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Can I Give My Baby Soya-Based Infant Formula?

Last updated on May 16th, 2016 at 11:02 am

soya-based formula for babyYou shouldn’t give your baby soya-based (*soy-based) infant formula unless your GP (*pediatrician) or health visitor advises you to. Breastfeeding or giving them another type of formula is nearly always a better choice.

For the first six months, it’s best to give your baby only breast milk or infant formula. Breastfeeding is recommended because breast milk provides all the nutrients that a baby needs for healthy development during this time.

There is no health benefit in giving soya-based infant formula to a healthy baby.

Soya-Based Infant Formula

Soya-based infant formula was originally developed for babies who can’t have infant formula based on cows’ milk because, for example, they have a milk allergy.

Other types of formula that are more suitable for these babies are now available. Your GP (*pediatrician) or health visitor can give you advice.

Occasionally your GP or health visitor might recommend soya-based infant formula, for example:

  • If your baby can’t or won’t drink other types of formula
  • If you want your baby to have a vegan diet and you’re not breastfeeding

Soya and Phytoestrogens

Some people are concerned that giving babies soya-based infant formula could affect the development of their reproductive organs. This is because soya (*soy) contains phytoestrogens, compounds that are found naturally in some plants.

As their name suggests, the chemical structure of phytoestrogens is similar to the female sex hormone oestrogen. It’s likely that they could affect babies’ reproductive development. This is of particular concern in babies who drink only soya-based infant formula. Babies’ lower body weight means that they take in much higher amounts of phytoestrogens than adults and older children who eat soya products as part of a mixed diet.

If you give your baby soya-based infant formula, talk to your GP (*pediatrician) or health visitor about changing to a different formula.

Soya-Based Infant Formula and Babies’ Teeth

Soya-based infant formula contains glucose, a type of sugar. Glucose is more harmful to babies’ and small children’s teeth than the lactose in infant formula made with cows’ milk.

Any food or drink containing sugars should not have contact with your baby’s teeth too often or for too long. Use a trainer cup for your baby’s drinks as soon as they can drink this way.

Read the answers to more questions about children’s health.

Further Information:

Editor’s Note: *clarification provided for our US readers.

 

May 11, 2016 | Filed Under Community | Leave a Comment 

Advice for Keeping Your Child at a Healthy Weight

Last updated on March 10th, 2016 at 12:28 pm

If your child is a healthy weight, there’s lots you can do as a parent to help them stay a healthy size as they grow.

Family In The Kitchen Eating BreakfastResearch shows that children who stay a healthy weight tend to be fitter, healthier, better able to learn, and more self-confident. They’re also much less likely to have health problems in later life.

Children whose parents encourage them to be active and eat well are more likely to stay a healthy weight and grow up healthy.

Check their BMI every now and then using using our BMI calculator to make sure they stay in the healthy range.

Steps for Success

Here are five key ways you can help your child maintain a healthy weight. You can read this whole page or click on the links below to go directly to the topic you want to know about:

Be a Good Role Model

One of the best ways to instil good habits in your child is for you to be a good role model. Children learn by example. One of the most powerful ways to encourage your child to be active and eat well is to do so yourself.

Set a good example by going for a walk or bike ride instead of watching TV, or surfing the internet. Playing in the park or swimming with your children shows them that being active is fun. It’s also a great opportunity for you all to spend time together.

Get Active

Children need about 60 minutes of physical activity a day for good health, but it doesn’t need to be all at once. Several short 10-minute or even 5-minute bursts of activity throughout the day can be just as good as an hour-long stretch.

For younger children, it can take the form of active play, such as ball games, chasing games like “it” and “tag”, riding a scooter, and using playground swings, climbing frames and see-saws.

For older children it could include riding a bike, skateboarding, walking to school, skipping, swimming, dancing and martial arts.

Walking or cycling short distances instead of using the car or bus is a great way to be active together as a family – and you’ll save money too.

