Improving your child’s health is not significantly different from the general guidelines that adults follow. Eat whole foods, sleep well, and move often. However, the lifestyle and challenges of children are significantly different than an adult.
That’s why the strategy regarding your child’s health through nutrition and lifestyle will be slightly different from yours. Let’s look at ways we can support your child health though lifestyle and nutrition.
Create a healthy relationship between food and your child
The one mistake that parents tend to make is labelling foods as inherently good or bad. It’s important to teach children that there are no bad foods. Instead, teach your child that there are foods that we should eat daily that make us healthier and feel better and there are foods that we can eat on occasion and in moderate amounts.
The language can be changed to make it resonate with kids, but the important lesson here is that there’s a time, place, and amount for every food (even the less nutritious foods).
Limit these foods
We’ve mentioned that there are foods we should limit and eat less of, but what are those foods exactly? The simple answer is anything that is refined. If it comes in a box and/or if you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients on the ingredient panel, then chances are, these are foods that offer less nutritional value.
Refined and packaged foods also tend to contain more sugars and trans fats. Realizing that this is a time where your child’s palate is developing and introducing them to healthy delicious foods early will shape their view on food moving forward.
One strategy to combat refined foods is to focus on giving them nutritious foods like vegetables, fruits and water and focus less on restricting their foods from their diet. This can be helpful in limiting intake of refined foods through satiety and vitamin/mineral intake (all which influence how kids crave foods).
Include more of these snacks
The following foods are great options for snacks while being universally easy to digest and high in nutrients. The reason why snacks are highlighted is due to the overwhelming processed snack options that are available to children these days.
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Blackberries
- Oranges
- Apples
- Pears
- Peaches
- Watermelon
- Seaweed Snacks
Include more of these Vitamins and Minerals
Omega 3 Fatty Acids – EPA and DHA which are found in Omega 3’s is important to your child’s health. DHA is a long-chain essential fatty acid that serves as a major building block of the brain and the retina. In fact, two thirds of the brain is made up of fat, of which DHA is the major component. Brain and Eyes for Kids & Teens from Platinum Naturals has a concentrated level of DHA and lutein to help support brain and eye development
B Vitamins – Vitamins B1, B2 B6 and B12 are all important to your child’s metabolic health. That’s because B Vitamins support your body’s ability to take the food they eat and convert it into energy. B Vitamins are also important in making red blood cells which carry oxygen to various parts of their body.
Vitamin C – Vitamin C not only serves as an antioxidant, but it supports bone health, wound healing, iron absorption and immune health.
Vitamin D – Vitamin D supports bone and teeth development, provides immune support and many other functions in the body. Along with Vitamins A, E and K, Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. This means that a base of fat or oil is an ideal carrier to supply vitamin D to the body.
Vitamin D3 Drops for babies and Vitamin D3 Drops for Kids from Platinum Naturals provides your child with 400 IUs of vitamin D suspended in medium chain triglycerides (MCT), a form of fatty acid derived from coconut oil that increases the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients. Getting sufficient sunlight is one way of getting their daily dose of Vitamin D.
Most children can meet their vitamin and mineral requirements through food alone. However, individual health status and food preferences can limit variety in your child’s diet. In these cases, supplementation with a multivitamin can be a great way to fill dietary gaps. The vitamin and minerals listed above are simply vitamins and minerals that are most important for brain, bone, and immune function at your child’s age. If you do choose to include supplements in your child’s nutrition, be sure to do so under the guidance of a health practitioner and always choose supplements free of fillers, additive, and unnecessary ingredients.
Ensuring quality ingredients without the use of unnecessary ingredients is an important factor to consider when selecting the right supplement for your child.
