oxidants destroy free radicals, and generally keep us healthier for longer. They do so by mopping up the extra electron, and there are many different types of antioxidant that form part of our normal diet. Among them are vitamins A, C and E, but there are others that are complex highly colored organic compounds. Among these are the anthocyanins, known to paint and ink manufacturers as strong red pigments.
Anthocyanins are the pigments or dyes that color red grapes, egg plant, plums and blueberries and they are very powerful antioxidants. However, it is not only for antioxidants that we should eat colorful foods. Some dark green foods, such as spinach, green peppers, peas, celery and dark leafy vegetables, contain what are known as lutein. Lutein works in combination with zeaxanthin to protect our eyes from cataracts and a condition known as macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness. Zeaxanthin is available from red peppers, oranges, egg yolk and corn.
Many people take folic acid supplements help maintain a healthy heart, and especially women to help prevent birth defects. However, the natural form of folic acid, folate is available from green foods such as lettuce, green beans, broccoli, peas, green grapes, and many other green foods. Broccoli and cabbage also contain indoles also known as indol-3-carbinol are believed to protect your from some cancers. So green is good!
Yellow is also good, and foods such as grapefruit, pineapple and melon help to boost the immune system and keep infections at bay, and also to provide energy and help maintain healthy eyes. Many antioxidants are yellow, although yellow might not a color that you would associate as being attractive to children, unless very bright. However, the yellow foods tend to be fruits rather than vegetables, and it is much easier to persuade a child to eat a pineapple than a squash.
Lycopene is another very powerful antioxidant that prevents the oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol that can damage the cardiovascular system through atherosclerosis. Lycopene is a red pigment very common in tomatoes, and is fat soluble. It is a member of the carotenoid family of antioxidants that are common in brightly colored foods such as carrots, red peppers and many yellow fruits and vegetables as described above. Lutein is also a carotenoid.
A diet rich in carotenoids is very good for keeping the effects of aging at bay and protecting you from heart problems. Lycopene is contained in the liver, colon, skin and prostate gland, and can occur at higher concentrations than most other carotenoids. People that suffer from HIV infections, high cholesterol diseases and inflammatory conditions such as osteoarthritis, are generally found to have low levels of lycopene in their blood.
Many of the so-called ’superfoods’ are also brightly colored, and useful not just for their antioxidant properties. Take cranberries for example. These bright red berries contain proanthocyanadins that prevent some bacteria such as e-coli from adhering to the walls of the urinary tract and cause urinary tract infections such as cystitis, and also from adhering to the gums. Cranberries can therefore be used in the treatment of some gum diseases. However, they also possess strong antioxidant properties that help to protect the body against some cancers and also heart disease.
Blueberries are high in vitamin C, potassium and antioxidants with strong anti-inflammatory properties. Pomegranates have exceptionally high antioxidant content and are excellent for a healthy cardiovascular system while strong green broccoli contains not only vitamin C and antioxidants but also folate (the natural form of folic acid) and the phytochemical sulforafane that is believed to protect against certain cancers.
The color of your food, therefore, not only makes it look pretty on your plate and attractive to children, but also indicates the presence of strong antioxidants and other chemicals that help to protect you from specific medical conditions. It is no coincidence that the vast majority of the so-called superfoods is vegetable in origin rather than animal, and also tastes good. You should eat as many of them as you can, and certainly at least five portions every day.
Some can also be used as a remedy for specific conditions in addition to being used for their preventative properties, such as cranberries are used in the treatment of diseases of the urinary tract, and specific diets can help to reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol in the body. Eating with your eyes is not always a bad thing. Some may find it hard to consume enough colorful fruits and vegetables to be beneficial so what is a person to do? Your local health food store has available powdered vegetable and fruit concentrates that supply all the needed nutrients in one simple drink.
more information on fruit and vegetable concentrates at http://vitanetonline.com/ where one can find a large selection of powdered supplements to help improve health.