Child-size Portions

Try to avoid feeding your child over-sized portions.

There’s very little official guidance on precisely how much food children require so you’ll need to use your own judgement.

A good rule of thumb is to start meals with small servings and let your child ask for more if they are still hungry.

Try not to make your child finish everything on the plate or eat more than they want to. And avoid using adult-size plates for younger children as it encourages them to eat oversized portions.

It may also help if you encourage your child to eat slowly and have set mealtimes. You can use mealtimes as an opportunity to catch up on what’s happened during the day.

Eat Healthy Meals

Children, just like adults, should aim to eat five or more portions of fruit and vegetables everyday. They’re a great source of vitamins, minerals and fibre.

Getting 5 A DAY shouldn’t be too difficult. Almost all fruit and vegetables count towards your child’s 5 A DAY including fresh, tinned, frozen and dried. Juices, smoothies, beans and pulses also count.

Discourage your child from having too many sugary or high-fat foods like sweets, cakes, biscuits, some sugary cereals and soft drinks. These foods and drinks tend to be high in calories and low in nutrients.

Aim for your child to get most of their calories from healthier foods such as fruit and vegetables, and starchy foods such as bread, potatoes, pasta and rice (preferably wholemeal). And switch sweet drinks for water.

Less Screen Time and More Sleep!

Help your children to avoid sitting and lying around too much, as it makes it more likely for them to put on weight.

Limit the amount of time your child spends on inactive pastimes such as watching television, playing video games and playing on electronic devices.

There’s no hard and fast advice on how much is too much, but experts advise that children should watch no more than two hours of television each day – and remove all screens (including mobile phones) from their bedroom at night.

It also helps children stay trim if they sleep well. It’s been shown that children who don’t have the recommended amount of sleep are more likely to be overweight. The less children sleep, the greater the risk of them becoming obese. Lack of sleep can also affect their mood and behaviour.

March 3, 2016 | Filed Under Community | Leave a Comment 

Food Restrictions & the Health Implications for Your Family

Last updated on February 8th, 2016 at 01:00 pm

foods wrapped in plastic tapeWhile it is true, food allergies and food-related disorders are on the rise, and the established cause(s) are unknown, this type of rising health issue can raise all kinds of fears that then cause people to make unnecessary changes to their diets and even more concerning, changes to their child’s diets. Children are in a rapid state of growth, and that growth requires adequate nutrition from a variety of foods. Unnecessarily taking out food groups from anyone’s daily intake can do the opposite of your goal – it can cause health problems. But what if your doctor has diagnosed you or your loved one with a food allergy, intolerance or other food-related disorder? We work with some phenomenal physicians that regularly make referrals to us for nutritional guidance. But too many families are trying to navigate their new food restrictions on their own.

Apart from the food allergy/intolerance reason, more people are fearful of what is in their food. There are several reasons why this is the case, but much of it is coming from activists that have published blogs, documentaries and exposés on the American food industry. We see these people coming to our office wanting to get their families off certain foods. In many cases, we are able to calm their fears for the various unsubstantiated claims with evidence-based information. But ultimately, we want to guide them through what they decide to do instead of them doing it on their own.

Here are the top 5 food restrictions we see that are occurring – and the potential health/nutritional consequences that can result without proper guidance.

Dairy-Free
When you think of the nutrients in dairy, many think of calcium. Some may even think of calcium and vitamin D. But did you know there are actually 9 essential nutrients in dairy foods? They include calcium, vitamin D, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin A, protein, riboflavin and vitamin B12. The three that are already low in the average American diet are calcium, potassium and vitamin D.

We often get toddlers that are coming in drinking almond milk because their parents report a diagnosed or undiagnosed milk intolerance. Almond milk is not high enough in calories and protein for toddlers and some preschoolers – and some forms are not enriched with calcium and vitamin D. Toddlers that already take in very little protein often get their protein from dairy foods at this age.

