THE poor diet and sedentary lifestyle in childhood, they have their short, medium and long term consequences. Therefore, the care of nutrition since pregnancy is particularly monitored in the Pediatric consultations: Knowing what you eat, when you eat it and how much you eat helps prevent possible illnesses in little ones.
He Dr. Jose Manuel Morenoco-director of Department of Pediatrics from the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, has collected in the book recommendations and advice on nutritional care during childhood. “We also learn to eat”recently published. This is an informative book that addresses the main doubts and concerns of mothers and fathers regarding nutritional health at different stages of their children’s lives.
THE medical experience of more than 30 years of pediatric consultation demonstrates that “for health, it is equally important to take care of the food we consume, as well as the way it is presented, as well as the attitude of parents and the whole family towards food, because all these aspects affect in baby and child learn through feeding“, stressed Dr. Moreno.
Through different specially didactic chapters, the medical director of the Madrid Clinic offers parents different tools to better interpret the messages from the child in his relationship with food from infancy and throughout childhood. “In the first days of life, differences between children in their relationship with food are rare, but after the first few months, each one acquires its own characteristics: how much do they need, how long do they need to eat well, what is it? the foods they most want, what they reject… As their children grow, parents become aware of the opportunity to educate taste, because food rejections do not come from the factory and are reversible problems,” as the specialist points out.
He pediatrician The book highlights the importance of avoid parental rigidities that can appear at home in nutritional care. “It’s not about doing what the child wants, but about listen to him for signs of his behaviorbecause this will help the adult to shape his message and adapt it to his child’s way of being, making him understand that it is advice for his own good, as is the case in all the educational responsibility of parents.
THE specialist consultation experience approves that Ideally, parents should be proactive about food education. of their children from birth and, mainly, throughout the first 3 years of life, “because it is at this stage that our eating habits are defined. It has been shown that a child who is overweight or obese at 6 years old is much more likely to prolong this disease into adulthood.
As Dr. Moreno says, “nearly 40% of Spanish children aged 6 to 9 suffer from obesity. This represents a major public health problem, because childhood overweight is very difficult to correct throughout life. “From pregnancy, healthy habits can be generated to learn the best way to eat.”
As the pediatrician explained, Early prevention includes healthy education children through habits cultivated at home, such as taking care of the first meal of the day: “Children who eat less breakfast are more likely to be overweight”, or monitoring the variety of their diet: “Those who eat less fruit or vegetables at 3 or 4 years old, they tend to have a less healthy diet at 12 years old for example, with a greater consumption of ultra-processed foods. This book aims to help parents to know this information and to know how to take it into account in the education of their little ones.
Leaders of their own nutrition since childhood
In the search to achieve healthy habits in children’s diet With a positive attitude, Dr. Moreno considers that in younger children and even adolescents, “it is It is convenient for them to think of food as something close, produced at home. or in school gardens. By seeing how food grows, helping people shop or helping with kitchen tasks, children become leaders in their own nutrition,” the author noted.
“We also learn to eat” It includes advice supported by the medical experience of the pediatrician and practical proposals for the tables of many families. The team of the Dietetic Space of the Clínica Universidad de Navarra in Madrid has also participated in its development, led by the chef Xandra Luque. Specializing in making food more than just a moment to eat, these gastronomy and nutrition experts have added your recipes and recommendations to this manual. “Eating healthy does not mean eating expensively or boringly. All it takes is a little training and a desire to innovate from the kitchen of our own home. The journey of the Dietetic Space of the Madrid Clinic – best hospital kitchen service in III Competition of the Spanish Association of Hospitality and Hospitality– is a clear example of how this challenge can be met,” the specialist said.