How To Teach Good Eating Habits
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on October 23, 2009
Obesity is the number one problem in the United States today. Blame it on hectic schedules and the propensity for eating junk foods and fast food fares. The problem with obesity is not just the psycho- socio effects but it is also the leading cause of diabetes all over the world today.
There is a growing concern for obese children who are in danger of getting diabetes and other weight-related diseases. A child can already start having weight problems even before he is born. Have you not figured out yet why obstetricians advice moms-to-be to eat healthy food and to keep within their ideal weight?
Majority of pregnant women still believe that the more weight they gain during pregnancy, the better for the baby. This is a misconception because studies show that the mother eat from the wrong foods groups and who do not observe proper diet when pregnant tend to gain more weight during pregnancy and in turn they give birth to overweight children.
Old fashioned folks still believe that fat babies are cute and healthy. Cute they maybe, but definitely not healthy!
An overweight kid is more prove to weight-related illnesses like diabetes. I am not saying that you should put your kids on a diet as early as one year old but come to think of it; putting kids on a healthy diet may just he the best solution to keeping them within their ideal weights.
Keeping kids on a healthy diet does not mean depriving them of their childhood. Well if childhood means ice cream and chocolates then go ahead, let them get their sweet yearnings. However, kids should be trained to identify the good food from the bad food.
I have noticed how parents allow their kids to drink sodas even before they turn a year old. The problem is that soda has become a staple family drink so kids grow up seeing soda on the table. And since they see their parents and housemates drink soda then they think it is good for them too.
Did you know that a can of soda contains seven and a half tablespoon of sugar? Can you imagine your child drinking water with this much sugar? Of course not! But see the number of parents allowing their kids to drink soda and you will get a heart attack.
Soda or carbonated drinks are generally unhealthy and kids have to be taught not to drink them. Of course, if you drink soda in the house or in restaurants you can never expect your child to believe you when you tell him that it is unhealthy.
Parents should lead by examples so if you want your child off carbonated drinks then you must start staying away from carbonated drinks too.
Children are born with a blank slate which means they develop a taste for the kind of food and drinks that parents give them at home while they were growing up.
Some parents find it so hard to let their children eat green leafy vegetables. It will be difficult to coax children into eating green and leafy vegetables especially if they grew up without tasting such food.
To get your child interested in vegetables of any kind, they have to experience the food while they are growing up and still developing their taste buds.
Every parent should be guided by the pyramid food classification when feeding their children. Parents should start feeding their babies the right food even before they can demand what they want to eat. The pyramid food guide shows that food that has plenty of fats, oil and sweets should be eaten sparingly.
Thus, parents can feed their babies chocolates and ice creams but only sparingly. On the other hand, babies should be fed two to three servings of milk and cheese as well as food with protein content like fish and poultry.
Vegetables and fruits should be the main fare of babies who should eat food from this group in three to five servings. Babies do not really have a choice what you feed them so it is easy to just mash some potatoes or squash or carrots and feed your baby. He will be able to develop a taste for these vegetables and will find them normal fare when they grow up.
The most important food group which babies should be given more of are breads, cereals, and other carbohydrate-containing food.
Another past time for the new generation is junk food. I always fight this impulse to deliver a sermon whenever I see a mom feeding her baby junk food. Oh, I see them everywhere, babies not even a year old being fed chips just because the mother is so tired to cook good food for her baby.
The problem of obesity starts early on in life and if babies are not shown the right food to consume then they will grow up junk food addicts and soda gurglers like their moms and dads.
It is also unwise to give candies to babies just to make them stop crying. Doing such will only make the candy a comfort zone for your baby who would develop this habit of eating candy whenever he is stressed. Sad to say, your baby will carry this habit even when he grows older and becomes an adult himself.
To encourage kids to snack on healthy food, why not julienne carrots, cucumber and guava and place them on attractive cups and serve them with an attractive dip? Why not let babies munch on raw carrots? It will not only be good for his health but on his teeth as well.
