NUTRITION AND CHILD'S IMMUNITY

As parents,you are the most concerned about your child's well-being. What they eat, how much they eat, and how often they eat. As parents this is what is going on in your minds almost all the time. Here, i would like to emphasize on how nutrition is essential for your child's immunity. Do you know that NUTRITION is the science of food;the nutrient and the substances there in, their action, interaction and balance in relation to health and diseases. Also NUTRITION can be described as the scientific study of food and its relation to health. While IMMUNITY is the condition or state in which a person can resist a disease. To this we can see that a good nutrition in a child will help to boost the state of immunity of that particular child and reverse is the case for a poor or improper NUTRITION i.e a poor NUTRITION will yield a poor IMMUNITY. Ensuring complete NUTRITION for the children is a universal concern for all parents. From the moment you become a mother and a father, the overall well-being of your child is your primary focus. Whether or not your child is getting enough Nutrition for proper growth and for good Immunity to fight back external forced is one of your main concerns.
Are you aware that a well-balanced and nutritious meal that includes essential nutrient is theorerically easy to plan, practically children often manage to avoid nutritious foods and somehow find a way of laying their hands on "junk foods" in which is very harmful to their health and you need to avoid this.
Experts agree that for optimal health and cognitive development in children, proper growth needs to go hand in hand with strong IMMUNITY and this can not be done with "junk foods" but with proper and well balanced nutritious foods. Research states that poor NUTRITION is strongly linked to compromised immune function and physical growth along with impairment of motor and mental skills. This is because children require a variety of nutrients in order to meet their high metabolic needs per unit weight and sustained neurological development. Your child's immune system is in a nascent stage at birth. The first five years are critical in terms of establishing a strong immune system which continues to build until the age of 7. After 7, it begins to respond to the internal and external environment. The first years of life of a child till the age of 10, a child's physical, emotional, intellectual and social development is rapid and it can be dramatically impacted by Nutrition intake.
The quality of diet taken during this time can have a great influence both on his/her growth and immune function later on in life. Scientific studies have found that undernourished children most often have poor Immunity. Low Immunity or immunodeficiency causes your child to fall sick frequently owing to greater susceptibility to infections and diseases. This in turn impacts their overall growth and development.
Why does a child needs a good/proper Nutrition?
Children need a balanced diet to meet requirements for growth and development, health related behaviour and attitudes towards food are formed in childhood. It will help the child to resist any forms of diseases, for instance the processes for some adults diseases may start early in life. Therefore with good Nutrition, the child will be able to have good immunity. Nutrient deficiency impacts the Immunity of your child in a very big way.

* Micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins are very essential components of your child's everyday diet. Though required in small quantities, they are very critical to growth and development, disease fighting, good immune function and overall wellness.

* Micronutrients that help build up good Immunity are zinc, selenium, iron, copper, vitamins A,C,D,E and B-6, and folic acid. These micronutrients have a massive impact on immune responses and on the growth of your child .

* Whole grains are a good source of zinc and B vitamins as well as fibers,calcium and iron.

* Zinc and B vitamins are particularly important for the immune system.

* Selenium has been linked to enhanced immune function in children. Also, B-6 deficiency can lead to underdevelopment in your child.

* Other common nutrient deficiencies are iodine deficiency, vitamin A and iron deficiency. There are various foods that can boost your child's Immunity, such as various types of vegetables, fruits and healthy meat like fish. Besides diet, a healthy all-round routine involving regular and balanced time for play and sleep will also help your child's immunity.

A child with a real problem with Immunity will present with recurrent serious infections that may require hospitalisation and not merely out patient clinic visits. We need to avoid this from happening and let our child's Immunity be our major priority everyday.
YOUR CHILD'S IMMUNITY IS IMPORTANT. LETS TAKE CARE OF THEM NOW SO THAT THEY CAN TAKE CARE OF YOU AT OLD AGE WHEN YOU MIGHT BE NO LONGER ACTIVE.

A Nutritionist/Dietitian who can be of help is right here at your door step.
Visit us today at Nutrition Advocate.


REFERENCE
• Hridya Anand (2016): Nutrition, Immunity and Children.
• Philip et al (2002): The immune system: A target for functional foods.
• J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol (2016): Non-musculoskeletal benefit of vitamnin D.