Learn The Importance Of Bifidus To Your Children’s Health
Studies have shown that a child’s intestinal tract is colonized by millions of bacteria that make up a healthy intestinal environment. The majority of bacteria are composed of a particular strain of “friendly” bacteria known as Bifidobacteria, or Bifidus.
This is the definition of Bifidus found in Wikipedia: A Bifidus Factor (bifidogenic factor) is a compound that specifically enhances the growth of bifidobacteria in either a product or in the intestines of humans and/or animals. Several products have been marketed as bifidogenic factors, such as several prebiotics and methyl-N-acetyl D-glucosamine in human milk.
Why is Bifidus important?
Young children have a tendency to explore their surroundings, and often put objects which may contain bacteria in their mouths. They also eat a wider variety of foods, increasing the likelihood of eating contaminated food and getting an intestinal infection.
Fortunately, Bifidus protects your child from intestinal infections. It produces beneficial acids from the lactose or sugar found in a toddler’s milk. These acids in the gut help prevent the development of “unfriendly” or disease-causing bacteria.
Preventing diarrhoea
Your child may be more susceptible to diarrhoea as his digestive system is simply not yet strong enough to ward off the unfriendly bacteria. Diarrhoea can cause malnourishment and dehydration, weakening his immune system and making him even more vulnerable to other diseases.
A recent clinical study in the US found that children between 5 to 24 months who were fed a Bifidus-fortified diet developed a greater resistance to diarrhoea. Only 7% of the children who received the diet developed diarrhoea, compared to 31% of those who did not receive the diet.
The benefits of Bifidus
Besides reducing the incidence of infections and diarrhoea, Bifidus also aids digestion and promotes the absorption of nutrients. A healthy digestive system will have a positive effect on your child’s overall well being because it is this system that receives food, breaks it down and absorbs the nutrients needed for growth.
Here are some ways to make sure your child gets enough “good” bacteria:
Supplement his diet with a Bifidus-fortified milk. But avoid using boiling water to prepare the milk, as extreme heat would destroy the live cultures. Instead, use boiled water that has been cooled to a lukewarm temperature. This way, you can get more “friendly” bacteria into his digestive system, where they are needed.
You can also opt for yogurt or yogurt drinks with added live cultures. For people who are lactose intolerant, yogurt or yogurt drinks serve as good alternatives. However, yogurt that undergoes heat treatment loses its benefits because their live cultures are killed. So always check product labels for live cultures!
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Nurture Your Child’s Mental Skills
See your toddler playing with the phone and pretending to make a call? He is drawing upon his memory of you using the phone, has associated the phone with the action of making a call, and is now mimicking the correct use for it. Brilliant!
Whether he is performing simple actions, learning new words, or interacting with other people, your child is drawing upon his powers of Memory, Association and Mimicry to learn and survive in the world he finds himself in. And as these functions continue to improve, they contribute to the growth of what we know as intelligence, or the ability to learn facts and skills and to effectively use them.
Memory
This is where your child stores every bit of data he will ever encounter in his life. From information brought by his senses, to experiences, ideas and dreams, everything is filed away here. Greater than any computer, a young child’s brain can store a million million times more individual memories than the number of atoms in the known universe!
Association
Association is how your toddler connects and sorts out all the information stored in his memory. It also provides a context to help him understand data on anything new he encounters. Through association, he can grasp the meaning of words, identify people and objects, and recognize sources of pleasure and pain.
Mimicry / Imitation
This ability to imitate what he sees is one of the most important learning and survival tools your child has. Even at an early age, he is already one of the world’s great imitators, able to copy virtually anything: words, gestures, people, animals and even objects! By imitating a specific action, your toddler is gaining personal experience of it, and can then add it to his growing collection of skills!
Nurture your child’s mental skills!
Like all physical skills, your child’s mental skills can be grown and strengthened through use. Here are a few tips on sharpening your toddler’s mind:
Associating new objects and concepts with things he is familiar with will help him grasp them more quickly.
Repetition is a very effective learning tool. Remember reciting the ABC’s as a child? Anything can be remembered if repeated enough times.