Teaching babies to eat right is not expensive but it takes a lot of love, patience and creativity. Training them to eat right will pay off in the future when you see them grow up to become healthy eaters.
If you want to encourage your kids to eat right then train them to eat right. But first, you also have to train yourself to eat right so you can be a good example to them.
The “Daycare Diva”, Christine G. Groth, is the creator of “The Guide to Instant Daycare Profits”. To learn more about this step-by-step program and to sign-up for her FREE “How to Start a Daycare” tips and articles, visit http://www.ExpertsAtDaycare.com
Diet and Nutrition for Children
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on October 22, 2009
As parents, we know how important it is for our children to eat healthy and receive all the vitamins and nutrients for a healthy body. Many of us also know about the Food Guide Pyramid, but you may not know that children do not use the same food pyramid as adults. Children should eat foods according to the food pyramid designed for children.
The food pyramid emphasizes food from the five major food groups, which your child needs for good health. Such items as fats, oil, and sweets should not be used as much as foods that promote good health. Yes, your child between the age of 2 to 6 will love sweets but this should not be a replacement for healthy food and should not be given all the time.
Obesity is a major problem in the US in young children and this problem begins with you. You have to control what your child eats and ensure they are eating well-balanced and healthy foods and not overdoing it on junk foods.
To begin with, your child should eat 3 well-balanced meals and 2 nutritious snacks every day. Let’s start at the top of the pyramid with the Fats, Oils and Sweets. When it comes to this category, you should not allow your child to eat more than 30% of their diet from this group. The type of fat your child is consuming is very important. Saturated fasts include foods like meats, dairy products, coconut, palm and palm kernel oil, raise cholesterol more than unsaturated fats, which are found in olive, peanut, and canola oils, or polyunsaturated fats in safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean and cottonseed oils. They should only receive 10% of their daily calories from saturated fats.
Everyone believes that children need lots of milk for their growing bodies; however, they only need 2 servings from the milk group per day after age 2 until they turn 6. The amount of milk should be between 16-24 ounces per day. Other items in this group include 1 cup of yogurt and 2 ounces of cheese as a serving.
Within the meat group, your child should receive 2 servings per day. This can include 2 to 3 ounces of cooked lean meat, fish, or poultry, or ½ cup of cooked dry beans. Other things you can use as substitutes include 2 tablespoons of peanut butter or 1 egg for 1 ounce of meat.
You child should eat 3 servings from the vegetable group every day. One serving consists of ½ cup of chopped or raw vegetables or 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables.
From the fruit group your little one should eat 2 servings per day. This can include 1 piece of fruit or a wedge of a melon, ¾ cup of 100 percent fruit juice, ¼ cup of dried fruit, or ½ cup of canned fruit.
From the grain group you should serve your child 6 servings per day. This can include for one serving 1 slice of bread, ½ cup of cooked pasta or rice, 1 ounce of ready to eat cereal, or ½ cup of cooked cereal.
For more information about Your child’s health and diet and nutrition you can check out
yourchildrenshealth.com
yourchildrenshealth.com
Picky Eaters – Getting Kids to Eat Healthy
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on October 22, 2009
Do you have a picky-eater in your house? Are you struggling to get your children to eat a healthy, balanced meal because they simply refuse to eat healthy food? Is your picky eater becoming an overweight statistic, willing to only eat fried foods, pizza, hot dogs, waffles and other sugar-coated sweet treats?
You may even find yourself feeling like you’ve become a “short order” cook in your own home, serving up cafeteria-style meals for each family member just to keep the peace. If this sounds at all familiar, and you want to learn how to get your picky eater to eat healthy foods and have better health, carefully consider the following:
Children learn what they live, so if parents are not setting the right example, by eating a healthy diet themselves, parents are setting the stage for failure with their own children‘s health. Getting children to eat healthy food needs to begin when children are very young, while their tastes for different foods are still developing. Toddlers and older children can learn to love healthy foods, even if they are now very picky about what they will or will not eat.
