Growth and development milk for children, a small gesture that can make a big difference
The little ones do not ingest sufficient quantities of omega 3 DHA, calcium, iron or vitamin D, fundamental in the children’s diet. Growth and Development Milk incorporates these essential nutrients and helps balance your diet.
Running around in the playground, learning in class, playing with their friends, continuing the fun when they get home… The day-to-day life of a child in their first years of school is very hectic. To deal with it, he needs to ingest the essential nutrients that allow him to have the energy to carry out all these activities and continue to grow.
Specifically, from the age of three, when many children begin their school years, the menus must be increasingly complete and varied. To meet their nutritional needs in early childhood, children have to eat all the food groups distributed in five or six meals a day, have a complete and balanced breakfast and have three or four dairy products.
Consume fruits, vegetables and vegetables daily or increase the weekly consumption of fish are other recommendations of the Association of Pediatrics (AEP). Not surprisingly, and unfortunately, the diet of minors is not always as healthy, complete and balanced as it should be for optimal growth and health.
The worrying lack of essential nutrients
Omega 3 DHA, iron, calcium, vitamin D or iodine are some of the essential nutrients for the development of young children. Despite this, the National Survey of Food in children and adolescents in Spain (ENALIA) carried out by the Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition, concluded that the contribution of some nutrients, such as vitamin D or calcium, is insufficient to cover the dietary needs of children and young people.
The Association of Pediatrics itself also recognizes that young children have a relatively high intake of proteins, lipids and saturated fatty acids and low intakes of omega 3, iron or vitamin D, according to various studies.
It is estimated that the calcium intake deficit of children is 75%, while that of vitamin D is 100%. Some worrying data considering that these two nutrients play a fundamental role in bone growth.
In addition, it is estimated that the children of our country ingest less than 50% of the recommended daily amount of omega 3 DHA, essential for brain development, and 64% of children do not reach the recommended intake of iron, key in their cognitive development.
A deficiency that is not only typical of Spain or of the smallest: a study by the ESPGHAN Nutrition Committee indicates that lack of iron is the most common micronutrient deficiency in the world and that young children are a risk group precisely because its rapid growth requires good amounts of this mineral.
“The growth from one year to four is quite large, and that growth rate makes the overall demand for nutrients like polyunsaturated fatty acids [such as omega 3], vitamin D and iron very high.” Although this growth is large, proportionally children need to eat a smaller amount of food at these ages and are more capricious when choosing their menu. “That’s why, although many parents try, they can’t reach the necessary amounts of these nutrients,” Campoy details.
The current pace of life of parents, with little time to buy fresh food and cook it properly, can influence this imbalance of food. In fact, industrial pastries or fast food are some of the options that are frequently used. “We have to insist that children do not have to take salt under the age of two, very little and if possible, none under the age of five, and limit the consumption of added sugar,” says Campoy, who is also a professor in the Department Pediatrics at the University of Granada.
In addition, children themselves begin to prefer certain food groups at this stage of their lives, which influences their diet. In this sense, it must be taken into account that their culinary preferences are in the process of being defined, so the role of parents in conveying the importance of a complete and varied diet is fundamental. “Everything you teach children in the first years of life will determine what they will want to eat when they are older. That education and that insistence are going to have a very positive effect,” says Campoy. “We have to educate them in flavors, textures, food quality and that they know how to choose healthy foods.”
Growth and development milk, a useful aid
One of the basic foods that should not be missing from the diet of school-age children is milk, a rich source of easily absorbed calcium. In fact, it is recommended that children consume two to three glasses of milk daily and this liquid should not be missing from their breakfast, an essential meal to start the day.
Taking into account the deficiencies of key nutrients in the little ones that we have mentioned, adapted milks or growth milks also provide a nutritional profile superior to that of cow’s milk and help them complete their daily diet.
As pointed out in the Decalogue on milk for growth in young children prepared by the Association of Paediatrics in collaboration with the two most relevant nutrition foundations, milk adapted from the first year They can be a “useful aid” from one year of age and complementary to the infant diet to reach the recommended intakes of omega 3 DHA, iron or vitamin D.
A measure as simple for parents as changing the usual glass of milk for another of growth milk helps to incorporate some key nutrients that are not being provided enough in the diet through other foods. For this reason, the intake of growth and development milk helps to balance the diet of children from three years of age, maximizing the benefits for health and favoring their complete development. Thus, he will continue to face the days of learning and games with full energy.