Children are attracted to things that stand out or entertain. Make something appear unique or attractive and he won’t forget it.
Nursery rhymes and songs are ideal tools to help a child learn the foundations of language. Repeating a rhyme or jingle makes the words familiar, while exercising a child’s memory and speech. A great way to learn while having fun!
Provide opportunities for him to try as many different experiences as possible. This creates a larger pool of memories he can draw associations from to help his mind grasp even more concepts!
Natural imitators, children learn by observing, memorizing, and then doing for themselves. If you want to teach your child something, demonstrate it so he can see how it is done, explaining each step in terms he can associate with.
Play memory games with your child. Ask him to think of, or remember, people, places, events or objects he has encountered in the past. You can give a helpful hint by forming an association with something he is not likely to forget. A question like “Remember Uncle Bob?” might not get a response, but “Remember Uncle Bob, who gave you the toy train?” would probably earn a happy nod!
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How To Prevent Food Allergies For Your Children
Children are more prone to food allergies than adults. A child with one parent suffering some kind of food allergy is twice as likely to develop a food allergy compared to one whose parents do not have this problem.
Sneezing may be an early symptom of a food allergy. When your child’s immune system reacts abnormally against specific proteins in foods we eat, a food allergy can develop.
Most food allergies tend to diminish as the child grows older, although some allergies may trail them into adulthood.
Causes
The foods that trigger allergies are varied. In fact, any food is capable of triggering an allergic reaction, though some are more potent than others.
Cow’s milk can cause allergy in some young children. About one third of these affected kids outgrow the allergy when they turn three. Other foods that often affect children include: Egg, Peanuts, Wheat and Shellfish
Symptoms
There are two kinds of allergic reactions:
Delayed
A delayed reaction can take up to two days to manifest itself.
Immediate
These reactions are more dangerous and can occur within seconds of eating or inhaling vapors of offending foods.
Typical symptoms include:
Mild Rash, Swelling, Sneezing, Hives, Coughing, Dermatitis, Migraine, Wheezing, Asthma, Diarrhoea, Vomiting, Loss of consciousness
Take early steps to prevent allergies
Although food allergies may run in the family, different members may be allergic to different foods, making meal preparation a real challenge.
The best strategy against food allergies is to avoid foods that may spell trouble. Here are a few tips on managing risk:
- Work closely with a doctor or nutritionist to manage the problem, and avoid eliminating essential foods from your child’s diet. It’s important to replace the vital nutrients in omitted foods with safe substitutes.
- Your family doctor will need to know both parents’ medical histories (including any food allergies), as well as the frequency of the child’s allergy problem and any offending foods known to you.
- Your doctor may recommend a restrictive diet and an elimination strategy where suspected foods are removed from their diet and later re-introduced, one at a time, to identify the culprits.
- You should keep a journal of what your child eats, and when and what symptoms occur afterward.
- Screen food labels for hidden disagreeable ingredients.
- Ensure an intake of essential vitamins and minerals that step up the body’s resistance to allergies. These include vitamins A, C and E, as well as iron and zinc.
A note of caution
If you are concerned about allergies, introduce new foods one at a time so that you can monitor your child’s reaction. This even applies to fruits and vegetables, which can be guilty of triggering allergies in sensitive individuals.
And look out for “relatives” of offending fruits too – known as cross-reactivity. Examples include:
- Plums, peaches and apricots
- Papaya and pineapple
- Mango and cashew
- Guava and banana
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When Your Baby Is Learning To Talk
When your toddler says, “ball” and points to it from across the room, you have just seen the result of an incredible process of deduction and reasoning. Coming from the womb, with no comprehension of any words at all, he has decoded baby-speak from parents and relatives, filtering out music, noise, and other sounds to pick out words. And he already knows what they mean.
Many of us assume that children only start to learn a language when they begin to speak. In fact, your child’s brain has already begun deciphering the meaning behind your words as soon as you began talking to him. He can already see and hear as well as any adult; it is only in the amount of time he has had to collect and store this information that it is different.