“Samantha” is an overweight eight year-old child, who has just begun eating salads and a couple varieties of meats. Until very recently, she refused to eat anything but hot dogs, waffles, pizza, chicken nuggets, French fries and anything loaded with sugar. When she and her parents are invited to dinner at someone’s home, they inevitably bring along a box of frozen waffles and syrup to heat and serve their “picky eater” in place of the planned meal.
Samantha’s parents’ would lament, “we think she has a mental block”, due to her refusal to eat anything remotely healthy. I dare say it isn’t the child who has a mental block! Samantha’s parents have enabled this behavior in their child by passing on their own dislike of healthy foods, and they now have an overweight statistic to show for it.
“Tara” is a mother of two young daughters, six year old Jessica and five year old Chelsey. While Tara is preparing a healthy and nutritious meal for her husband, she will ask her daughters what they want to eat for dinner because “they hate everything”, ultimately preparing three separate meals in order to “keep the peace” at the dinner table. Tara often complains that she doesn’t like this never-ending ritual, but fails to realize that putting a stop to it is well within her abilities as a parent of these two young girls.
Children that are picky eaters are that way because parents are allowing it to happen. It’s your parental responsibility to make the rules about meals and snacks – not your child or teenagers. If you want your children to eat healthy, then serve them healthy and nutritious meals that the entire family can enjoy together.
If your child adamantly refuses to eat the healthy meal set before them, then cover and save their meal in the refrigerator until they later say they’re hungry. Then simply say, “That’s good because I saved your dinner for you”. Reheat and serve the meal to your child. Children that are truly hungry will eat. Children are not harmed by missing a meal or two.
It’s important to remember that being a picky eater is a learned behavior, and it will take time and determination on the part of the parents’ to change things around.
Getting your children to learn to love fruits and vegetables can often be accomplished by offering small amounts of dipping sauces, dressings, or flavored low-fat yogurt to dip into. Instead of doling out cookies, brownies, donuts, chips and other high-calorie snacks, keep a variety of well-stocked fresh fruits or vegetables in easy reach of hungry children.
From the time my children were very young, they ate and snacked on fresh and uncooked broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery with peanut butter, and all varieties of fresh fruits. We regularly introduced new items, especially different ethnic foods, and over a period of time learned to love all healthy foods. Sugary sweets such as cakes or cookies were saved for a special treat on weekends, rather than a nearly nightly occurrence following the evening meal.
Changing the behavior of a picky eater may not be an easy task, but nothing about parenting is easy. The sooner parents’ start changing their own attitudes and behaviors towards healthy eating, the sooner they can expect their children to do the same.
Hi! My name is Lin Burress, and I’m the author of . Topics discussed on Telling It Like It Is include, but are not limited to:
Abuse Issues
Blogging Tips
Dating Tips
Family issues
Children and Teens
Blended Families
True Friendship
Caring For The Elderly
Parenting (I’ve got 6 of ‘em!)
Marriage
Divorce
Relationships
Abuse Issues
Blogging Tips
Dating Tips
Family issues
Children and Teens
Blended Families
True Friendship
Caring For The Elderly
Parenting (I’ve got 6 of ‘em!)
Marriage
Divorce
Relationships
Healthy Food For Kids – Innovative Ways To Make Your Children Eat Healthy Food
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on October 22, 2009
The modern world, with its innumerable fast food joints, can really wreck a child’s health and well-being. Due to the growing popularity of fast foods, parents find it very difficult to inculcate healthy eating habits in a child. Foods that are cheap and easily prepared are usually not good for health. In spite of this obvious fact, a child, when given a choice between fast food and healthy food, will invariably choose fast food.
Getting a child to enjoy healthy food is next to impossible, but there is no harm trying. You will have to use your creative powers to the maximum because it is not really that easy to make a child eat healthy food. You could try some of these ways to make your child eat healthy food.
