You are what you eat and it all starts at birth. Give your baby a healthy start to help lay the groundwork for lifelong health.
You are what you eat and it all starts at birth. Give your baby a healthy start to help lay the groundwork for lifelong health.
Dr. Stan Cohen, pediatric gastroenterologist, joins Kathleen to discuss the role of nutrition from infancy to childhood offering excellent guidance and advise on obesity, allergies, healthy meals, sugar, picky eaters, routine illnesses, the importance of gut health and more. Parents of newborns to teenagers need to hear the wisdom from this seasoned expert who is the co-founder of www.Nutrition4Kids.com and author of Healthy Babies, Happy Kids: A Common Sense Guide to Nutrition for Growing Years and What to Feed Your Baby: Cost-Conscious Nutrition for Your Infant.
Key Messages:
Get your children off to a healthy start. Overweight babies and children often become overweight adults and are linked to health problems later in life, including persistent obesity and heart disease.
Many of our children are overweight or obese: 13.4% among 2- to 5-year-olds, 20.3% among 6- to 11-year-olds, and 21.2% among 12- to 19-year-olds.
Allergies are always to protein and usually occur immediately whereas intolerances show up several hours later.
Feeding babies 4-6 months old whole eggs and peanut products can avert potential allergy development.
Picky eaters usually grow out of the food jags.
There is no other period of life when nutrition has a more profound impact than during the first 1,000 days of life (pregnancy – 2 years). It is a critical time for human growth and development of the brain, body and immune system.
Vegetables, beans and fiber are among the best foods to feed the healthy bacteria in the gut (microbiome) which in turn promotes immunity and brain health. After cereal, babies should be started on vegetables as first foods.