We must educate families on ways to fill these nutrient gaps. If you are navigating this on your own, you will often fall short. Let’s go with an adult example. We see adults come in for weight loss that have a history of hypertension (high blood pressure) and they are not eating dairy because “it doesn’t agree with their stomachs.” Did you know that dairy is part of the well-established DASH diet? This has been deemed the best diet for the 5th year by U.S. News and World Reports. DASH which is an acronym for “Dietary Approaches for Stopping Hypertension” emphasizes foods that are naturally high in calcium, potassium and magnesium. We can either help them enjoy dairy again, or find alternate foods that they will eat that contain these nutrients. Without proper guidance, a person could be missing an opportunity to help decrease their health condition by using nutrition therapy.

Wheat-Free/Gluten-Free
This has been a big one these last couple of years. More than ever, people are going off wheat or gluten for the simple fact that they seem to feel better when they do so. While some people clearly need to do so in the case of an established diagnosis of celiac disease, consider getting more testing before taking this drastic step. If testing comes back negative and you still want to trial a wheat-free or gluten-free diet, seek a registered dietitian nutritionist that can help you navigate your new eating plan that does not compromise your nutrition status. Whole wheat and other wheat products provide many essential nutrients such as vitamin E, B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6, K along with important minerals such as potassium, magnesium, zinc, copper and selenium. Many of these are lost if you are replacing wheat with say, a rice-based bread, pasta or cracker. Wheat deletion also impacts flavor, and many gluten-free products compensate by adding sugar. There is a healthy way to convert to a wheat-free or gluten-free diet and get all the necessary nutrients while minimizing added sugar. But professional, credentialed advice is critical. If you rely on Internet searches, it is highly likely you will find wrong information. We no longer live in a world where we can blindly trust written information.

Vegan or Other Forms of Vegetarianism
Proper vegetarian eating can be extremely healthy. High plant-based diets have been rightly tied to increased longevity, disease prevention and have actually been a big healing tool in the fight against serious diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. With all that being said, there are many nutritional consequences to a vegetarian diet improperly executed. We have actually had people come into Lemond Nutrition wanting to go vegetarian, but they do not like vegetables! You can absolutely be a vegetarian and live off junk food that is free of all animal products. At the most restrictive form of vegetarianism – veganism – one must be most purposeful in getting nutrients such as protein, calcium, vitamin D vitamin B12 and iron. Without proper planning, these nutrient deficits can have some serious health implications.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates continue to be demonized as the macronutrient that contributes to obesity. In my many years of analyzing food intake, it is even more obvious to me that calories from all foods with inadequate physical activity are the culprit. Carbohydrates are the one nutrient that causes more fluid retention so some people get an immediate feeling of body swelling. But without quality carbohydrates, our bodies will not function well.

The highest risk groups when it comes to carbohydrate restriction include children and highly active, health-minded people. Parents that restrict their own carbohydrates seem to also restrict their children’s carbohydrates. I hear parents tell me, “I don’t know why my kids love their carbs so much!” The behavioral ramifications of saying this in front of your kids is another subject altogether. But the answer is that children need more carbohydrate because they are growing and are typically more active than adults.

For the active, health-minded individual I say that we need to balance good quality carbohydrates with appropriate portions of healthy fats and protein at each meal. Cutting them out altogether can make you feel sluggish and can impact your fitness and life quality – not to mention the nutrient shortfalls depending on the type and extent of the restriction.

Calories
The lower the better, right? Wrong. That’s what the dieting industry will tell you. Energy for the body is measured in kilocalories, and a chronic inadequate intake can actually cause minor and major illnesses. In case you haven’t heard, chronic dieting is absolutely detrimental to your overall health. Get a nutritional assessment that takes an overall look at your particular energy and nutrient needs – it is good for everyone to do that every so often – just like we get tune-ups for our precious cars, so should we get nutritional re-assessments for our bodies.

