Right Nutrition For Your Children’s Health

Obviously having children is the most beautiful gift anyone can have but taking care of them is a full time job. And quite naturally, one wouldn’t mind such a beautiful job provided you are adept with it. A healthy child grows up with a healthy and nutritious diet and that is something that you can control. But unfortunately, this is one issue many parents face: the right nutrition for my child! While results reveal that kids consume 25% of their calories from junk food, your kid might one of them. French fries, soft drinks, cookies, hotdogs and sweets are something all children love and are often addicted to it but is it the right food for your child?

Sensing the need of the hour, i.e. to educate every parent of their child’s nutrition, globalpediatrician.com is on a wide spread mission to spread its tentacle across the globe, reach out to all parents and educate them about kids and health. There is after all no harm is having an expert advice online from experts across the globe, even if your child is completely alright.

Children’s Diet Today

Childrens health these days witnesses a decline in resistance and immunity predominantly owing to their diet. The junk food they crave for and are addicted to is only spoiling their internal immunity and wellness. This ultimately leads to grave concerns like obesity, heart problems, growth imbalance, height and weight issues, stunted development, IQ problems and so much more. And the worst part is that most kids don’t eat the way we would like them to eat for their own health. It becomes so difficult to get down the essential vitamins and minerals down their throat of they have been growing up as -picky eaters’.

The right nutrition is the basic foundation to childrens health and hence a complete knowledge of how much and what and when your child should eat is a must. What is amazing here is that with just one mouse click, a concerned parent can learn so much of his/her child’s health and nutrition and that is by logging onto the dedicated services of globalpediatrician.com! While exploring the site, you will find that so many unanswered queries cropping in your mind time and again will be answered with a click and then taking care of your child would become comparatively simple.

Right from the pregnancy stage to childbirth to the development years of child, you can find a nutritional chart for all age groups. One must know that from the time of birth up to the age of three, children develop over 75% of their brain and thus the baby’s nutritional intake during these years should act like a bank. Plus, after the age of 2, the diet of your child should go down in fat content to avoid the chances of obeisity and heart diseases. Growing children up to the age of 5 would have about 90% of their brain developed and so a nutritional intake in those years is crucial; it must be full of proteins and carbohydrates to match the intensity with which the child makes use of his growing brain.

The Consequences Of Poor Nutrition

A person’s weight is not the only way to assess poor nutrition. The more dangerous indications are not those that can be seen physically. There are numerous health-related and social issues resulting from a person with poor nutrition. Well naturally, poor nutrition leads to poor health. But is it the only consequence?

Poor nutrition can be risk factors of many dreaded diseases. Heart Disease is one major health risk resulting from poor nutrition. Eating foods high in fiber but low in saturated fat, coupled with exercise may eventually lessen the risk. High Blood Pressure and Strokes are very much related. Over time, high blood pressure may lead to the building up of clots on the walls of the arteries which lead to stroke. Proper diet and physical activity should be regularly practiced to lower the risks. One out of three cases of Cancer is due to poor nutrition. Diabetes is also a result of an improper eating pattern and sedentary lifestyle.

A good nutrition is composed of the following: carbohydrates, fat, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. A lack on any of these or too much of one of the components may result to a deteriorating health and other complications as well. Scientific research has gathered that poor nutrition early on in a child’s life brings about social problems. The child develops an antisocial and aggressive behavior which he will have to live with till the end of his adolescent years. An equally shocking result of the research pointed out that poor nutrition influences the brain development. A deficiency in the nutrients associated with brain development has been said to lead to low IQ which later on brings about the antisocial and violent behavior.

Some experts have linked poor nutrition to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). An opposing party has argues that there are no scientific proofs that confirmed the association of poor nutrition to ADHD. However, the social aspect of a person has been known to have been influenced by poor nutrition. An antisocial and aggressive temperament caused by malnutrition may not exactly be ADHD but let’s not wait and become the proofs that ADHD is indeed a result of nutrition deficiencies.

