Caries andt is the most common childhood disease, over and above asthma or colds. It can lead to premature loss of teeth, leading to difficulty in speaking, interacting with peers and chewing.
This means that children do not want to eat hard, dry and fibrous foods such as fruit, vegetables or wholegrain cereals, which are necessary for the correct development of the mouth as a whole. In order to improve children's nutrition, here are some brief nutritional recommendations:
- Milk: is a food that generates controversy due to the myths that advise or advise against its use, but it is a healthy food, as long as we do not add sugar, industrial chocolate powder or biscuits.
Milk contains quality protein, healthy fats, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and other micronutrients. However, we can obtain these nutrients from other sources, so it is not an essential food. Sardines, almonds, sesame seeds, soybeans and tofu are some alternatives that also provide calcium.
- Fruit and vegetables: sometimes we are told by the media that fruit can be too high in sugar, but they are perfectly healthy foods. It is advisable to eat about 5 pieces of fruit and vegetables a day.
- The WHO currently recommends reducing the free sugar intakereferring to sugar added to foods by manufacturers. It obviously excludes sugar naturally present in fresh fruit.
- Natural juice: When drinking natural fruit juices, we should be aware that they are less satiating, as they do not have the fibre contained in a whole piece of fruit, and even the chewing process gives us a feeling of satiety. Although we get part of the nutrients from the fruit, it will contain mainly sweetened juice, so we should not abuse them.
- Eggs: There has always been controversy about this food. The reality, after so much scientific evidence, is that it can be a great ally in our daily intake. The egg white is a source of high quality protein, and the yolk provides us with healthy fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and carotenoids. Its cholesterol is not harmful as dietary cholesterol has little or no relation to our blood cholesterol. So have no fear, consuming 1 to 3 eggs a day has not been shown to be harmful to the general healthy population.
- The confectionery of home productionusing ingredients such as banana, oats, egg and pure cocoa or 80% chocolate, is very healthy, although it should not be abused due to its high calorie density.
- Xylitolis a sugar with fewer calories: 2.4 Kcal compared to 4 Kcal for sucrose, with a low glycaemic index and does not cause tooth decay, but prevents it. You can find out more about this in our article on xylitol.