Here at Lemond Nutrition, we guide people of all ages dealing with either diagnosed food allergies, food intolerance or other food-related issues – or people that want to do self-trials of various diets. We provide some very helpful starter shopping lists of current on-the-market products that have been flavor-tested by our practitioners and families over the years. The bottom line here is, when in doubt, seek assistance. There are some incredible resources that make it easier to navigate these changes and qualified professionals will guide you to them with proper monitoring.

Whatever your reason, consider visiting with a qualified registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) in your area so they can guide you through the process. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a national database of qualified registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) that will allow you to find a professional in your specific area.

January 29, 2016 | Filed Under Community | Leave a Comment 

What Can I Do if My Child is Overweight?

Last updated on February 1st, 2016 at 10:36 am

fat boy eat fried chickenIf you’re concerned about your child’s weight there are a number of steps you can take to help them learn how to change their diet and increase their physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

A GP (*pediatrician) or practice nurse can give advice and support on helping your child achieve a healthy weight as they grow. Find out more in When your child is overweight.

Monitoring Your Child’s Weight with the Body Mass Index (BMI)

You can keep an eye on your whole family’s weight using the BMI healthy weight calculator. For children, the calculator assesses their weight status in relation to their height, age and sex. This means that the result – the child’s BMI centile – takes into account how a child is growing for their age and sex.

BMI is the best way to keep track of a child’s weight status and is a measure used by healthcare professionals such as GPs. Because so many children are now overweight or obese it’s not possible to tell if a child is a healthy weight just by looking at them or by comparing them to other children.

Helping Your Child Grow into a Healthy Weight

Children can achieve a healthy weight as they grow by:

  • Changing their diet
  • Increasing how much exercise or physical activity they do

Get Involved

There is also strong evidence to suggest that involving both parents and children, or whole families, is effective in reducing children’s BMI scores read more about getting active with your kids.

Read the answers to more questions about children’s health.

Further Information:

January 27, 2016 | Filed Under Community | Leave a Comment 

Healthy Eating Starts with Kids in the Kitchen

Last updated on December 5th, 2015 at 11:44 pm

Two kids cooking at home.Cooking tasty, healthy food with your children is a great way to spend time together and for them to learn about healthy eating.

Kids love developing new skills and even fussy eaters may be tempted by dishes they’ve made themselves.

So let them have a go in the kitchen, and praise them for their efforts. They might even help with the washing-up.

Kitchen Safety

It’s essential to supervise children in the kitchen at all times.

Restrict the jobs that you give them according to their age and ability. For example, pre-schoolers might only mix dough with their hands, whereas older kids can peel and chop vegetables.

Don’t forget to tell them the hygiene and safety rules before you start. Explain why some things in a kitchen are dangerous.

Important hygiene rules include:

  • Always wash your hands before you start and after handling raw meat or fish.
  • Make sure surfaces are clean before any food goes near them. This is especially important if you have pets.
  • Clean surfaces that have had raw meat on them immediately, such as chopping boards.
  • Always check that poultry and pork are cooked all the way through. A good rule of thumb is that the meat is cooked when the juices run clear.
  • Wash all fruit and vegetables.

Important safety tips include:

  • Never run in the kitchen.
  • Mop up spills straight away.
  • Hold and use knives with great care (show children the correct way).
  • Turn pan handles into the hob, but not over a flame.
  • Always wear oven gloves when putting something in or getting something out of the oven.
  • Watch out for fat spitting from a hot frying pan or roasting tin.

No matter how much care is taken, accidents in the kitchen do happen, especially if young children are left unsupervised. Find out more about how to prevent injuries at home.

Make it Fun

Take kids shopping with you so they can choose the ingredients themselves.

Give yourself plenty of time, and have some spare ingredients in case the children make mistakes.

Choose something that will be simple and healthy. It can be fun to make something that the children can make into shapes or decorate with a smiley face.

You can get plenty of ideas from child-friendly recipe books or even kids’ cookery programmes on TV, but to get started, try this recipe for fishcakes.

