Paediatric and Teenage Nutrition

food, feeding and nutrition

Author: Carine Henry (Page 3 of 3)

portion sizes for your toddler

19th July 2016 / / 0 Comments

How confident do you feel about portion sizes for your toddler?  In a recent survey from the Infant & Toddler Form, 73% of mums felt that they their toddlers were not eating enough.  Toddlers appetites vary depending on how they feel, what’s on offer, how tired they are  Some days there is no feeding them.  Fussy eating and food refusal during the toddler years is a great cause for concern with parents, but it is a normal part of childhood development. Toddlers can be be tricky feeders at mealtimes, with food refusal gaining attention and often resulting in a battle of wills.  Use this portion size guide to help guide you.

Can giving toddlers large portions cause excess weight gain and obesity?
Large portion sizes for toddler meals are linked to obesity development says another recent survey.  There is however no single cause for obesity, just as there is no single correct portion size for toddler. Meal times are good opportunities to eat nutritious food, and portion sizes of nutritious food should not be limited.  Foods high in fats and sugars, deep fried and battered should be kept to a minimum, as these are very high in calories and do contribute to obesity if eaten regularly. But, it’s often the food eaten outside of mealtimes that is high in calories with low nutritional value.  For all you worried mum’s out there, its good to know that nutrient deficiencies are rare in the UK, and children who are eating a variety of foods from the 5 food groups will not need a vitamin supplement.

Need further advice?  Contact Carine to book an appointment.

 

weaning matters – does the mess bother you?

12th July 2016 / / 0 Comments

 

Weaning babies can be a messy time.  Learning new self feeding skills is an important part of developing the relationship with food.  It helps infants to become more independent, allows them time to explore textures and allows them take things at their own pace.  The more infants practice self-feeding, the better they will become at it.

Some parents find the mess difficult and inadvertently restrict their child from self-feeding in order to reduce mess. There is a limit for most people; we discuss this in more detail on our weaning workshops with a range of other practical aspects of feeding.

Cambridge Paediatrics and Nutrition ran its first weaning matters workshop in May 2016, and further workshops are planned this Autumn.  Details as follows:

8th October 2016 at St Andrews Hall, Histon
26th November 2016 at The Signal Box, Cambridge
7th January 2017 at The Pavillion Community Centre, Trumpington

The workshops aim to equip families with the most up-to-date information on infant feeding, weaning and feeding diffficulties in this 2 hour interactive workshop. Weaning matters will be delivered by our team of professionals: Paediatric Gastroenterologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Clinical Psychologist and Paediatric Dietitian helping parents and families to grow a healthy eater.

Short talks by each of our our team with practical demonstrations starting at 10am.

  • Growth & Development Overview
    • Camilla Salvestrini, Paediatric Gastroenterologist
  • Foods and Nutrition: What, when and how much?
    • Carine Henry, Paediatric Dietitian
  • Skills & Communication: “I know what I can do, I know what I like”
    • Cathy Davies, Speech and Language Therapist
  • Weaning & the family: Taking the worry out of weaning
    • Caroline Lindsay, Clinical Psychologist

For further information or to book, please contact us at weaning@paediatricnutrition.com

foods rich in iron

8th June 2016 / / 0 Comments

All children need regular sources of iron-rich food, especially during later infancy, toddlerhood, teenage girls and for those following vegetarian or vegan diets.  Iron availability from food is variable, and absorption in the intestine is limited to around 15-20%.  Iron absorption depends on a number of changing factors: the iron status within the body, general health.  Iron absorption generally decreases with age. The availability of iron within food is known as bioavailability.  We depend on dietary iron to make haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying molecule found in our red blood cells. Delivery of oxygen to the body, muscle and brain is its most important role in the body, but also for brain development, concentration and stamina. Vegan infants, children and teenage girls will need an iron supplement; but it’s also good to be aware of the natural rich sources,   foods fortified with iron and factor affecting its absorption.