Let’s spare our children all the complications caused by improper nutritional practices. While there are a lot of things that are beyond our control, our eating habits are within our power. Let us not modify our eating patterns simply to look good. What our body tells us is far more important than what people say about our looks. Let us take control. Changing what was once a poor nutrition practice can actually make us look and feel good inside and out.

Good Nutrition Can Lower The Risk Of Alzheimer’s Disease

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease,” Ronald Reagan, former president of the United States, announced in November 1994. “I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this Earth doing the things I have always done,” he declared. “Unfortunately, as Alzheimer’s disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience.”

In his message, Reagan summed up the tragedy of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Those suffering from AD face the reality of losing touch with their old lives. Family and friends are forced to watch a loved one slowly fall victim to the dreadful condition.

Scientists aren’t sure exactly what’s behind AD. Some suspect a certain gene – apolipoprotein E 4 allele (Apo E4) – plays a major part in your brain’s decline. Other experts believe years of oxidative stress also are at the root of the problem.

Whatever causes Alzheimer’s disease attacks the part of your brain that controls speech, thoughts, and memory. You gradually lose the power to recall the past and the ability to carry out your daily life. AD usually hits around age 65 and older, and your risk goes up each year after that.

Through this dark cloud, however, there is a ray of hope. According to AD experts like Dr. Grace Petot, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, people can change their lifestyles to lower their risk. Boost your fruit and vegetable intake for a start.

From her research, Petot discovered that many AD sufferers ate fewer fruits and veggies as adults.

Science, she suggests, also points to a connection between heart disease and Alzheimer’s. So eating a heart-healthy diet might protect you, too. That means a lot of high-fiber, low-fat foods. It’s also a good idea to exercise both your mind and your muscles. “Keeping the brain active and the body active,” Petot says, “is beneficial in many ways.”

Nutritional blockbusters that fight AD

Antioxidants.

Thanks to cutting-edge research, experts now hope AD can one day be prevented. Antioxidants, those powerful substances that fend off cancer and heart disease, might also safeguard your brain against free radicals. Antioxidants appear to slow – and even reverse – the memory loss caused by free-radical damage.

Supplements usually only contain one antioxidant, so eat a variety of fruits and vegetables to get the most benefit. Fruits and vegetables are rich in many antioxidants – not just beta carotene or vitamin C, but flavonoids, too. Flavonoids make memory-saving marvels out of snacks like blueberries, strawberries, and spinach.

B vitamins.

You also need foods rich in B vitamins to help protect your brain from AD. At least two studies show Alzheimer’s sufferers have lower levels of folate and B12 than their non-AD peers. Low B-vitamin levels, according to several other studies, appear to lead to lower scores on IQ and memory tests.

Vitamin B 12 helps your body make neurotransmitters, chemicals that help carry messages between your nerves and brain. Another B vitamin, thiamin, helps nerve signals travel from your brain to different parts of your body. These important tasks could be why a lack of B vitamins might affect your brain’s health.

To get more folate into your diet, try dark leafy greens, broccoli, beets, beans, and okra. Meats, eggs, and dairy products are good sources of B12. For older adults, who might have trouble absorbing B12, experts suggest eating fortified breakfast cereals. Wheat germ, nuts, beans, and rice will give you your full day’s supply of thiamin.

Omega-3s.

Look to the sea to find help against Alzheimer’s. Fish are the greatest source of omega-3 fatty acids. These fat molecules protect against heart disease and inflammation and may lead the attack against Alzheimer’s as well. One of AD’S possible causes is beta-amyloid plaque, clumps of protein that build up in the victim’s brain. Experts believe beta amyloid might be connected with inflammation of the brain’s blood vessels. So it makes sense that anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids could help.

It’s a good idea to eat as much fish as you can net. Experts recommend at least two servings of salmon, tuna, mackerel, or other cold-water fish per week. For you landlubbers who think fish are for the birds, get your omega-3 from flaxseed, walnuts, and dark leafy greens. And while you punch up omega-3, limit your intake of omega-6 fatty acids. They compete with omega-3 and can cause inflammation. Foods high in omega-6 include fried and fast foods, salad dressings, and baked goods.