Salmon Cake Smilies

Ingredients

  • 1 can (213g) of pink salmon
  • 100g wholemeal (wholewheat*) breadcrumbs
  • 3 spring (green*) onions, finely chopped
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 tbsp horseradish sauce
  • 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or dill
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • Pinch of ground black pepper
  • 4 slices of lemon
  • 8 capers, drained
  • 2 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Method

First, help the children get all the ingredients out of the cupboards and fridge. Then everyone can help prepare them as above. So beat the egg, chop the herbs, onions and tomatoes, slice and juice the lemon, and drain the capers.

Open the can of salmon and remove any pieces of skin or bones. Let the children flake the fish into a mixing bowl.

Now add the spring (green*) onions, breadcrumbs, egg, lemon juice, horseradish sauce, herbs, oil and pepper. The kids can then combine the mixture, with their hands or a wooden spoon, until the ingredients are mixed well.

Next, separate the mixture into four equal portions and make them into a round shape. (They can be made into fun shapes, but remember that they may not cook evenly.)

  • Pre-heat the grill.
  • Brush the fishcakes with a little oil.
  • Grill the fishcakes for around five minutes on each side, until golden and sizzling. (Remember, it’s not safe for younger children to use the oven.)
  • Let the fishcakes cool a little, then allow the kids to make smiley faces on top of the fishcakes, using a lemon slice for a mouth, half a cherry tomato for a nose and capers for the eyes.
  • Serve the fishcakes with a fresh green salad, and enjoy.

Editor’s Note: *clarification provided for our US readers.

November 25, 2015 | Filed Under Community | 2 Comments 

Study: Processed Baby Foods Lack Nutritional Value

Last updated on November 6th, 2015 at 12:25 am

Time-to-start-solid-foods“Home-made baby meals better than shop food”, The Times reports.

The Times’ headline accurately reflects a widely reported UK study describing the nutritional content of commercially available infant foods in the UK.

Based on manufacturers’ information, the researchers compared the foods with breast milk, formula milk and examples of home-made weaning foods commonly given to infants, such as banana or stewed apple.

When should you start to wean your baby?

Before six months old, your baby’s digestive system is not developed enough to cope with solid foods.

Find out more, including foods to avoid when weaning.

Savoury ready-made “spoonable” foods were generally found to have much lower nutrient density than the sorts of home-made foods that might be given to an infant aged 6 to 12 months.

The received wisdom is that solid foods help a baby grow and develop because they are more energy dense than breast milk. However, the researchers said that the majority of products had energy content similar to breast milk, which means that the products would not be able to enhance the nutrient density of infant diets.

While ready-made foods provide parents with much needed convenience, they come at a cost, both financial, and from this research, that cost is also likely to be a lower nutritional value.

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Glasgow. Sources of funding were not reported, but the authors say they had no competing interests. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The story was picked up by most of the UK media. Some had attention-grabbing headlines that focused on the “potential harm” these commercially available foods pose to infants.

However, the research did not look at harm to children, so these headlines do not accurately reflect what the research was about.The research simply goes some way towards confirming what many parents already suspect – food that you’ve prepared yourself is more likely to be nutritious than a processed, packaged, shop-bought version.

Reassuringly, once past the headlines, most of the media reported the study appropriately.

What kind of research was this?

This was a cross-sectional study that described the types of commercially available infant foods in the UK during 2010 and 2011. The study also described the nutritional value of these products and compared them with examples of home-made foods common in the UK, such as banana, mashed potato and stewed apple.

Because this type of study is only performed at a given point in time, findings from a different point in time may provide different results. This should be taken into account when interpreting results from this type of study. However, the nutritional content of products is not prone to frequent changes.

What did the research involve?

