Latest News on Kids Health

When we get sick, often the first thing that happens is that we lose our appetite. Kids are no different, yet it is important to encourage your child to eat and drink when they are sick, as this can help speed up their recovery.

If your child has:

1. Gastro – fluids are particularly important than solids to prevent dehydration. Try clear soups, electrolyte solutions (available from pharmacies) or a liquid supplement like SUSTAGEN KID ESSENTIALS (made as per instructions with water, not milk). Avoid juice and soft drinks as this can sometimes worsen the symptoms. Speak to your healthcare professional to determine if you should avoid milk, as sometimes the lactose in milk could worsen symptoms during the gastro period.
2. Constipation – choose high fibre foods such as fresh apples, oranges and carrots to help stimulate bowel function. Make sure they drink plenty of water along with the high fibre foods as an increase in fibre but not fluid can make symptoms worse.
3. Fever / flu –  a normal diet is fine, although many kids eat very little when they have the flu. Make every mouthful count by adding high-calorie ingredients to the food they are eating (e.g. oil, full cream milk, butter). Try a liquid supplement like SUSTAGEN KID ESSENTIALS to provide all the essential nutrients, even when they are not eating regular meals. You can also add SUSTAGEN KID ESSENTIALS to their foods (e.g. soup, yogurt, custard and cereal) to provide extra nutrition.

Healthy eating does not have to mean expensive eating. There are many ways that you can give your kids the nutrition they need without raiding the bank.

1. Planning – set aside some time each week to plan your meals and shopping list. Ask friends for cheap healthy recipes that have worked well with fussy eaters and search online using terms like “budget healthy meals”
2. Stock up on staples – nutritious foods like wholegrain cereals, breads and pasta are full of nutrients, can form the bulk of your meals and are relatively inexpensive
3. Make it meatless – include at least one vegetarian meal each week using high quality protein foods like lentils and beans
4. Share and save – if you have friends or family who live close by, buy in bulk and share the costs
5. Choose your seasons – fruit and vegetables that are in season will always be cheaper, and will probably taste better!

A new study has found that various vitamin and mineral supplements may not be hitting the nutrition mark. Looking at the diets and supplement levels of specific vitamins and minerals amongst 7,000 kids in the US, researchers found that kids between the ages of 9 and 18 had low levels of certain nutrients, while younger kids had mostly adequate levels and were probably getting too much from the supplements.

The key findings showed:

• Most children under 8 years old get sufficient nutrients from the food they eat
• More than a third of children were deficient in calcium and vitamin D, which included those who used  supplements
• Iron and Vitamin A were the 2 most commonly overloaded nutrients, as well as zinc and folate

The study findings highlight the importance of ensuring that you choose a vitamin and mineral supplement that will meet the nutritional needs of your child. It is also important to consider macronutrients (i.e. carbohydrate, protein and fat) to meet energy requirements for growth.

Sustagen Kid Essentials is a nutritionally complete drink for children aged 1 to 10 years. It contains both macro and micronutrients to help support growth and recovery.

Sustagen Kid Essentials is a food for special medical purposes. Specifically formulated for medical conditions where nutritional needs cannot be met through diet modification alone. To be used under the supervision of a healthcare professional. Suitable as a sole source of nutrition.

Reference:Journal Of Pediatrics

Parents often believe certain foods affect their kid’s behaviour, particularly for children with ADHD. But is this link fact or fiction?

For as long as families have been sitting around the dinner table, parents have been linking their kids’ behaviour to the food they eat.

Now there’s new evidence that suggests there may be some foundation to these beliefs, after a recent study found links between diet and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Researchers in the Netherlands tested whether a strict elimination diet . similar to that used to treat some people with allergic conditions . had an effect on the behaviour of children with ADHD. So they put a group of children diagnosed with ADHD children on a strict diet of mainly white meat, rice and vegetables for five weeks and compared them to a group of children who remained on their normal diet.

For as long as families have been sitting around the dinner table, parents have been linking their kids’ behaviour to the food they eat. Now there’s new evidence that suggests there may be some foundation to these beliefs, after a recent study found links between diet and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Researchers in the Netherlands tested whether a strict elimination diet . similar to that used to treat some people with allergic conditions . had an effect on the behaviour of children with ADHD. So they put a group of children diagnosed with ADHD children on a strict diet of mainly white meat, rice and vegetables for five weeks and compared them to a group of children who remained on their normal diet. So they put a group of children diagnosed with ADHD children on a strict diet of mainly white meat, rice and vegetables for five weeks and compared them to a group of children who remained on their normal diet.

Now there’s new evidence that suggests there may be some foundation to these beliefs, after a recent study found links between diet and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)