The healthy growth of a baby cannot be separated from a reasonable diet and nutrition. Western proverbs say: You are what you eat, which means [people eat like their food]. It can be seen that how to eat what is really crucial.
However, in daily life, there are many misunderstandings about nutrition. Attention should be paid to avoid these misunderstandings so as to give children more reasonable nutrition.
Today, let’s follow Ding Ma to understand these misconceptions about children’s nutrition.
Myth 1: Children Supplement Calcium and Take Calcium Tablets
Babies who grow up quickly certainly need sufficient calcium to meet the needs of bone growth and make up for the loss of calcium metabolism in the body.
But when it comes to calcium supplements, Many people feel the need for calcium tablets, In fact, children’s nutrition should not be supplemented by medicine, and it is best to obtain it through a balanced diet. Calcium supplement is not the more the better. Blind calcium tablets for children are also easy to cause excess calcium supplement. Light calcium supplement will lead to loss of appetite, abdominal pain, abdominal distension and constipation. Heavy calcium supplement will lead to hypercalcemia, iron and vitamin absorption disorders after a long period of excess calcium supplement.
For healthy children, daily attention can be paid to eating more calcium-rich foods, such as dairy products, shrimps, kelp, etc., as well as animal liver, fish, meat, egg yolk, beans and other foods rich in vitamin D to help calcium absorption.
If calcium tablets must be taken according to the doctor’s advice, children should also be given an appropriate amount of vitamin D preparation orally. Only when the two work together can calcium be better absorbed.
For infants, what is really easy to lack is vitamin D, which promotes calcium absorption. Breastfed babies are advised to start supplementing vitamin D from a few days after birth.
Myth 2: Dry stool and eat bananas
Inadequate intake of cellulose in diet, undeveloped defecation habits, lack of exercise, insufficient intake of water, etc., may cause constipation or dry stool in children.
It is said that bananas have the effects of moistening lungs and smoothing intestines. Is it OK for children to eat bananas because their stool is dry?
In fact, it is not. Eating more foods rich in dietary fiber, such as green vegetables, coarse grains and fruits, can help relieve constipation in children, but bananas are not the best choice.
Bananas do have a lot of dietary fiber, but it is not the most, even worse than pears and pitaya, while some vegetables and coarse grains have more abundant dietary fiber. Parents can choose these foods completely, and it is not necessary to only identify bananas. If it is not ripe bananas, the tannic acid content is relatively high, but it is also easy to cause constipation.
It should be noted that, in addition to paying attention to supplementing dietary fiber in diet, it is more important to let children develop good defecation habits, pay attention to finding the causes of constipation and dry stool in children, and treat both the symptoms and root causes of constipation due to treatment. If constipation in children still does not improve after many attempts, timely medical treatment is required to eliminate organic diseases causing constipation.
Myth 3: It is good to eat more animal liver,
Animal liver has always given people the impression of “efficient iron supplement”. Indeed, iron in liver exists in the state of heme iron, and the absorption rate of iron in human body is higher than that of iron from other sources. If you rely on eating liver to supplement iron, you can eat less than other iron-containing foods.
However, as an organ that decomposes toxins, the liver has relatively more heavy metals and drugs than other organs. For children whose bodies are not yet fully developed, the liver is not the best choice.
If you want to eat liver, you can give priority to poultry liver (such as chicken liver and duck liver). When it is used as supplementary food for infants, it should not exceed 25g per week.
Moreover, for children who are not short of iron, it is not necessary to eat liver frequently, as long as they pay attention to a balanced diet, such as eating a proper amount of meat and foods rich in vitamin C every day.
Myth 4: If you don’t like vegetables, replace them with fruits.
It is not uncommon for children not to like vegetables in life. Some parents think of replacing vegetables with fruits, believing that this can make up for the impact of insufficient vegetable intake.
But in fact, fruits cannot replace vegetables. Although they have many similarities in nutritional composition, similarity does not mean the same.
The cellulose content of vegetables is generally higher than that of fruits, but the sugar content is lower than that of fruits. Some less fresh fruits also contain less vitamins than vegetables.
It can be said that in daily diet, children can eat less or no fruits if they are supplemented with a certain amount of fresh vegetables, but on the contrary, it is not feasible to eat only fruits and no vegetables.