The researchers identified the four main UK manufacturers of infant foods during the period October 2010 to February 2011 through sales figures from previously conducted market research. The four companies, along with the number of products they had, were:

  • Heinz (103 products)
  • Cow & Gate (115 products)
  • HiPP Organic (115 products)
  • Boots (50 products)

They also identified two smaller organisations that produced organic foods:

  • Ella’s Kitchen (38 products)
  • Organix (58 products)

Products included ready-made soft and wet foods as well as dry foods that can be reconstituted with either milk or water, such as cereals, rusks, raisins, cakes and biscuits. Drinks, smoothies and milks were excluded from the analysis.

Nutritional information for each product was collected from manufacturers’ websites, direct email enquiry with the manufacturer, or from the products in-store (Boots products only).

The researchers collected information about the product name, recommended age and the type of liquid used for dilution (milk or water for dry products) as well as specific nutritional content, including:

  • Energy (kJ or kcal)
  • Protein (g)
  • Carbohydrate (g)
  • Fat (g)
  • Sugar (g)
  • Salt
  • Iron (mg)
  • Calcium (mg)

Using this information, products were classified as either sweet or savoury (“taste”) and put into four main food types (“texture”):

  • Ready-made
  • Breakfast cereals
  • Powdered meals that need to be reconstituted with water or milk
  • Dry finger foods, such as rusks (*hard, dry baby biscuit)

All nutritional analysis was per 100g of product. The products were compared to the typical nutritional value of breast milk and the average for baby formula milks.

Ready-made products were also compared to the nutritional content of examples of home-made food commonly given by parents to infants and toddlers in the UK, such as mashed potato, chicken, stewed apple and vegetarian meals.

Cereals and dried products needing reconstitution were excluded from the nutritional content analysis because of the difficulty in defining the nutritional values.

What were the basic results?

The researchers analysed 462 products. Of these, 364 were ready-made products (mostly baby jars or sachets) and 45 were dry finger foods, such as rusks or raisins. Nearly half of the products (44%) were targeted at infants who were four months or older and 65% of foods in this category were classified as sweet.

Other findings included:

  • Savoury ready-made “spoonable” foods generally had much lower nutrient density than the sorts of family food that might be given to an infant aged 6 to 12 months, with the exception of iron content. The researchers say that around 50g of a soft “spoonable” family food might have the same amount of energy and protein as 100g of ready-made “spoonable” food.
  • The average energy content of ready-made “spoonable foods” was 282kJ/100g, which was similar to the energy content of breast milk (283kJ/100g) and formula milk (281kJ/100g).
  • Ready-made “spoonable” sweet foods had similar energy density to home-cooked sweet family food but had lower protein levels.
  • Commercially available rusks and biscuits were on average more energy dense and contained high amounts of iron and calcium, but also tended to be high in sugar.

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The researchers concluded that the UK infant food market mainly supplies sweet, soft, “spoonable” foods targeted at children aged from four months.

They say the majority of products had energy content similar to breast milk and would therefore not serve the intended purpose of enhancing the nutrient density and diversity of taste and texture in infants’ diets.

Conclusion

Overall, this study provides some useful information about the types of commercially available products in the UK during 2010 and 2011. It offers some basic nutritional content of these products and compares them with breast milk, formula milk and some examples of common home-made UK foods.

The main limitation of this study was that nutritional information relied on what was reported on manufacturers’ websites, which may not accurately reflect actual nutritional content.

There are also some other limitations to this study, including:

  • The researchers say that given the large number of products made, it is not possible to record the exact ingredient for each food, so the classification of food types relied on the name of the products.
  • Despite categorising foods by taste (sweet or savoury) and texture (dry, wet, ready-made), actual taste and texture was not assessed.
  • Only a select number of example foods commonly given to children in the UK were included – these foods may not reflect foods commonly given to all children in the UK.

Read more about when to start introducing solids foods.

Summary

“Home-made baby meals better than shop food”, The Times reports. The Times’ headline accurately reflects a widely reported UK study describing the nutritional content of commercially available infant foods in the UK …

Links to Headlines

Links to Science

Editor’s Note: *clarification provided for US readers.

 

October 28, 2015 | Filed Under Awareness | Leave a Comment 

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