How is growth linked to nutrition?
The right nutrition will reveal itself in your child's all-round physical and mental development. To maximize the potential of the crucial growing years, you need to see to it that your child gets the best of all the nutrients that are required for the normal growth and development of a child.
Physical growth is reflected in strong bones and appropriate muscle mass. Proteins in adequate quantity and quality help in muscle development. The bio-available forms of Calcium and Phosphorus along with Vitamins D and K help in building strong bones and together they are extremely critical to help maximize growth.
All foods contain some nutrients but different foods contain different nutrients. The best way to meet all nutritional needs and maintain a good balance is by eating a variety of foods.
What is Bio-availability?
Our body cannot absorb and use all 100% of the nutrients that we eat through food. For optimal absorption, the nutrients should be present in a particular form that can be taken up easily by the body. This is called bio-availability, the form in which the nutrients can be easily absorbed for the overall growth, development and repair of the body.
Why is a balance in diet so critical? Isn't a nutritious diet equal to a balanced diet?
NO, it is balanced nutrition, and not just any nutrition that is crucial for your child's growth. Different nutrients work together and complement one another. Sometimes without one, the other may not be effective. When all the nutrients are present in the right proportion and in the required amounts in the food that you eat, they form balanced nutrition. So, a diet that might be rich in only a few nutrients is nutritious but cannot be called a “balanced diet” because all the essential nutrients are not present in it or they are not present in the right proportion or the required quantity. You might try and give your child nutritious food but it may still not satisfy all his daily nutrient requirements.
How is balanced nutrition relevant to my child's growth?
It is relevant to growth because nutrients like Proteins, Calcium, Iron and Zinc that are most crucial for growth need the support of other nutrients to be effective. For example, did you know that for Calcium and Phosphorus to be absorbed efficiently and retained in the body, Vitamin D has to be present in the body? Very few foods naturally contain Vitamin D and in case of low exposure to sunlight, Vitamin D needs to be supplemented.
So, how do I ensure that I meet all the nutritional needs of my child?
You may consult a nutritionist to find out the daily nutrient requirements for your child based on his/her age and get a customized diet plan.Then start slowly and try meeting those.
Remember to stick to the plan once you get it because you need to meet these 'DAILY' dietary requirements. Undertaking such an exercise irregularly and as per convenience will not help. After all, discipline yields the best results.
I give my kids nutritious food like leafy vegetables that they refuse to eat.
Getting children to eat is hard enough. Getting them to eat right is almost impossible. How do I still ensure that I do what's best for them?
Complan may be the answer to your child’s nutrition-related problems. So supplement your child's daily diet with Complan.
Complan comprises 23 vital nutrients and has been specially formulated for Indian children, based on Indian RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances). What's more, Complan comes in 6 delicious flavours for your child to relish - Natural, Caramel, Chocolate, Mango, Kesar Badam and Strawberry. Three cups of Complan a day could make up for most of the nutrient deficiencies in the diet and provide all the essential nutrients in the right quantity for children as well as adults.
What are Proteins?
Proteins are essentially body-building nutrients that are extremely significant
for growth and development of young children. Lack of protein can cause growth failure,
loss of muscle mass, and decreased immunity. When you eat, proteins in food do not
become body proteins directly but supply amino acids (which are the protein-building
blocks). Then the body synthesizes its own proteins from these amino acids.
What are Amino Acids?
Amino acids provide the building blocks for proteins. As the human body does
not store amino acids, it requires a daily supply of them to make new protein. Amino
acids can be classified into essential and non-essential amino acids. Essential
amino acids are those which cannot be made by the body in sufficient quantities
and must be supplied by our diet, whereas non-essential amino acids can be made
by the body in case they are not supplied through the diet. Complan has all the
essential amino acids in the required proportion, as their source is milk.
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