Early Childhood Health: Nutrition
Introduction
Early childhood is a particularly critical time for healthy eating.
Food preferences set early in life establish a pattern that persists into adulthood.
A child who eats a lot of fat, sugar, and salt comes to prefer these tastes and may have lifelong difficulty restricting their intake.
Obesity has its roots in this stage.
Longitudinal studies found that overweight children were at an increased risk of becoming overweight adults.
“Fat-phobia” begins at this age, children becoming body conscious at younger ages, sensitive to messages and their social environment
How healthy eating is presented is equally important
In a Dutch study of nearly 5,000 4-year-olds, mothers who pressured their child to eat were more likely to have an underweight child.
Mothers who restricted their child’s eating increased their chances of having an overweight or obese child.
These relationships held even after controlling for many factors that could have influenced maternal feeding practices and preschoolers’ weight gain.
Physical Growth and Health
Social environment greatly influences food choices:
Children imitate food choices of people they admire
Repeated, unpressured exposure increases acceptance
Emotional climate at mealtimes has a powerful impact
Restricting foods increases child’s desire for those foods
Children living in poverty may lack access to sufficient high-quality food
Food Allergies
Food allergy: an abnormal immune system response to a specific food.
Reactions range from tingling in the mouth and shortness of breath and death.
Higher risk of anaphylaxis in younger children.
Children who suffer from food allergies are, on average, smaller and shorter than children without food allergies.
Food allergies cost families $4,184 per year.
Ninety percent of food allergies can be attributed to eight foods: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, soy, wheat, and shellfish – more common in childhood, many outgrow
Immunotherapy in children can increase tolerance.
Rate of allergies increased almost 4x in past 20 years
Changes in diet, how foods are processed, and decreased vitamin D based upon less exposure to the sun, have all been suggested as contributors to the increase in allergy rates.
Early Childhood Health: Nutrition
Introduction
Early childhood is a particularly critical time for healthy eating.
Food preferences set early in life establish a pattern that persists into adulthood.
A child who eats a lot of fat, sugar, and salt comes to prefer these tastes and may have lifelong difficulty restricting their intake.
Obesity has its roots in this stage.
Longitudinal studies found that overweight children were at an increased risk of becoming overweight adults.
“Fat-phobia” begins at this age, children becoming body conscious at younger ages, sensitive to messages and their social environment
How healthy eating is presented is equally important
In a Dutch study of nearly 5,000 4-year-olds, mothers who pressured their child to eat were more likely to have an underweight child.
Mothers who restricted their child’s eating increased their chances of having an overweight or obese child.
These relationships held even after controlling for many factors that could have influenced maternal feeding practices and preschoolers’ weight gain.
Physical Growth and Health
Social environment greatly influences food choices:
Children imitate food choices of people they admire
Repeated, unpressured exposure increases acceptance
Emotional climate at mealtimes has a powerful impact
Restricting foods increases child’s desire for those foods
Children living in poverty may lack access to sufficient high-quality food
Food Allergies
Food allergy: an abnormal immune system response to a specific food.
Reactions range from tingling in the mouth and shortness of breath and death.
Higher risk of anaphylaxis in younger children.
Children who suffer from food allergies are, on average, smaller and shorter than children without food allergies.
Food allergies cost families $4,184 per year.
Ninety percent of food allergies can be attributed to eight foods: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, soy, wheat, and shellfish – more common in childhood, many outgrow
Immunotherapy in children can increase tolerance.
Rate of allergies increased almost 4x in past 20 years
Changes in diet, how foods are processed, and decreased vitamin D based upon less exposure to the sun, have all been suggested as contributors to the increase in allergy rates.
