A Toddler's Nutrient Needs

Interested in nutrition for your growing infant or toddler?  Check out my other nutrition posts here!
 
 The other day my husband commented, "You've gone dip crazy!"  And, it's true. I make us 1-3 different kinds of dips each week. But, we love eating them, and they are healthy. At least, I have been assuming they were healthy. I realized I hadn't done much research into toddler nutrition in quite awhile.  So, for this Science Friday, I will explore what the nutrient needs of a toddler are, especially working to find out what drives each of these nutrient needs. I did quite a bit of Internet research and discovered that there is not too much information on toddler nutrition, especially for nursing toddlers. In fact, most sources that focus on feeding children ages 1-5 do not mention nursing, despite the fact that the World Health Organization recommends that children continue breastfeeding until at least 2 years old.

    It is true that the USDA has a MyPlate Food Guide for children, and it's also true this guide does not mention breastfeeding.  Additionally, this guide places a pretty high emphasis on a diet rich in grains and dairy products derived from cows' milk. While no one in our family suffers from any wheat or dairy intolerance, we have seen and felt rather dramatic changes by limiting these products. So, I'm a little hesitant to use this as my only guide. The guide I found most helpful in determining a healthful diet for a toddler is published by the World Health Organization and is available here. 

Here's a rundown of the five most important nutrient needs of a breastfeeding toddler (of course, there are many more nutrients a growing child needs, but these seem to be most important for growth AND are those in which a toddler is most likely deficient):

1. Protein, about 16g/day:  This is more protein per pound of body weight than an adult requires!  In addition to aiding with all of the growth a toddler is doing, protein helps a toddler maintain muscular strength, maintain health of ligaments, joints, and tendons, and helps maintain immunity by carrying oxygen throughout the blood stream.  Additionally, protein helps maintain brain cells to help with all of the learning that a toddler is doing!  Found in animal products like meat, eggs, and legumes.
2. Fat, 30-45% of calories should be from fat:  Most adults run from fat, but it's very important for growing toddlers!  Fats surround nerve cells in the brain, helping to protect it. Fats also aid in the development of the brain and central nervous system.  Additionally, fats add in the absorption of other essential nutrients.  Found in breastmilk, dairy products, oils.
3. Iron, 7mg/day: Toddlers are almost entirely reliant on foods other than milk and breastmilk for their iron needs as milk is not a source of iron.  As such, a study in 2007 found that 2.7 million children are iron deficient.  Iron is used to make red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body.  Toddlers with iron deficiencies are at risk for developmental delays, including retarded growth and learning difficulties.  Found in meat (especially liver), legumes.
4. Vitamin A: Aids in bone growth and vision development. Protects against illness.  Found in colorful fruits and veggies- carrots, sweet potatoes, red peppers, spinach, etc. 
5. Vitamin D: While most people believe that they get enough vitamin D from the sun, new studies are questioning this assumption.  Children especially need vitamin D to help absorb calcium to help build strong bones and teeth.  Found in fish, eggs, and fortified foods.  (Given that we eat very few fortified foods, this is the nutrient that I find is most difficult to ensure Q-ball gets enough of. As such, vitamin D is the one supplement that I give Q-ball.)

With my new knowledge of toddler nutritional needs, I still believe that my dips are a healthy choice for Q-ball!  Here are some of our favorites recipes with a bonus explanation of their nutritional value from yours truly!  (I guess that's the least I could do as I'm clearly borrowing all of these recipes from others.)

