Are you watching your child’s diet?

The first few years of life are characterized by rapid developmental changes related to eating. Carefully watching your child’s diet is the key to their development. A recent report by ABC news states that “Children are more sensitive to chemical exposures because they eat and drink more, relative to body weight, than adults do, and are still growing and developing,”

This means that we need to be more alert about all the sweets, the snacks and food our kids eat, we need to be more alert of our child’s diet. A great number of synthetic food additives remain in use that have been linked to asthma, allergies, migraines and hyperactivity in children. These tend to have more long term negative effects such as hormonal and fertility problems, reduction in immunity and developmental problems.

A lot of commercial products marketed for children, such as sweetened drinks, sweets and snacks may satisfy hunger or thirst, but do more to harm the diet than provide any nutritional benefits.

Artificial food coloring agents or additives, that are common in foods these days are substances that are put in food to offset color loss and improve the natural occurring colors or simply make the food more visually pleasing.  Many health professionals still believe that in whatever amount they come in, they still pose adverse effects, especially in children. NHS guidelines also suggest avoiding some food colors if your child is hyperactive or has attention deficit hyperactivity.

A child’s diet, eating pattern & food preferences are established early in life. Parents need to ensure that they and their children are eating the right food: snacks and meals alike. We need to start turning away from food with artificial food coloring, fast food and processed food. It is very important to supplement our diet with good nutrition. Taking vitamins and good nutrition in the form of fruits helps the body to ward off the impact of “junk” nutrition.

We owe it to ourselves and especially our children, to eliminate as many artificial ingredients in our family’s diet and eat the most natural food possible, the most minimally processed food as possible and with nothing artificial added to our food.