Children: They Are What They Eat….

If you want your children to have plenty of energy and be able to cope with the day to day demands of school life, after-school clubs, peer pressure, exams and the like, their diet is crucial. It’s a fact too that diet has a huge impact on behaviour, learning ability and concentration levels. So, take this time as the kids go back to school to review what your children are eating.

A lot of parents are now waking up to the idea that school dinners may not provide their children with the healthy nutritious meals their kids need. Packed lunches are a good way to take more control. However, there is a lot of peer pressure when kids take lunches that are different to what’s in their friends’ lunch boxes, so you do have to get a good balance to keep them healthy, but not make them appear too different.

A good packed lunch could include

• a wholemeal roll filled with organic chicken or good quality meat (no packet meats, please) and salad
• Or try peanut butter* (no salt or sugar variety) and mashed banana
• Tuna and mayonnaise with bits of cucumber and tomato
• As a change from sandwiches, give them a cold brown/corn pasta salad or a brown rice salad with interesting bits in that they like. You could include cherry tomatoes, small bits of broccoli, olives, gerkins, sundried tomatoes, cashew nuts, raisins etc with a little olive oil dressing on
• Their lunchbox should also include at least one piece of fruit. Try a little pot of berries, a couple of plums or a pear to vary it from the ubiquitous apple.
• Add in a few cherry tomatoes, a little pack of nuts* and raisins or, even better, a few organic nuts and a couple of unsulphured dried apricots.
• Give them a flask of filtered water, organic diluted apple or orange juice or include a good quality fruit smoothie such as the Innocent ones
• Alternatively, give them a food flask that has a good quality yogurt in it – preferably a plain live soya yogurt to which you have added some honey and berries or stirred in some pure fruit jam such as St Dalfour’s strawberry which is delicious.

 

Try to avoid rubbish foods like pre-prepared sandwiches and salads, fruit yogurts, sweets, crisps and sugary drinks. Remember, if you give them junk or money to take to school, they will always choose junk. If they have no choice, they’ll eat what they’re given and eventually their palate will start to change for the better.

If you can’t control what your kids are eating at lunchtime, try not to worry about it – do what you can, and make sure they’re eating really well, preferably organically, when they’re at home. A good breakfast and tea will go a long way to helping you nourish your kids well. If they are eating in this way most of the time, the odd bag of crisps or sugary snacks here and there won’t hurt.

If you would like more information on how to keep your children healthy this next school year, call or email me for a free Back To School Factsheet. For more in-depth issues such as recurrent infections, eczema, weight gain or behavioural difficulties, please book in for a free 15 minute chat – we can normally help.

*Note that many schools now have a no-nut policy due to children suffering from peanut allergy, so please remember to check before sending your child to school with nuts.

Study Shows Probiotics Reduce Cold & Flu Symptoms in Children

 Just in time for the start of term, a new study published in the respected journal Pediatrics, has found that daily probiotic supplementation may reduce ‘cold and flu’ symptoms in children by 50%.

In the study, 326 children aged between 3 and 5 were randomly assigned to one of three groups, and received twice daily for six months the single L. acidophilus, a combination of L. acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis, or a placebo.

Results showed reductions in the incidence of fever, coughing and runny noses, a reduction in the use of antibiotics and fewer missed school days in children taking either of the probiotic interventions.  The duration of symptoms was reduced compared to placebo groups, with a 32% and 48% decrease observed in the single strain and combination groups, respectively.

 

The authors, led by Gregory Leyer and his co-workers from Tongji University (Shanghai), the University of Texas at Houston, and Sprim USA (Frisco) commented, “daily probiotic supplementation during the winter months was a safe effective way to reduce episodes of fever, rhinorrhea, and cough, the cumulative duration of those symptoms, the incidence of antibiotic prescriptions, and the number of missed school days attributable to illness”.

