We all know what we should be doing - eating a healthy, nutritionally balanced diet. This is even more important for children, because the good eating habits they learn as children will mean they grow into adults who make healthy choices. Nowadays, however, children aren't always taught to make the right food choices because their parents don't know what those choices are.
All the vitamins and minerals a child needs to grow and be healthy are found in fruits and vegetables. Add in lean meats and dairy products, and you've got most bases covered. The problem is, these are the foods that most children will give up if they have any choice. They don't want to eat the "right" things when there are so many other choices to make. After all, as a child, what sorts of foods do you see everywhere you go? Pizza, corn dogs, hot dogs, ice cream, French fries, sugary fruit drinks, potato chips, energy drinks, cakes, cookies, caffeinated soda, candy, processed handy lunch packs, and inevitably, the favorite of far too many children, drive-thru fast food.
Maybe some of these popular foods are in the food pyramid somewhere if you look hard enough, but the reality is that they should form a tiny part of a healthy diet, not the bulk of it. When we eat a meal these tempting foods it's probably best if none, or at the most one, of these foods is included. And they definitely shouldn't be frequently eaten as snacks between meals. But, for too many children, that's their standard diet. You only have to look at a group of modern children to know that many don't eat properly.
Obesity in children is a topic that's been frequently discussed in the media recently, but that's only one of the side effects of such poor food choices. It's frightening, but many modern children suffer from vitamin or mineral deficiencies. Most of the essential vitamins and minerals the body needs can't be produced internally - they need to be brought into the body through eating.
Vitamin D is needed by a child's body right from birth. It is crucial in developing health, strong bones and teeth. It was thought that Rickets was no longer a problem, and yet in recent times it has again become a serious health issue thanks to lack of Vitamin D. Rickets causes bones to become deformed, or they are soft and brittle. Take the skull, for example. It's meant to be hard and thick. If a child is suffering from Rickets, however, one of the easiest ways to notice is that the skull is thin and soft. If the shape of the head is malformed, which may be caused by Rickets, then the teeth can't grow in properly. There are worse effects, including abnormal growth of the wrists, knees, ankles and ribs.
Other vitamin deficiencies may not produce such obvious effects, which is why so many parents fail to realize there even is a problem. Vitamins help provide the building blocks for most of the body's functions, including production of red blood cells and hormones, vision, and the development of all the body's major systems, including the immune, digestive and circulatory systems.
If you know that your child's diet contains far too much rubbish and not enough healthy food, it's important to take action immediately. The first step is to introduce foods rich in vitamins into the diet. Meanwhile, it may be a good idea to encourage your children to take a daily vitamin supplement. There are products specifically designed for children, and the supplement will fill in the gaps so that your child can develop properly. The child vitamin supplements usually taste good, and are easy to chew or swallow.
