A healthy diet is just as important for children as it is for adults. When a child doesn’t eat enough healthy foods, his or her ability to learn may suffer. Imagine sitting in school all day when your brain and body is starving for good nutrition.

1. Make sure your child gets in the habit of eating a healthy breakfast rich in whole grains, fiber, and especially protein.  Research suggests that a good breakfast helps a child do better in school. A study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, showed that children who ate breakfast regularly had higher reading and math scores, lower levels of depression, anxiety, and hyperactivity, better school attendance, improved attention spans, and fewer behavior problems. A study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research with researchers at George Washington University tested three breakfast types (high-carbohydrate, high-protein, and no breakfast at all) on 39 children with ADHD and 44 kids without the condition. For the hyperactive children, performance on several tests, including a test for attention, was significantly worse with the high-carbohydrate breakfast, as compared with the scores of the children who ate the high-protein breakfast. High-protein breakfast ideas might include natural peanut butter on whole grain bread, eggs (to save time, make hard-boiled eggs the night before) or a smoothie made with high quality soy or whey protein, yogurt and fruit.

1. Make sure your child eats plenty of fruits and vegetables. They are rich in brain-boosting antioxidants like vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E.
   Look for creative ways to offer these to kids such as sliced veggies with a dip, mix fruit pieces in yogurt or serve the pieces of fruit with a dip, make a fruit smiley face (banana slices for eyes, raisins for nose, peach or apple slice for mouth, make fruit smoothies, snack mix with dried fruit, or let your child help prepare the meal. Puree steamed vegetables and add to soups, casseroles, sauces and other dishes. Create a food collage. You can use broccoli florets for trees, carrots and celery for flowers, cauliflower for clouds, and a yellow squash for a sun. When you’re all finished, you can eat your creation! Start a vegetable garden at home so that your kids will get excited about eating the vegetables they grow.
2. Cut down on empty calorie foods full of saturated fats and sugar in your child’s diet. Juices and sodas are big sources of sugar and empty calories. It’s tempting to reach for these to quench your child’s thirst. Promote good health habits by switching to low-fat or nonfat milk and water as healthy alternatives. Candy, potato chips, and other “junk” food are full of empty calories, sugar, and salt which will do little to nourish the body and brain. Limit the consumption of these empty calories and try to replace them with healthy snack food choices like fruits, nuts, vegetables, yogurt and cheese. These healthy snacks are also beneficial because they stabilize blood sugar levels while also providing key nutrients.
3. Give a quality mulitivitamin/ multimineral dietary supplement with lactoferrin and 600 IU of Vitamin D per serving. This provides nutritional insurance, making up the difference between the amount of nutrients the child is getting from daily food intake and the daily nutrients your child’s body actually needs. Lactoferrin is a nutrient found in breast milk and helps to keep the child’s immune system working as it should. It also promotes brain and gastrointestinal heath. Vitamin D is lacking in many children as we are spending more time indoors, but is very important for developing strong bones and teeth. When children get the correct amount of Vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus can be adequately absorbed into the system.   A high quality children’s mulitivitamin/ multimineral supplement should contain no artificial flavors, sweeteners or preservatives.
4. Add essential omega-3 fatty acids to your child’s daily regimen. DHA is an essential omega-3 fatty acid that plays many roles in supporting early brain and vision development Children’s brains develop very quickly after birth. In fact, the brain will grow to about 80 percent of the adult size by the age of 3 and 90 percent by the age of 5. DHA supports brain health and normal brain function, including memory, focus, concentration, and attention. At birth, DHA makes up about 97% of all the omega-3 fatty acids in the brain and 93% in the retina. To help maintain these levels, kids should consume 100mg of DHA on a regular basis. The critical need for DHA in children’s development is well understood, but is not well known by a lot of parents. A quality DHA supplement should be obtained from omega-3 oil that meets the highest standards for purity and potency and contain no artificial colors, sweeteners or preservatives.

For more information on children’s nutrition, or to purchase a quality children’s multivitamin or children’s omega-3 supplement high in pure and natural DHA, email mel2urhlth@aol.com or call 336-643-6494