Use Fruits and Vegetables to Make Your Child’s Favorite Dishes
You might not be successful in making your children understand the importance of eating fresh fruits and vegetables. But they will surely appreciate you if you make muffins out of apples or bananas or put a generous dose of spinach on their favorite pizza.
Rename Fruits and Vegetables
Children love it when you give funny names to usual fruits and vegetables. For instance, you could call broccoli “trees.” Renaming fruits and vegetables thus make them more interesting to eat. Children enjoy eating food that has unusual names.
Experiment with Food
Modify recipes so that you come out with exciting dishes. For instance, you could top broccoli with ranch dressing and celery with peanut butter. Vegetables can be combined in any number of ways to make them taste great. You can even permit your children to select a topping for a vegetable of his or her choice, even if you don’t really appreciate your child’s taste.
Create Funny Designs
Children enjoy food that looks attractive. Make your dishes look as exciting as possible. Make humorous designs on your plate or pile them up in such a way that they look like animals or human beings. While some people don’t like playing with food in this manner, it sometimes helps to make the child eat healthy.
You have just looked at a few ways of making healthy food interesting for your child. Children normally don’t like food that is good for their health. But, if you can make healthy foods look and sound as attractive as fast foods, there is every chance that your child will learn to eat and appreciate fruits and vegetables throughout his or her life.
Abhishek is a Health And Fitness expert and he has got some great Weight Loss Secrets up his sleeve! Download his FREE 112 Pages Ebook, “How To Lose Weight?With The Right Food!” from his website http://www.Fitness-Magic.com/72/index.htm. Only limited Free Copies available.
What Should My Child Be Eating For Optimal Health?
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on October 21, 2009
Understanding healthy eating has become a huge challenge in our society. Our ancestors living thousands of years ago did not have this challenge. They ate what grew and what they could catch. Before the advent of agriculture, people ate what was naturally supplied.
While I have been studying nutrition for 46 years, I am not an expert, since I am not a scientist and have not done my own research. What I share with you comes from my personal experience with my children and grandchildren.
Rather than laying out a specific way of eating, I am going to write about what I have learned about what NOT to eat.
Below is a partial list of things not to feed your children:
Sugar
Corn syrup
Glucose syrup
Wheat syrup
Rice syrup
Potato starch
Modified food starch
White foods – white bread, white rice, rice milk, white pastas, white wheat flour
Processed grains
French fries
Sodas
Trans-fats
Vegetable oils other than coconut and olive oil
Preservatives and food colorings – or anything that you can’t pronounce!
You might not think you are feeding your children many of these, but if you look at the labels, you will find many of these non-foods in packaged and refined products. In fact, most refined foods will contain one or more of these items.
For your children to be healthy, they have to be eating foods that are nutrient dense. Not only do none of the above items have any nutrient value, they rob the body of nutrients, creating the weight and health problems that are endemic to our society.
What are the nutrient-dense foods? The most nutrient dense foods are organically grown vegetables. Next are fruits, followed by beans, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds – in moderation. If you are not a vegetarian, highly nutritious forms of animal protein are organically fed grass-finished beef and lamb (grain-finishing beef and lamb changes the composition of the fat and causes many health problems), free-range organic poultry, and organic free-range eggs. Mercury-free fish is very healthy, as the oil provides the important omega-3s.
Regarding dairy products: pasteurization kills the enzymes in dairy and can cause problems such as asthma and allergies. Pasteurization also causes milk and other dairy to become difficult to digest, also contributing to illness. Unless you can get very clean, raw organic milk and cheese from grass-finished cows, it is better to avoid dairy. Due to the difficulties in absorption of pasteurized dairy, it is not a good source of calcium – despite what the dairy industry claims. My children were brought up on raw Alta-Dena dairy products and did very well on them.
The right kinds of fats are also important. Coconut oil is the best to cook with and olive oil is the best in salad dressings.
