Believe it or not, concurrent with the epidemic of childhood obesity lurks a silent health problem that has fallen beneath the public radar—the problem of underweight and/or malnourished American children. When kids have fallen off the growth curve (assessed by a pediatrician) it’s time to intervene with nutrition therapy. The problem is that kids are not eating enough calories to promote growth and development. To remedy the situation, underweight children need to eat more calories than they expend derived from a nutritious, balanced, variety of foods. Gaining weight healthfully is actually trickier than you might think. The object is to make the weight gain mostly lean body mass (muscle) and not much body fat. You can accomplish this by taking in more calories than you burn, in addition to partaking in at least 60 minutes/day of exercise.
The best way is to gradually increase the child’s consumption of healthy, energy-dense foods. Keep in mind that you can boost caloric intake healthfully without having to purchase expensive supplements—itjust takes a little planning. What’s more, children tend to have a problem getting in enough protein (iron), calcium/vitamin D, omega-3 fat and vitamins and minerals found in fruits and veggies (notoriously low in the diet of American children—fiber, vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, etc.). Parents need be especially attuned to increasing intake of higher-calorie (but still healthy) food sources of these nutrients.
No comments:
Post a Comment