Fats in the diet
Fats have recently acquired a bad name, and cholesterol has become another bad word in adult dietetics. Unfortunately, this craziness with fat-free, cholesterol-free foods was transferred to baby food. Young children need fats - lots of fat. Human milk, our dietary standard, has more than 40% of its calories in the form of fats and - believe it - is also rich in cholesterol. A balanced diet for a child of up to a year should contain 40% of all calories in the form of fats, the baby's nutrition after the year should have a fat content of 30-40%.Without fat, children will not grow well. Fats are the largest battery packs in the body that store energy. Each gram of fat provides nine calories, more than twice as much as a gram of sugars or proteins.
In addition to being a store of energy for a growing baby, fats are needed for the insulating substance surrounding the nerves in the brain, spinal cord and throughout the body. Fats are the main components of important hormones and are an indispensable part of cell membranes, especially for red blood cells. These priceless nutrients also transport vitamins A, D, E and K. As you can see, fats make for the body a lot of good, provided that we provide the body with the right fats and in the right proportions.
Good fats, bad fats, medium fats
Not all fats are created the same. Although the body needs all types of fats, eating excessive amounts of any one of them is dangerous. There is no bad fat, but too much fat of one particular type can harm the body. Let's simplify the whole question of fats. The jargon of nutritionists is obese from all these difficult terms for fats: triglycerides, saturated fats, unsaturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, fatty acids, lipids - the list is getting thicker. Here is a more harmonious version of what every parent should know about how much fat and what type to give to their children.
Fats come in two types: saturated and unsaturated;names are explained by their different chemical composition. Molecules of fats have tiny hooks, so-called bonds. When all these hooks are occupied( saturated) with another element, usually hydrogen, the fat is called saturated. If some of these hooks are free, such fat is called unsaturated. If only one set of hooks is not occupied, it is a monounsaturated fat. If many hooks are free, it is polyunsaturated fat. Products of animal origin( meat, eggs and dairy products) supply predominantly saturated fats.
Lipids( another name for fats), which are at room temperature in the solid state, are called fat - for example, delicious fat surrounding and streaky juicy beefsteak. Lipids, which are at room temperature in the liquid state, are called oils. Most oils refer to unsaturated fats;some are saturated( for example, coconut oil and palm kernel oil).If you can cut it - it's fat;if you pour it - it's butter.
Fatty acids are the growth and construction of tissue elements of fat. Like proteins, some, called essential fatty acids, can not be produced by the human body: they need to be grown or bought. Other fatty acids can be produced by the liver by processing fats supplied with food and converting them into fatty acids that help build and maintain the cellular structure of vital organs.
As for fats, the main thing is balance: it is important that a growing child consumes saturated and unsaturated fats in the right proportions for a given period of life. For a growing child up to a year, all natural fats are healthy, but some bring health more benefits than others.
As parents and students taking the course "All About Proper Nutrition", you ask how much fat and what types of fat are best for your children. To find the answer to this question, let's take a look at our dietary standard - human milk, 40-50% of calories of which are presented in the form of fats. With prolonged breastfeeding, as the child grows older, the fat content in the human milk gradually decreases. Fats are found in human milk in the following proportions: 41% monounsaturated, 14% polyunsaturated and 44% saturated. Each of these types of fat contains important fatty acids necessary for optimal growth and development. Let's get acquainted with the glorious and inglorious members of the family of fats.
Unsaturated fats
The most useful for health are unsaturated fats, and this branch of the genealogical tree has two children: polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. Unsaturated fats are absorbed better than saturated ones, and are generally considered more useful.
| The best sources of | fats |
| avocado | |
| breast milk | |
| fish | |
| nut oil | |
| vegetable oil |
Rich sources of unsaturated fats are:
avocado peanuts
olive oil safflower oil corn oil fish oil almonds
sunflower oil soybean oil
Although, as we will see inFurther, we should not reduce the amount of cholesterol in the diet of children under one year, the percentage of saturated and unsaturated fats relates to the adult diet, and concerns the most seriousbrazom. Unsaturated fats do not increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, and monounsaturated fats in fact can even lower it. The American Heart Association and the American Pediatric Academy recommend that half the fat in the adult's diet for a healthy heart consist of monounsaturated fats. In general, as a child moves from infancy to adulthood and then becomes an adult, the amount of saturated fat should be reduced, the amount of monounsaturated fats should increase, and the number of polyunsaturated must remain at the same level. In addition to these proportions, the total amount of fat in the diet should decrease from about 45% of the total number of calories in the first year of life to no more than 30% for an adult.