How do get your children to eat like this? The only way I know of, which is what I did when my three children were growing up, is to eat this way yourself. I chose not to have anything in the house that I didn’t want them to eat, so everything they ate was healthy while they were in the house. I never insisted that they eat. I just put the healthy food out and they ate as much or as little as they wanted to eat.
It is also important to determine you own and your children’s metabolic type, which you can do by reading William Wolcott’s “The Metabolic Typing Diet.” This will help you to know if your child does better on animal protein or vegetable protein. While it is important to have healthy choices in the house, it is equally important not to insist that your child eat the way you do. You might be a rapid metabolizer who needs a lot of meat, while your child might be a slow metabolizer who needs more vegetable protein.
If you want to be healthy and have healthy children, the very best thing to do is read as much as you can about healthy eating, and then decide for yourself what you want to do for your family.
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?” and “Healing Your Aloneness.” She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding
A Wealth Of Health: Eating Foods High In Fiber
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on October 21, 2009
By choosing high fiber foods, you can become part of the legend of those who have the nutritional wisdom which ensures better health, counteracts disease, and produces greater vitality. Ask not what your high fiber diet can do for you, but what you can do for your high fiber diet. Camelot? Spamalot? Fiber–alot.
Fiberlady is the new Guinevere. She’s come to share the wealth about your health. One of the main reasons for the emerging trend of high fiber foods is the ongoing quest for weight loss. Even the Knights of the Round Table have discovered that their armor fits better than ever.
The average American consumes about 5-13 grams of fiber daily, but nutrition experts recommend a daily intake of 20-35 grams. Here’s what you can do in the quest for your high fiber diet. Start by replacing white bread with whole grain bread, white rice with brown rice. Add more beans and legumes, veggies, fruits, seeds and nuts. Any foods with more than 4 grams per serving are categorized as high in fiber.
People are moving away from the low-carb diet fad towards eating foods that are high in fiber. New products making high-fiber claims has nearly doubled in the past few years. For example, Sara Lee (bless her heart) has developed a white bread with all the fiber and many of the nutrients of whole wheat bread. And wonder of wonders, Wonder has made a bread with a special 100% whole wheat flour milled from white wheat. These products make the new USDA Food Pyramid much easier to scale.
A diet rich in high fiber foods is essential for your ultimate health. Dietary fiber is vital for prevention or treatment of diverticulitis, diabetes, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. Studies have shown that certain conditions such as constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis and high blood pressure respond favorably to a high fiber diet. Those who need a gluten free diet can still benefit from a variety of high fiber foods. Certain types of fiber can even lower blood cholesterol levels.
One of Fiberlady’s greatest concerns is the alarming trend for today’s children to be overweight. The new Food Guide Pyramid recommends that children consume 1 to 3 servings of whole grains daily. It’s probable that most children don’t even eat 1 serving a day of whole grains. Dietary fiber has a powerful impact on children’s overall health. After eating fiber-rich foods, there is a feeling of fullness which helps to control overeating. Fiber also helps regulate blood sugar which is vital to childrens’ energy and digestive health. High fiber foods are as important to their health as it is to yours.
Fiberlady knows how easy it is to raise your high fiber IQ. Educate yourself and those you love about high cholesterol, diabetes, types of cancer, high blood pressure, and other ailments that can be drastically improved or controlled by including high fiber recipes and high fiber menus on a regular daily basis.
Camelot was the beginning of the Quest for the Holy Grail. It could be considered a state of mind, but the quest for high fiber health is most assuredly the starting point to a state of good health!
Stephanie Shank aka Fiberlady has studied nutrition for many healthy years which prompted her commitment to high fiber foods and the development of her informative website High Fiber Health.
Are Vitamins Really Necessary for our Childrens Health and Good Nutrition?
