Children’s Health

What you choose to feed your child during his or her early years will not only affect their growth, but can also have a direct influence on their day to day energy levels, mood and concentration at school. It also affects resistance to disease and their long-term health.

No child will eat healthily 100% of the time. You may be able to control what’s on the menu in the early months, but as crèche or nursery school begins followed by the play dates, birthday parties and sleep-overs, it becomes harder.

More than a source of energy, food should be enjoyable. Meals are a social event as well as just for eating. Basically, if your children are eating well 80% of the time, it’ s unlikely their health will suffer much.

Diet and allergy

But there are many common infant and childhood complaints that may be directly related to diet.  These include:

- Constipation, diarrhoea & other digestive problems

- Eczema

- Asthma

- Recurrent ear, nose & throat infections

- Colic

- Obesity

- Low weight gain

- ADHD and other behavioural issues

Over the past 40 years there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people suffering from asthma, eczema, rhinitis and food allergies. This ‘allergy epidemic’ has affected children in particular, with a recent survey suggesting that nearly 40% of Irish children suffer from an allergic disease.

Delayed onset allergies to foods, also known as food intolerances, are harder to pinpoint, because symptoms are not always immediately apparent after eating a particular food.

Often children suffer from more than one allergic symptom, such as eczema, wheezing or reactions to food.  However, sometimes allergy can present subtly and underlie otherwise common childhood symptoms such as reflux, colic, diarrhoea or poor growth.

Optimal digestion

Digestive problems may result in poor nutrient absorption leading to deficiencies of key nutrients that support a healthy immune system.

At Positive Nutrition, we aim to treat every individual holistically, including babies and children, rather than addressing each symptom individually.  We offer help and advice on what to eat when breastfeeding, foods to introduce at weaning stages, through to how to support your growing teenagers as they approach their leaving cert.

For more information or to make an appointment, call us on 01 402 0777 or email info@positivenutrition.ie.

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