Saturated Fat
These fats are found mainly in products of animal origin, such as meat, eggs and dairy products. In the first two years of a child's life, parents should not limit the amount of saturated fat in their diet( do not forget that human milk contains 44% of saturated fat).The main object of concern is an older child, a teenager and an adult who continues to consume large amounts of saturated fat, thereby increasing the risk of heart disease - mainly because saturated fats raise the level of cholesterol in the blood. The moral of this fable about fats is that it is necessary to gradually reduce the amount of saturated fats( animal products, eggs and dairy products) as your child grows, but not limit their number in the first two years of life.
The products containing mainly saturated fats include the following:
meat
poultry fat
dairy products
eggs
butter
palm oil
and palm kernel oil
coconut oil
cocoa butter
chocolate
Bad fats
Although in terms of dietologyit would be more correct to say that there is no such thing as a bad fat for a young child, artificial processing of natural fats can make a good thing a bad one. Read the labels and do not overlook the word "hydrogenated" - the only bad word, especially for older children and adults. Gydrogenated fats are obtained by artificial processing of vegetable oils in order to make them similar to saturated fats. Used in some packaged products and in the fast food industry to impart a fatty, oily taste, artificially produced fats raise the level of cholesterol in the blood. These dangerous fats are often put on non-dairy based creams and chocolate.
Avoid these harmful fats:
hydrogenated vegetable fat( margarine)
hydrogenated shortening( hydrofat)
non-dairy based cream
cocoa butter
Cholesterol - children need it
Since the discovery of a link between a diet high in cholesterol and a high risk of heart disease, cholesterol has become a lousy sheep in a herd of fats. Packages of products are full of fat inscriptions "low in cholesterol" or "without cholesterol."Unfortunately, these foods with low cholesterol or no cholesterol at all have been unreasonably transferred to baby food.
What does cholesterol do. Young children need cholesterol. This vital lipid is required to isolate the nerves of the brain and the central nervous system. He is involved in the development of bile acids necessary for the body, which improve the absorption of fats. Cholesterol is a necessary lipoprotein that helps in the production of adrenal hormones and reproductive hormones, and is a building block for vitamin D. Cholesterol enters the bloodstream from two sources: it is produced naturally by the liver and comes from food of animal origin such as whole or skim milk, cheese, butter, eggs, liver and animal fats. The brain of the child and the central nervous system grow in the first two years of life more than at any other time in the life of the child. The child's brain needs cholesterol.
A diet low in cholesterol is not recommended for children. Let's return to our class, where we go through the course "Everything about proper nutrition".Your professor asks students to investigate whether young children should be kept on a diet with low cholesterol, like adults, or not;discussion is scheduled for tomorrow. You burn the oil all night in the library and find that the medical literature is full of contradictory conclusions about the relationship between the amount of cholesterol in the children's tummies and fatty plaques in the senile hearts. And then you are enlightened: children develop optimally on human milk, and human milk contains cholesterol. You can not wait to share your "discovery" with your class.
The course continues, and cholesterol battles begin. You present your argument. If we all agree that breastfeeding is the oldest nutrition experiment aimed at survival and that milk of each species is aimed at securing short-term and long-term survival, it follows that the amount of cholesterol in human milk should be the most correct amount for human offspring. Everybody agrees. You go on, pointing out that the cholesterol content in human milk is not too high, but not too low. This is something like the diet with an average cholesterol content. You conclude that infants need a diet with an average cholesterol content. Another student indicates that the artificial infant formula has a lower cholesterol content, and the amount of cholesterol is less than one tenth of the cholesterol in breast milk. This apparent dietary error causes excitement in the class. The professor adds that cholesterol can be obtained only from animal sources, and in artificial infant formulas only vegetable oils are used. Adding an artificial mixture of cholesterol would be technically difficult and, perhaps, would be an unpopular measure. Can you imagine this bad word on the bank?
Another student presents the theory of early acquaintance with cholesterol ( concerning which the opinions of nutritionists differ).According to this theory, if you will feed your child with cholesterol at the very beginning of life, the cholesterol excretion system will be activated early and later will work better, eliminating excess. If your child's diet is poor in cholesterol, his body may never learn to handle it well enough. Not without sense.
One colleague reports that he read about a study that showed that feeding baboons to young children with low cholesterol foods leads to a higher level of cholesterol in the blood in adult animals. But, the professor adds, the researches conducted on people, could not confirm this result. Studies have also shown that, first, children who are breastfeeding have a higher cholesterol level than their counterparts who are fed, but by the age of three, the cholesterol levels in both groups are equalized. And since in the first two years of life the child's brain grows faster than at any other time, it makes sense that the high cholesterol level in the blood is useful for the child during this period.