Study comment: the use of a probiotic supplement for reducing respiratory illness in children may be particularly relevant to recent concerns about the safety of over the counter and prescription cough and cold medicines for this age group.  The probiotic supplement used in this study was well tolerated and given in a twice daily dose of ten billion CFUs of either L acidophilus NCFM or a 50:50 mixture of L acidophilus NCFM and B lactis BI-07.

Source:
Pediatrics 2009, Volume 124: e172-e179
Leyer, Mubasher, Reifer & Ouwehand.  “Probiotic effects on cold and influenza-like symptom incidence and duration in children” Nutri News Aug 09

Ed’s Comment: there are many different probiotics on the market, unfortunately many of them a complete waste of money as they are manufactured or stored wrongly, are too weak to do any real good, can’t get through the stomach acid or simply are dead before you buy them. That’s why I will only use specific ones. If you need help with what to give your child, please ask.

And on the back-to-school theme, here is a copy of the Purehealth Guide to Packed Lunches:

Strictly Success

Ballroom dancing is helping to improve children’s behaviour and increase their interest in exercise according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.  A scheme called Essential Dance aims to improve children’s health & fitness.  Over 2,500 students aged 5-18 are learning to cha-cha, waltz & jive in twenty-nine UK primary and secondary schools.  The scheme was evaluated by Dr. Jeanne Keay, Dean of Education and Dr. John Spence, Head of Physical Education, at Roehampton University and is supported by Darren Bennett & Lilia Kopylova of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.  As well as improving youngsters’ fitness, they found it also improved social skills and particularly benefited those children not normally interested in taking part in sport. Why not see if your childrens’ schools can take part – sounds fun, and will go a long way to avoiding the childhood obesity that we’re seeing in epidemic proportions around the UK.

Cereals or confectionery? It’s difficult to tell says Which?

Just 8% of 100 breakfast cereals tested recently by Which? received a green light for healthy sugar levels. Some were so sugary they were indistinguishable from confectionery, said the consumer body.

31 cereals out of the 100 compared in Going Against the Grain contained more than four teaspoons of sugar per recommended serving and only one of the 28 cereals specifically marketed to children was found not to be high in sugar (but was still high in salt).

Morrisons Choco Crackles topped the sweet mountain with more sugar per serving than a Cadbury’s Chocolate Flake, followed closely by Kellogg’s Coco Pops Moons and Stars, Frosties and Ricicles which were over a third (37 per cent) pure sugar.  

Many brands positioned as healthy, such as Kellogg’s All Bran, Bran Flakes and Special K did little to bowl over Which? researchers. Starting the day with Special K, it says, would be almost the sugar equivalent to waking up to a bowl of Tesco’s Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Ice Cream. (Ed’s note – haven’t I always said that!!) NPN May 09

Unsurprisingly, porridge comes out top. To read the full report on the Which? Website, click http://www.which.co.uk/static/html/pdfs/cereals_report.pdf

Study Shows Omega 3, Zinc and Vitamin C Improve Symptoms of Asthma

A new study from researchers in Egypt and published in the medical journal Acta Paediatrica has found that a combination supplement containing omega 3, vitamin C and zinc may help to improve symptoms of asthma. The trial was a randomised, double blind, placebo-self-controlled crossover trial, which involved 60 children with an average age of 8 with moderate persistent asthma.  The children were randomly assigned to alternating phases of supplementation with omega 3 (1000mg oil containing about 30% EPA/DHA), zinc (15mg) and vitamin C (200mg).

 

Researchers found that this combination of nutrients were associated with improvements in asthma measures, lung function and markers of inflammation in the lungs. They believe that both the anti-inflammatory effects of omega 3 and zinc, and the antioxidant capabilities of vitamin C may be responsible for these positive effects.  They also said that zinc may work via different mechanisms, including the regulation of T-cell lymphocytes, which are part of the body’s allergy response. Nutri News May 09

Firms ‘peddling junk food propaganda’ in our schools, report finds

Food manufacturers have been accused of using school information packs to ‘peddle propaganda’ for unhealthy products.  Campaigners have highlighted claims that crisps are healthier than apples, and that children should eat fruit and vegetables ‘in moderation’.  A study by the Children’s Food Campaign claims that major food corporations spend as much as £300million a year on school information packs that amount to advertising and misinformation.  Experts say junk food has been promoted in the classroom. The report, ‘Through The Back Door’, found that two thirds included misinformation.  In one case, Vimto urged teachers in over a 1,000 schools to get their pupils to write a poem praising the sugary drink.