1. Black bean spinach dip: This is a yummy way to get a toddler to eat spinach, a good source of iron.  It's bean-based, so it provides a decent amount of protein and fiber (which, while not mentioned previously, is typically very important for toddlers.) Another added bonus is the salsa- sources of vitamin C, like tomatoes, aid in the absorption of iron.  And, for those of you who are afraid of spinach, I promise you won't notice it!
2. Chocolate-chip cookie dough: Yes, you read that correctly! And, yes, it's amazing!  High in protein, and with minimal sugar (I typically use 2-3 T of brown sugar for the whole recipe, but I've used less and added stevia drops instead.) Also, a great source of fiber.  And, if you use dark chocolate chips, you'll get the antioxidants in chocolate. 
3. Sweet Potato Hummus: This combines two amazing foods.  Chickpeas again provide iron, protein, and fiber.  Sweet potatoes add lots of vitamin A and even more fiber.
4. Avocado-White Bean Dip: Again bean-based, so good for protein and fiber.  The avocado provides extra healthy fats for your growing toddler.
5. Carrot-Cashew Miso Spread: I found this recipe in the cookbook Clean Start.  The carrots are a great source of vitamin A, while the cashews provide fats.  The miso provides the benefits that come with all fermented foods- high levels of vitamin B and naturally-occurring probiotics. Miso is also high in fiber and antioxidants.  This is also a great way to introduce what might be the acquired taste of fermented foods to newbies. 

Sources:
10 nutrients that every child needs. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.babycenter.com/0_10-nutrients-that-every-child-needs_1201019.bc
Coleman, E.(n.d.) Very important nutrients during the toddler stage. Retrieved from http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/very-important-nutrients-during-toddler-stage-6328.html.
World Health Organization. (2009). Infant and young child feeding. Retrieved from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241597494_eng.pdf

Guest Post for Every Breath I Take

I am honored and excited that Jennifer invited me to share my story about practicing yoga in real life! I have always loved reflecting upon and practicing the intentions she shares about parenting, yoga, faith, and relationships!

    I love practicing yoga. It’s a bit strange for me to use that phrase as I’m certainly not a yogi or, frankly, even moderately trained in yoga. The last and only actual yoga class I took was over six years ago and only lasted a few months. I own a few books picturing and describing yoga poses, and I’ve bought two Yoga Journals in the past few months. I own a few yoga DVDs and did one religiously during pregnancy.  

     But, despite my lack of experience and expertise, I can’t imagine a week going by without taking a few minutes to complete my own little sequence of poses.

Read the rest here!

A Mother's Influence on Her Child's Diet

      Part One of this Science Friday series discussed a variety of ways that parents can influence their children's food choices. I know that I saw at least one finding discussed in Part one's post at our home this week- namely, a child's ability to control their own food intake. For Q-ball's birthday, we gave her sweet yogurt the day before her birthday, and she devoured it!  On her actual birthday, we presented her with her first cake and ice cream and expected the same results, but she barely touched anything!  I guess she knew she had had enough the night before!

And, that's about all the cake and ice cream she ate!

    This post is going to specifically explore a mother's role in her child's eating habits. As one of the studies I read explained, "Mothers are often one of the most influential people in a young child’s life."  It makes sense, then, that the mother is often the one to have the most influence on a child's food choices. Obviously, I'm a mama, so I found this a really interesting topic to research especially as I am working to instill healthy eating habits in Q-ball.

     Many of the studies I found dealing with parental influences on children's eating habits focused on preschool-age children.  However, I did find one that looked specifically at a mother's actions while she was just introducing solids to her child- from 6 months to 1 year. Even at this young age, at least two studies show, how a mother feeds her baby is related to a baby's weight.  Mothers are much more likely to pressure their "skinny" babies to eat than they are "chubby" babies. This is especially interesting as it is rather common knowledge that fat babies are happy and healthy babies. (Good news for Q-ball! Just the other day a 8- or 9- year old boy at the park came up to us and called her fat!) Mothers who were deemed to be "controlling" during feeding according to researchers were more likely to have babies with slow weight gain.  I thought this finding was so sad- mothers might be jeopardizing their babies' health because of perceived cultural norms!  What is especially interesting about this finding is that researchers theorize that the mothers then see their babies' slowed weight gain as a success.  As such, they continue to restrict the children's feeding in the coming years, and, as we saw in the last post, this will likely eventually lead to overeating by the child!  What a cycle!

     On the other side of the food control spectrum is pushing children to finish their food. The method of directing children to eat was discussed in Part One, but this week, I am going to look at the issue from a slightly different angle.  Many mothers actively encourage their children to finish their plates or to take a couple more bites. But, studies have shown these reminders last beyond dinner time.  In one study, children were given pudding to eat in a laboratory setting on multiple occasions.  When the children's mothers were present (not encouraging them to eat- just present), overweight children (this specific study was comparing normal weight children to overweight children) were much more likely to eat more pudding. Not only did they eat more, they ate faster and took bigger bites!  The researchers concluded that in these cases, the mothers were likely contributors to their children's weight.