Now that the need to worry about fats has disappeared, by the end of the session you feel that the main conclusion to be drawn from the issue of fats is that you need to provide your child with a balanced diet from basic foods( dairy products, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes, whole grains, fruits and vegetables), and do not worry about the excess fat in the first two years of the child's life. Especially if you have a very fastidious eater, you are happy if he eats anything.
How to protect your child from excess fat
There were times when a truly full child was considered a proof of a good mother's care and it was this that evoked the approval of my grandparents. Now fat is not in high esteem.
Do fat babies become fat adults? Not necessarily, but there is a strong tendency. A fat baby has a high risk of becoming a fat child, who has an even greater risk of becoming a fat teenager who has an even higher risk of becoming an obese adult. In an overweight baby, the chance of staying at the age of five to eight years is one in five. A child with overweight is twice as likely to become a full adult. A teenager who is overweight is sixteen times more likely to become an obese adult.
Some children are more prone to obesity than others. Here are the main risk factors that should be noted.
This is in genes
A big threat to the baby lies in the genes, rather than in what lies on the plate. Foster children usually follow the weight trends of their biological parents, rather than adoptive parents. If both parents are obese, the child's chance to grow fat is 80%;if one parent is 40%.If none of the parents are obese, the child's chance of obesity is only 7%.Instead of saying that obesity is inherited, it would be more correct to say that children inherit the addiction of to completeness.
Such a physique
Apart from the fact that children inherit a penchant for fatness or leanness, they also inherit this or that physique, characterized by greater or less obesity.
Children with an ectomorphic type of build( slender and tall) differ from the average indicators in that they have more growth and less body weight. Children of the ectomorphic type, recognizable even at birth by the pianist's "fingers of the pianist" and long narrow feet, spend more calories on growth than on gaining weight. People with an ectomorphic body type seem to burn more calories and better balance their food intake with their level of activity. If they eat a lot, they still do not gain weight, than usually cause bad jealousy of their counting each calorie of friends and girlfriends.
Thick, chunky children( mesomorphic type) have average height and weight;and the height and weight are approximately one percentage line in the table of indicators of normal growth and body weight of the child. These children of a square form have a greater propensity to fullness than their rectangular ectomorphic friends.
Children of the endomorphic type are short and wide. Of the three types of physique, these children have the highest risk of gaining excess weight. Because of their pear-shaped body shape, they carry on themselves excess weight the least beautiful.
Not all children can be clearly attributed to this or that type of build: some have the features of all three.
On a routine examination of the child, parents often ask: "Do you think our child will grow fat?" Usually I am able to give them a scientifically based assumption by looking at the type of physique of parents and the child. If both mother and father are slender and the child has an ectomorphic body type, one can safely say: "Your baby can probably afford to eat whatever she wants and does not look fat."Note, I did not say: "... and it will not become fat."Thanks to the type of child's constitution and heredity, the child probably will not seem fat. But if the same question is asked by two round parent-shorties, holding a small, round child in their arms, I give these parents to know that their child has an increased tendency to obesity and that they should take preventive measures already in infancy.
This is the temperament of
Children gain fat not only because they consume too much calories, but also because they do not burn enough of their calories. Active, restless children usually burn more calories and have less risk of gaining excess weight. Obedient, calm and quiet children usually burn fewer calories. Children with a sedentary lifestyle are more likely to be obese, and the risk is further increased if this sedentary temperament also prevails among other family members. A tall, lean, active child who does not sit still, with the same parents, has a very bad chance to grow fat.
Children stretching
Most of the children most closely resemble cherubs at the age of about six months. Between six and eight months, as children begin to sit, crawl and play, they begin to lose weight. At the age from one year to two children lose weight even more. Children go, run, climb and deservedly receive the title of "fastidious eaters".Between the first and second birthdays, most children are stretched out strongly, as if they are spending more calories on growth than on gaining weight. It seems that the child at last grows into his skin, which for a long time was not his size. Farewell, photos of the plump baby, made in the earlier months. A slender child appears. Most often, parental anxiety is transformed from "Doctor, he is too fat, huh?" In "Doctor, is he too thin?".Enjoy these childish roundnesses while you can. Soon there will be no trace left of them.
Five ways to protect the child from excess fat
Give your child milk, the caloric content of which is selected individually. Breastfeeding. Although in excess medical literature you can catch any research that would confirm your own preconceived opinion, we are convinced that breastfeeding reduces the risk of obesity. Breastmilk contains a newly discovered satiety factor, something like a built-in calorie counter that delivers a signal in the form of a satiety sensation toward the end of the feeding. This natural factor, which could be called "enough to eat", found in breast milk, gives the child to feel that he has already eaten enough - this feeling some older children and adults will never know.