It also reports how the European Snack Association, sponsored by KP, Pringles and Walkers, produced information saying that a bag of crisps is healthier than an apple.   The campaigners also attack the British Soft Drinks Association for saying that artificial colours merely ‘restore the colour lost from food during processing’.    In reality, the bright colours are used to make the drinks appear fruity. Some have been linked to hyperactivity in children. The study criticises the association for suggesting that sugary food and drink is a carbohydrate on a par with healthy foods such as bread, rice & pasta. The Children’s Food Campaign is calling on the Government to ban companies from using schools to promote their brands and a biased view of food and health. Coordinator Richard Watts said: ‘We were flabbergasted by some of the claims in these packs.   Promoting junk food in the classroom in the guise of education is unacceptable. Our investigation shows that the food industry cannot be trusted to provide children with unbiased nutritional information.’ Mail Online 29.12.08

CALPOL LINKED TO INCREASED RISK OF ASTHMA IN CHILDREN

Giving young children Calpol or other paracetamol increases the risk of them developing asthma symptoms. In a study of 200,000 children in 31 countries, children aged 6 and 7 who took paracetamol at least once a month were found to have 3 times the risk of having asthma symptoms than those never given it.  Experts said it should only be used for high fever over 39C and not for comfort. It also increased eczema, runny nose & itchy watery eyes.  The study was published in The Lancet on 19 Sept. 08 and was led by Prof. Richard Beasley of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand.

 

Please note Viburcol from the Heels range is a great alternative to calpol when you need to comfort a child. It is great for teething, general restlessness and when they are feeling out of sorts. Just a few drops on the tongue works wonders. Homeopathic, cheap, perfectly safe and useful for any age, from day old babies upwards…so use this instead.

Compulsory Vaccinations

You may or may not be aware that the Government is considering making vaccination compulsory in order for children to attend UK schools and for families to claim child benefit. Many people believe this is a serious attack on civil liberties.

The worry I have is what happens to some children’s immune systems after being overloaded with toxins the immune system is not ready for. What about those who have serious illness – would it not make it even worse for them? Remember too that many vaccines contain toxic substances such as mercury which I wouldn’t want seen put into a child arbitrarily. And also think about those with allergies – what if they are allergic to something in the vaccine? Unfortunately, I have seen too many allergic children (eczema, asthma etc) whose problems can be traced back to an overloaded immune system too young! I would hope that the Govt will make sure there are ways to help parents opt out if they need to. There is a petition about it if you feel strongly. Go to: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/forcedvaccines/.

Artificial Additives and Hyperactivity – the Ban

The Food Standards Agency recently called for a ban of 6 artificial additives which have been linked to hyperactivity in children. Hoo-flippin—ray. At long last! I remember when I first started in the health food trade 20 years ago this supposed ‘myth’ about additives and children’s behaviour was around then. A study by Southampton in 2007 finally put the tin lid on it and convinced the FSA.

 

The additives in question are E102 Tartrazine, E104 Quinoline Yellow), E110 Sunset Yellow, E122 Carmoisine, E124 Ponceau 4R, E129 Allura Red and E211 Sodium Benzoate.

 

Actiononadditives.com lists over 1000 products that contain one or more of these and other questionable additives if you would like a look. In the meantime, here are some of the foods you should watch out for. Cadburys Crème Egg, Swizzels Matlow Bumper Bag, Hartleys Jellies, Fanta Fruit Twist, Irn Bru, M&Ms, Galaxy Minstrels, Woolworths Mini Cookies, Haribo Micro Mix.