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on October 21, 2009
As every parent knows children can be very picky eaters and can consume junk foods that have little nutritional value. Does this mean that every child should be taking a multivitamin? The answer to this question is not necessarily, as long as the child is getting a balanced diet he or she can receive the nutrients and vitamins they need through food intake. The problem arises when a child is eliminating a whole food group from their diets, suffers from a chronic disease, is not getting the proper amount of sunlight in their daily activities or does not drink vitamin-D fortified milk. This is when supplementation is probably a good idea. You should always consult your physician before starting your child on a multivitamin.
What Should You Look for in a Childs Multivitamin?
You should always choose a multivitamin that is specifically formulated for children. Giving a child a supplement formulated for an adult is not a good idea. Children have smaller bodies and require fewer nutrients. For example, studies have shown that too much iron can be harmful to developing bodies. You need to be aware and follow the recommended daily dosage and remind the child that this is not candy. Always administer vitamin supplements under the supervision of a parent, even if the child is responsible enough to do it themselves.
What Vitamins and Minerals are Important to Your Child’s Health
Vitamin A – Milk and infant formulas are a very important source of vitamin A. A deficiency can occur in children with fat malabsorption or a very poor diet
Vitamin C – Many parents provide too much vitamin C to prevent colds and upper respiratory problems. Lack of vitamin C can cause scurvy which is uncommon but can occur in children under the age of one year.
Iron – This is important in a child’s growth because it promotes strong muscles and blood production. It is good to feed children a diet high in iron.
Calcium – This is a very important mineral for producing and maintaining strong bones. It is also an important mineral in preventing the onset of osteoporosis as we age.
Vitamin K – This is important in proper blood clotting. It can be deficient in newborns that did not receive a vitamin K shot or are being exclusively breast feed.
Fluoride – Children need fluoride after the age of six months to prevent cavities. Normally tap water is a good source of fluoride. If a child is only drinking bottled water or well water you may want to talk to your doctor about supplementation.
Zinc – This is a very important mineral for adolescents as it promotes sexual maturity.
In conclusion, it is very important that we, as parents, are aware of the nutritional requirements of our children during different stages of development. A decision needs to be made if the child is receiving proper nutrition through their diets or there are holes in the eating habits which would better be dealt with through supplementation. Remember to always consult your child’s doctor before putting them on any supplements.
World Vitamins Online provides it?s readers with pertinent information on vitamins and health supplements, how they work, and why. We feel that a well informed consumer will be one that benefits from this knowledge and will be able to make better decisions about their health and the health of their families. To learn more on this subject and for additional links on this topic at bottom of page please visit us at http://worldvitaminsonline.com/childrensmultipleliquid32ozbottle.aspx Or subscribe to our blog for our latest post at http://worldvitaminsonline.blogspot.com/
Children Health – Causes and Symptoms of Neurodevelopmental Disorder
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on October 21, 2009
Neurodevelopment disorder is also known as disorder of neural development or brain development disorder. Physically, it is characterized as impairment of brain or central nervous system. Psychologically, it is defined as a condition of abnormal brain function that effects the children’s emotion, learning ability and memory as they grow. The condition happens in the early year of their life and if not treat, it may inflict their social behaviour, learning ability, etc.
I. Causes
The causes of brain development disorder are still unknown, but many researchers suggest the following
1. Genetic passing through metabolic diseases
The disease is passed through from the parent to the inborn. Genetic and metabolic disorder are hard to diagnosis in the new born. The infant may be look healthy and with no any symptom when they were born, because the disease won ‘t strike until the time when children start to make directed contact with their surrounding environment. The typical cases are
a) Down syndrome
It is known as trisomy 21, is caused by the abnormality of chromosome number 21.
b) William syndrome
It is caused the abnormality of chromosome number 7
c) Fragile X syndrome
d) Rett syndrome
2. Immune disorders
For what ever reason, the immune function becomes over react to certain situations and starts to attackthe brain tissues, leading to abnormal movements of the body, emotional disturbance and obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms.