By changing the manner of sucking, breastfeeding the baby has a great opportunity to control the calorie content of the milk. When a child is hungry, he receives high-calorie milk;when he is thirsty or sucking is required only for calming, the child receives less calories. When the breast is "empty", but the child needs to suck more, very little milk is allocated. It's not the situation at the child receiving artificial feeding. Regardless of how the child sucks, a high-calorie substance continues to flow into his mouth. In addition, studies comparing children with breastfeeding and children who are breastfeeding have shown that children who are breastfed usually begin to receive solid foods earlier and add proportionately more in weight than in growth,which leads to obesity at an early age.
Postpone the lure. In addition to artificial feeding, the risk of obesity increases the early introduction of solid foods. Forced to push hard food at an early age in the hope of making the baby sleep through the night
not only rarely gives a positive result, but is also an unhealthy habit of feeding.
See if the baby signals the calorie reduction. Not every child cry means that he wants to eat. Children who receive artificial feeding, and children who receive solid food from an early age, receive more concentrated food, and, therefore, they need more water. Often crying or behaving restlessly children want to drink, but do not eat. From time to time, offer water instead of milk, artificial mixture or solid food. Water does not contain calories. If you simply take the child in your arms, this alone can sometimes soothe a crying child;entertain a bored child can play. If you can not calm down a big fan of the mixture with plain water, consult a doctor about switching to a less caloric mix. In recent years, manufacturers of artificial infant formulas have presented mixtures containing slightly less fat and calories;The difference in many ways resembles the difference between whole milk and partially skimmed milk.
Move on. It's rare to bring a child out onto the street specifically to get him to move. Most children are awake and so are in constant movement. Here is the classic study of Jim Thorpe, a renowned Olympic athlete. When he tried to repeat after the constantly moving little child, he lost his strength in an hour, but the baby still continued to move. Some quiet children, however, have enough visual stimulation. They lie and look instead of twisting and crawling. The more child is fed, the less he shows a desire to move;and the cycle of immobility and obesity closes.
Reduce the fat content of food.
Although you should not pay too much attention to fats in the first two years, do not ignore the potential problem. In addition, that during this period you introduce your child to a variety of foods, you also help your child develop taste preferences. It will not be very useful for health if your baby enters childhood with a passion for fatty foods. Here's how to get rid of unnecessary fats:
• Forget about frying in a frying pan. Bake food or fry in the oven.
• Cut off excess fat from meat and poultry. Children love crisp and fat chicken skin. You do not have to remove every crusty piece of fat, but remove the excess.
• Degrease dairy products. Unless your child is overextended on milk, we do not recommend the use of partially skim milk and, of course, we do not recommend skim milk after you stop giving your child artificial infant formulas( see the section "Milk Tips" for an explanation).You can remove fat from other dairy products. Young children like butter. Replace it with healthy sandwiches, for example with nut oils or with avocado. Accustom your child to low-fat cheeses, yoghurt and homemade cheese.
• Slow down with a quick meal. Avoid bags with drowning fat in ready-made breakfasts and avoid the side of fast foods, which sell excessively fatty foods.
In addition to the big three - proteins, fats and carbohydrates, - vitamins are valuable components of your child's diet. Unlike the nutrients that make up the big three, these microelements do not directly supply energy to the baby's body, but they help the food your child eats, work better, and also help to better function all body systems. As the name indicates, they fill the body with life. We can not exist without these life-sustaining helpers. Thirteen vitamins are required for our organisms: A, C, D, E, K and eight members of group B - thiamin, niacin( nicotinic acid), riboflavin, pantothenic acid, biotin( vitamin H), folic acid, B6 and B12.
Strive for diversity. Worried about the vitamins of parents, relax. Even if your child literally bites and does not eat, he is unlikely to suffer from vitamin deficiency. Many products contain such a variety of vitamins that even the most fastidious eaters will certainly get enough vitamins for a certain period of time. If you give your child a variety of products, this guarantees a sufficient amount of vitamins.
Storage of vitamins. Some vitamins( A, D, E and K) are stored in the body in fat, so if your child periodically declares an ultimatum to the vegetables, he will be able to survive on the vitamins stored in the past months. Other vitamins( C and a complex of B vitamins) are stored in the body not very long, and their reserves must be constantly replenished.
Fragile vitamins. Some vitamins, especially vitamin C, are destroyed or destroyed in processes such as cooking in water. Steaming and microwave cooking preserves vitamins