Myth 5: Eat condiments early,
Seasonings such as salt and sugar are almost indispensable seasonings in our daily cooking. Without them, the flavor of food will be much inferior. Therefore, many parents also add these seasonings to their own tastes when preparing food for their children.
In fact, for babies under 1 year old, it is not appropriate to add condiments to supplementary foods too early.
The demand for salt for children in this period is very small. The salt in natural foods is enough for them to use. Excessive salt addition will increase the burden on the baby’s kidney and heart, and will also develop the child’s [heavy taste] and increase the risk of hypertension and other diseases in the future. At the same time, sugar does not need to be added extra. Adding too much sugar to supplementary foods will form the baby’s habit of eating sweets. The excessive calories it provides will also reduce the baby’s intake of other foods, resulting in picky eating, partial eating, excessive sugar consumption, dental caries, obesity and other problems.
In addition, soy sauce also contains salt and does not need to be added to supplementary foods too early.
Myth 6: Children’s Food Is More Suitable for Children
At present, there are many [children’s foods] on the market, such as what children’s soy sauce, children’s dried noodles, children’s milk, etc. Merchants also publicize that children should eat children’s foods. Many parents also think that since children’s foods are written, they must be more suitable for children.
But in fact, there is no what standard [children’s food] at all. This is just a concept created by merchants for marketing. It is not much different from adult food in composition, but the price is still much higher.
Moreover, in order to cater to children’s preferences, many children’s foods will add a large amount of sugar, salt, as well as various flavors and additives. Such foods are not suitable for children to eat.
Myth 7: Juice is a healthy drink
Compared with commercially available beverages such as soda, many parents think 100% pure fruit juice is healthier.
It is true that fruit juice is more nutritious than carbonated drinks, but this does not mean that special fruit juice can be used to quench children’s thirst.
Make fruit juice, Only water-soluble nutrients remain, Most of the dietary fiber and some minerals are not left in the dregs, resulting in a large loss of nutrients. At the same time, sugar in fruits is concentrated into fruit juice, resulting in considerable sugar content and calories in fruit juice. Excessive drinking is also easy to cause dental caries, obesity and other problems.
Therefore, babies under 6 months old are not recommended to drink fruit juice, while babies over 6 months old are not recommended, but they are not completely prohibited. Only the limit must be paid attention to. When drinking fruit juice for babies, 1-2 times of water can be added for dilution.
Under the age of 6, the amount of fruit juice to drink per day should be limited to 120 ~ 180 mL, and children aged 7 ~ 18 should not exceed 355 mL per day.
Myth 8: Drink Milk Early
Many novice parents will use milk and milk powder instead of breast-feeding their children early, which is unscientific.
Relevant data from the Chinese Nutrition Society show that the mortality rate of diarrhea among infants who are not exclusively breast-fed within 6 months is 15-25 times higher than that among infants who are breast-fed.
Therefore, it is not recommended for babies under the age of 1 to drink milk. They should insist on exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and continue breastfeeding until after the age of 1.
Myth 9: Drinking Honey Often Has Many Benefits,
Honey is one of the most commonly heard health foods in people’s daily life and has been endowed with various magical effects. However, from the perspective of modern science, honey is not a nutritious food.
The most important component in honey is sugar, which can account for more than 80% of the total amount of honey. After water is removed, the remaining other components, such as vitamins and minerals, are even less than 1%.
Generally speaking, honey is a kind of food with high calorie and high nutrition. Long-term consumption in large quantities may also cause obesity. Moreover, for infants under 1 year old, eating honey also has the risk of botulinum poisoning, so never give babies under 1 year old honey and various foods containing honey ingredients.
Myth 10: Bovine Colostrum Has Magic Function
Bovine colostrum refers to the milk secreted by dairy cows within 3 days after calving. Natural bovine colostrum contains active functional components such as growth factors and immunoglobulins, which can promote growth and development and enhance body resistance, but these benefits are mainly aimed at calves, not babies.
Moreover, the immunoglobulin in bovine colostrum is mainly IgG, which is not lacking for small infants. For older children, the gastrointestinal tract is gradually developed and perfected. Immunoglobulin, like other proteins, will be digested and absorbed. Its value is no different from that of ordinary proteins in what.
Only by supplementing nutrition scientifically and avoiding dietary errors can children grow up healthily and healthily.
Have you got these dietary misunderstandings shared this time?