      Finally, it is difficult to look through too much research that discusses women and food without coming across information about eating disorders. Unfortunately, little research has been done on any possible effects that a mother's eating disorder may have on how she feeds her child.  But, at least one study does compare how mothers with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED), and no eating disorders (No ED) feed their children.  No differences appear in pressuring children to eat across the groups. But, it found that mothers suffering from BN and BED were more likely to restrict their children's food intake.  Additionally, these mothers were much more likely to report that their children had anxiety issues and difficulty eating (although the researchers admit it is difficult to determine the causality of this reporting.)   The study is not a longitudinal study, so it cannot tell us the long-term effects on these children's eating habits. However, it is known that the odds of having an eating disorder are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, so it can be assumed these children would have an increased risk of eating disorders.
   Another blog I follow, Parenting Science, recently published a post about the effect of a mother's weight gain during pregnancy has on the child's weight as an adult. I won't rehash the post, but it turns out that mothers the under-eat during pregnancy increase their babies odds of being obese later in life.  If you are interested, the whole post is available here.

     It's amazing to see the amount of influence that mother's can have on their children's daily habits! What struck me in these studies is that the mother's actions seem so off-hand or slight that she likely does not give them a second thought.  But, the long-term impacts are pretty profound.  It's certainly made me think about how I feed Q-ball and how I eat in front of her.  I vow to no longer eat peanut directly from the jar.  At least in front of Q-ball...

Sources:
Brown, A. & Lee, M. (2011). Maternal child-feeding style during the weaning period: Association with infant weight and maternal eating style. Eating Behaviors, 12. 108-112.
Munsch, S., Hasenboehler, K., & Meyer, A.H. (2011). Is amount of food intake in overweight and obese children related to their psychopathology and to maternal eating behavior? Journal of Psyhcosomatic Research, 70. 362-367.
Reba-Harrelson, L., Von Holle, A., Hamer, R.M., Torgersen, L., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T. & Bulik, C.M. (2010). Patterns of maternal feeding and child eating associated with eating disorders in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Eating Behaviors, 11. 54-61.

Encouraging Healthy Eating in Children

      Since writing this post about my family's experiment/experience with only eating organic foods for one week, I have really been analyzing what I feed my family and what changes, if any, should be made to ensure that Q-ball will be eating foods that are best for her as she continues to eat more and more solids. I've read The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Unhealthy Truth and countless blogs (some of the most informative and/or fun: 100 Days of Real Food, Cookus Interruptus, and Food Politics.)  I've also participated in several Slow Food groups meetings sponsored by our local natural parenting group and have learned to make kefir and yoghurt. I'm even trying my own sourdough using the methods from Wild Breads. And, I've talked to trusted friends and family about their ideas and habits involving healthy eating.  But, I realized I hadn't done my usual "straight to the source" research method! I found a lot of information to share- some of which really surprised me. I've actually decided to devote two Science Friday posts to this topic.  This Science Friday post will generally discuss parental influence in developing children's eating habits.  And, a next Friday's post will discuss how a mother's eating habits can affect children's eating habits. 

    To start with, as anyone who has children knows, infants enter this world driven by physical needs- especially that of food!  While infants certainly cannot feed themselves, they do recognize and make known when they are hungry. The AAP recommends that mothers nurse infants "on-demand," i.e. whenever they show signs of hunger. By making this recommendation, the AAP is acknowledging that infants know best when and how much to eat.  Studies have found that young children can regulate their own caloric intake.  In one study, children who drank high-calorie energy drinks early in the day, naturally ate less at lunch, while those that had similar looking drink with few calories in the morning, naturally consumed more energy dense food.  But, as I imagine anyone reading this can attest, our ability to self-regulate, defined as the ability to override an impulse, food consumption is lost overtime (I can certainly attest as the majority of the research for this was completed while I was indulging in a lack-of-sleep induced/overly caffeinated chocolate binge...) This lost of control can be attributed to family's and society's influence on shaping habits as a means of socialization. Researchers have discovered that in regards to eating, parents socialize their children in three ways:

1. "Interactive partners"- model behavior and convey values and ideals through daily interactions; (Studies show the following: children are more likely to try new foods if their parents are more likely to try new foods, and children whose parents eat more fruits and veggies are likely to also eat more fruits and veggies.)
2. "Direct instructors"- tell children what foods are healthy and what are junk; reinforce (positively and negatively) children for selecting different types of foods
3. "Providers of opportunities"-  grant or restrict the opportunities and situations to have different types of foods (One study found that just the accessibility of fruits and vegetables in a home accounted for 35% of the difference in consumption of these foods.)

   

   Photo credit: artistrymasterworks.com

      Just reading this information might lead one (like me) to think, "Okay, this won't be too hard, I'll just offer Q-ball healthy choices and keep her away from items that are not as healthy."  Well, unfortunately, the research shows that it is not that simple.

    First of all, as many parents know from experience, kids love sugar.  Really, really love it. And, research seems to show this is a biologically motivated preference that lasts until adolescence.  When children and adults were both given combinations of water and sugar to find the balance that tasted the best, adults liked the ratio that equated to about a soft drink. Kids never maxed out on the sugar. There was literally so much at the end of the experiment, that the sugar didn't even dissolve!  This kind of love and biological wiring makes it hard for a parent to make cabbage look appealing.

    Again, this might lead you to believe that you should just ban sugar.  But, studies have found that not allowing children access to snack foods or even limiting access to snack foods (ice cream, cookies, and chips- oh my!) will actually lead to overeating when the kids do get their hands on them. 

Photo credit: whitegadget.com

    Restricting bad foods is not the only method of controlling children's eating habits.  Parents are also famous for encouraging their kids to "take a few more bites" or in some cases "Eat MORE!" healthy foods.  Well, this, too, can have negative effects.  In one study, under parental pressure, 83% of children ate more than they would have. While this may sound great, especially if it meant more healthy food, in reality, forcing more food is simply weakening children's ability to self-regulate. As was previously stated, children know how much of to eat.  But, over time, children gradually lose this ability.  Another study gives different portion sizes of mac & cheese to children ranging in age from 2 to 5.  While the 2-year-olds, simply stopped eating when they were full, the 5-year-olds would continue to eat based on portion size.

    Over the long-term, pressure children to eat healthy foods can even backfire.  Although the short-term effect of pressure to eat results in more food eaten, in the long-term, it is children that are not pressured to eat that eat more healthy foods, according to one study.  Studies have found that when children are pressured to eat healthy foods, they are more likely to dislike them as adults and have negative reactions to different types of foods.

   So, what's a parent to do??  The studies seem to agree on the following:

1. Trust your child! If he says he is full, he is full!  Children have different rates of growth and body shapes that can influence food intake. Before taking action on your own, talk to your doc if you are concerned about food input.
2. Offer lots of different healthy foods.
3. But, don't state that foods are off-limits.  Allow children practice moderation with treats.
4. Involve children in shopping and food prep.  Use this as a teaching opprotunity.
5. Set a good example!  Parental influence seemed to be the biggest theme in all studies. If you want your child to eat fruits and veggies you have to eat fruits and veggies!

     If you want to learn more about a mom's habits can influence her children's eating habits, check back next Friday!

How do you encourage healthy eating at home? Do you think your child has the ability to self-regulate? 

Sources:

American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding. (2009). Sample hospital breastfeeding policy for newborns. Retrieved from https://www2.aap.org/breastfeeding/curriculum/documents/pdf/Hospital%20Breastfeeding%20Policy_FINAL.pdf

Galloway, A., Fiorito, L., Francis, L., & Birch, L. (2006). "Finish your soup": Counterproductive effects of pressuring children to eat on intake and affect.  Appetite, 46. 318-323.

Kral, T. & Rauh, E.M. (2010). Eating behaviors of children in the context of family environment. Physiology and Behavior, 100. 567-573.

Kroen, G. (2011, September 26). Kids sugar cravings might be biological. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/09/26/140753048/kids-sugar-cravings-might-be-biological.