Maximise iron intake, absorption and bioavailability with these top tips
  • Avoid giving milk with a meal as the high calcium content of milk reduces iron absorption
  • Do include fruits and vegetables with each meal; the Vitamin C content increases iron absorption
  • Avoid giving children tea; the tannins in tea bind iron and reduce its absorption
  • Foods containing haem-iron and from animal sources like red meat and eggs are absorbed well
  • Foods containing non-haem-iron from plant sources like cereals, fruits, nuts, pulses and vegetables are less well absorbed
  • Eating meat 1 -2 x a week, 3-6 eggs per week, regular beans, pulses, nuts, fruits, cereals and vegetables will meet the needs of most children
  • Other plant sources of iron include apricots, blackcurrants, figs, prunes, cocoa, dark green leafy vegetables, lentils, edamame beans, kidney beans, soya mince, TVP,  tofu, cashew nuts, peanuts, tahini, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, oats, wholegrains, quinoa, fortified cereals eg. ready brek, weetabix
    • Please note that because tofu is also rich in calcium, the absorption is limited to around 5-10%
  • Vegetarian and vegan school children generally have lower iron status but do get sufficient iron from beans, pulses, soya mince, nuts, nutritional yeast with iron, tofu, fruits, cereals and vegetables – vitamin C intake is a valuable addition to enhance absorption for this group
  • Toddlers can reduce the risk of iron deficiency by having water with main meals instead of milk

calcium and vitamin D in teens

8th June 2016 / / 0 Comments

The calcium and vitamin D combination is one of the most important vitamin and mineral duos for teenage nutrition. All teens need a good supply of calcium as their bones increase in density long after they have stopped growing in length. Vitamin D plays its part by regulating the absorption of calcium from the gut. Functioning similarly to a hormone, vitamin D receives information about how much bone is needed and determines how much calcium to deliver to the skeleton to make bone.  This happens for existing bone, making it stronger and denser with the additional calcium, and also for new bone as existing bones lengthen during pubertal growth spurts.

Dietary sources of vitamin D only contribute about 5% of overall needs; the rest being manufactured on the skin’s surface by the action of UV light from the sun.  Vitamin D is then absorbed through the skin, stored in the liver, and then converted into an active form of Vitamin D by the kidney, ready for action in the gut.  

Boys generally need more calcium than girls and are also more likely to have lower circulating levels of vitamin D. Calcium needs for girls are around 800mg and boys around 1000mg. Habitual lower intakes of calcium cause the intestine to up-regulate its absorption, provided there is enough vitamin D, and so calcium is only half the picture to promote strong bones.  In the UK , where the sunlight is low for at least half the year, the general population is at risk of vitamin D deficiency.  A supplement of 25ug/micrograms (or 1000 international units) of Vitamin D for 6 months of the year – during late autumn/winter/early-spring – helps to ensure bones continue to mineralise during this super-growth period. Teens who eat a poorly planned vegan diet may consider a calcium and vitamin D supplement.

Calcium needs can be met by 4 – 5 servings of dairy products each day.  For kids who don’t eat dairy, fortified soya products, nuts and seeds are good choices.  For well-rounded nutrition, a mix of different types of calcium rich foods is best.  

Good Sources of Calcium

Portion               Food                                            Calcium (mg)
200mls cow’s milk 230
200mls soya milk 240
150g natural yoghurt 300
150g fruit yoghurt 240
30g cheddar cheese 200
30g soya cheese 125
2 tinned pilchards 330
4 tinned sardines 460
120g tinned salmon 105
1 tsp tahini (sesame seeds) 135
30g almonds 65
10 apricots 75
1 dried fig 50
90g spinach 145
3 tbls baked beans 70
portion broccoli 35
portion spring greens 65
1 slice white bread 30
1 slice wholemeal bread 20

Source “The Composition of Foods” 5th Ed; McCance & Widdowson; Royal Society of Chemistry

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