As you talk to your child, he forms associations between objects and the sounds you use to describe them. When you playfully hold up a ball and say, “look at the nice ball,” your toddler will make the association. His control over his speech may not yet be perfect, but you can be sure that when he says, “ba,” he is trying to mimic the sound you just made to refer to the ball! This is why it is no surprise that the first words babies learn to say in any language are often ‘dada’ or ‘mama’; they are the first things he comes in contact with, and he sees them everyday!
And don’t worry if your child seems to be delayed in starting to talk; many healthy children do not begin to talk until past two years of age. In fact, Albert Einstein is reported to have started talking only after his third birthday!
Help your child learn as many words as he can!
1. Talk to your child as early and as often as possible. Even if he can’t answer back yet, his brain is already working on figuring out what you are saying.
2. Nursery rhymes and songs are great for kids! The lilting voice and rhythmic sounds help him pick out and remember significant or ‘favourite’ sounds that his brain will sort into words and meanings.
3. Name objects he comes into contact with. Point to or hold up the item while saying the name clearly and slowly, giving him time to absorb each word.
4. Invest in good children’s picture books. Read them together with your child, pointing out pictures referred to in the story.
5. Don’t be afraid to introduce ‘big’ words to your child. More entertaining or fun words such as ‘hippopotamus’ or ‘bumblebee’ may attract his attention more than the similar-sounding ‘dog’ and ‘log’.
6. Children can learn multiple languages at the same time! Try to introduce them to different languages or dialects early. Parents of bi-lingual children report that a single, consistent source for the second language is preferable, such as a particular parent, the school, or even a nanny.
7. Be patient! Don’t force your child to speak. Be confident that he is learning at his own wonderful pace, and will speak when he is ready.
8. Provide plenty of encouragement! When your child gets a word association correctly, congratulate him warmly. This confirms his mental deduction and will make him enjoy learning even more!
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Fruits and Vegetables : Nourishing Growth
It’s a common fact that fruits and vegetables are good sources of healthy nutrition, especially for growing up kids. Giving your child fruits and veggies early on is a good way to familiarise him with greens and cultivate good eating habits, while providing him with the essential nutrients he needs to grow.
While all fruits and vegetables can be considered healthy, some are more suitable for young children due to their taste, texture or specific nutrients needed for growth and development. They also provide fibre to ward off constipation and keep the digestive system healthy.
Fruits
All fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals, so you can choose the best fruit for your child based on its texture, hardness and taste. Some fruits, like apples, bananas and ciku, are also good sources of fibre.
Fruits also come in a rainbow of colors: Think of green kiwis (a good source of vitamin C), yellow bananas (potassium), and orange cantaloupe (fiber-rich and vitamin filled) and apricots (vitamin A). And don’t forget about smoothies just throw some fruit in the blender with milk or yogurt and serve (preferably with a silly straw!)
Fruit Snacks, these may not be the most healthy option for your toddler, but they are fun to eat.
Vegetables
The ideal source for the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients your child needs, vegetables can be grouped into three categories:
1. Darker-coloured vegetables (green leafy, deep yellow or orange types)
Deep yellow or orange types are a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as folic acid.
Green, leafy vegetables are rich in calcium and iron, which are needed for a variety of functions, from ensuring healthy skin and sharp vision, to boosting your child’s resistance against infections and helping build strong bones, teeth and blood.
Vegetables like spinach, kangkong, broccoli, peas, carrot, pumpkin and tomatoes are especially good.
2. Starchy vegetables
These contain vital energy-giving carbohydrates, as well as fibre, vitamin B, and minerals like iron and magnesium.Try starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yam.
3. Lighter coloured vegetables
Lighter coloured vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, radish, turnip and onions are also packed with essential vitamins and minerals.Steamed cauliflower florets make good finger food.
Serving suggestions
To preserve the nutrients in vegetables, it is a good idea to peel and cut them only when the recipe calls for it. Also, try to minimize the amount of water used for blanching or boiling, and avoid overcooking. Stewing is a good way of softening hard vegetables like potatoes and carrots, while keeping the nutrients in the sauce.
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