Proper Nutrition for Children: Smart Kids
It is essential that children get their required nutritional needs met in the formative years, and this could be as early as when they enter school. This is when their brain starts to develop to its full potential by gathering various ideas and observing different things.
In order for the brain to develop it is essential that the brain receives adequate amounts of the following.
a) Glucose: This directly affects your child’s blood sugar level. Glucose is a source of energy and is also important in building your child’s attention span. Inadequate supply of glucose can result in your child falling asleep in class. Since breakfast is regarded as the day’s most important meal, it is important that your child’s breakfast should consist of enough glucose levels to keep your child going through the day.
Children who skip breakfast are known to have difficulty with their memory and also have short attention spans.
b) Iron: Iron helps in transporting oxygen throughout the body through the blood system, and this also includes supply of oxygen to the brain. Iron deficiency can result in anemia, and this can commonly been seen in children who do not receive well balanced diets.
Besides having an adverse affect on your child’s attention span, if your child suffers from iron-anemia, he probably wouldn’t be very motivated in being a part of activities that require ability and imagination.
Food stuff such as chicken, tuna, red meat, leafy vegetables, etc are good sources of iron.
c) Vitamin A: Vitamin A is a very important nutrient required for the development of the brain in the baby’s fetal stage. The most common source of Vitamin A is beta carotene, which can be found in yellow and orange fruits as well as dark leafy veggies.
d) Vitamin B: This nutrient helps in releasing the energy that glucose provides. Inadequate supply of Vitamin B can result in depression and aggressiveness. Since there are 12 different types of Vitamin B which are classified essential, getting them all through one source can be difficult. Vitamin B can be found in most cereals.
e) Zinc: Zinc helps in maintaining communication in-between the nerve and brain cells. Zinc deficiencies can result in your child’s inability to solve academic problems, a condition that is referred to in the medical fraternity as cognitive impairment.
Peanuts and cereals are good sources of zinc.
f) Folic Acid: Folic acid plays an important role in the formation of white and red blood cells. Inadequate supply of folic acid can result in your child complaining of tiredness, forgetfulness, and irritability.
Most fresh fruits and veggies are good sources of folic acid.
Your child’s diet should ideally have a balance of fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, cereals, and plenty of clean drinking water. This will ensure that your child excels in his academics as well as in sports.
However, does this imply that the parents of all the bright students do their shopping and cooking everyday, and ensure that their children eat what’s being given to them?
No, this isn’t necessarily the case.
An increasing number of parents are now discovering the benefits of adding nutritional supplements in their children’s diets so that their diets can remain balanced. Nutritional supplements work by filling the gap that a busy and hectic schedule brings about.
While you, as an adult, can willingly take mineral supplements and multivitamins for the betterment of your health, your young child could have to be coaxed into taking his, and this is when educating him about it does not work. However, remember that these are important for the growth of your child.
Children are known to dislike swallowing pills, and these include multivitamins that taste bad and are big. To children, the taste outweighs the benefits of the pill in question. While increasing your child’s awareness about matters such as this is beneficial in the long run, young children often have to be cajoled into taking their supplements.
An alternative is to get them chewable supplements which often taste quite good, thereby taking away the feeling that they are supplements. Young children are known to be more receptive to chewable supplements as opposed to pills that have to be swallowed whole.
Another alternative comes in the form of liquid supplements. Liquid supplements do away with the need for pills altogether. Nutritional supplements in the liquid form can be easily mixed into cereals, drinks, and anything else that your child would eat in the course of the day. Children nowadays are known to favor taking liquid supplements mixed with juices, sports drinks, etc.
Adults who are averse to taking pills are also known to favor nutritional supplements in the liquid form. Besides, liquid supplements are absorbed more easily and readily by our bodies.
Starting Early Is Essential
If you expect your child to perform well in school, then it is important that you start early. Vitamin B supplements should be taken by expectant mothers so that the fetus grows well. While nutritional supplements aren’t normally recommended for children under 2 years of age, getting you child used to liquid or chewable supplements at that age is a good idea.
Smart kids that excel in school don’t necessarily have anything that your child does not. The key difference is that their parents focus on providing a well balanced and proper nutrition.
Now that you know what you can do, it is important that you work in identifying the eating habits of your smart child, and take effective measures to bring a change in his life as well as yours. Remember, proper nutrition for children does go a long way.
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Dr. Anthony Kane has been helping parents around the world with difficult children and teenagers for over a decade. He has published over one hundred parenting videos and several hundred articles that are free for you.
Currently, 18,962 parents world wide receive his parenting information and 4797 parents have benefited from his programs on parenting ADHD, ODD, and difficult children and teenagers.
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