3. Infectious diseases
Infectious diseases is defined as a type of disease which can transmit from the carrier to other person through one or more of diverse pathways, including physical contact, share food, body fluid, etc.
a) Mealse is one of the infectious disease that can cause subacute sclerosing panencephalitis as resulting of persistence infection by measle virus, leading to brain development disorder (cortical dysfunction).
b) Toxoplasmosis is a parasite disease caused by the protozoan toxoplasma gondii. People contact this type of diseases see their flu like symptoms disappearing within a few week, but for infants who normally have weakened immune system may see the disease progress, leading to encephalitis and severe brain tissues being damaged.
c) Meningitis
Most cases of meningitis is caused by bacteria infection, leading to inflammation, causing severe brain damage to the new born, including deafness.
d) Encephalitis
Encephalitis is another form of virus infectious disease, the new born can contact the virus when pass through an infected birth canal, leading to brain infection. The virus sometimes can stay inactive until the child comes under stress or sickness.
4. Nutritional deficiency
Believe it or not, researchers found that women who have folic acid and iodine deficiency during their pregnancy may cause risk to their babies in contacting neurodevelopmental disorders, leading to severe mental retardation. Excessive intake of both substances above may also cause brain damage as resulting of toxins accumulation in the new born central nervous system.
5. Physical trauma
Most cases of physical trauma is caused by congenital injury, it is happened due to injure as resulting of lack of oxygen to the brain or damage to the brain tissues itself, leading to cerebral palsy that cause permanent physical disability in the child development.
6. Environment toxic
Human have produced over 5000 different environment toxins, including heavy metals such as lead, mercury. If the child is unfortunately to have high levels of heavy metal accumulated in their brain due to detoxification dysfunction of body’s organs, it can cause severe brain damage, leading to impairment of emotional and physical development.
7. Medication
Some researchers found that certain vaccines used to protect the child may contribute to the onset of the disease. One of the vaccine, thimerosal contains 50 time more toxins than the plain mercury, if a infant can not excrete them, it may caused mercury accumulated in the brain, leading to severe brain damage and afflict the child development.
Antibiotic may be another cause of the brain development disorder, as the medication destroy the good bacteria, it causes the inability of the child in absorbing vital minerals, leading to nutritional causes of neuroldevelopment dysfunction
8. Severe deprivation disorder
Researchers found that children were born in a family without loving, caring, nurturing are likely to develop depression and show behavioural retardation.
II. Symptoms
There are many symptoms of neurodevelopment disorder, depending to the diagnosis, but the common symptoms include
1. Delay social development
Children with brain development disorder show little interest to social stimuli, less attention to smile and look at others less often, and respond less to their own name.
2. Communication
Most children do not develop enough natural speech and vocabularies to meet their daily communication needs and are more likely to simply repeat others’ words.
3. Repetitive behaviour
Some children with brain development disorder may have some repetitive behavior such as
Flapping hands, arranging objects in a certain order, involving an unvarying pattern of daily activities and resisting to change.
4. Unusual eating behaviour
5. Motor problems that include poor muscle tone, poor motor planning, and toe walking
6. Insomnia
7. Sensitive to Sound
8. etc.
For more information of children development disability, please visit http://childernhealth-braindevelopmentd.blogspot.com/
or visit my home page at http://medicaladvisorjournals.blogspot.com/
All articles By Kyle J. Norton Are For Information and Education Only, Please Consult With Your Doctor or Related Field Specialist Before Applying.
All rights reserved. Any reproducing of this article must have the author name and all the links intact.
“Let You Be With Your Health, Let Your Health Be With You” Kyle J. Norton
I have been studying natural remedies for disease prevention for over 20 years and working as a financial consultant since 1990. Master degree in Mathematics, teaching and tutoring math at colleges and universities before joining insurance industries. Part time Health, Insurance and Entertainment Article Writer
Fusion theme by digitalnature | powered by WordPress
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS) ^