Is your child healthy from inside?

Is your child healthy from inside?
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Just because your baby looks fit from outside doesn\'t necessarily mean he is healthy inside. He might be putting on weight, gaining height but may still be lacking an optimum mental growth and immunity.

Just because your baby looks fit from outside doesn't necessarily mean he is healthy inside. He might be putting on weight, gaining height but may still be lacking an optimum mental growth and immunity. A recent study revealed that 70 per cent of the Indian population consume less than 50 per cent of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA).

Dr Jyothy Chabria, Senior Consultant Dietician and Nutritionist , Women's Care Clinic says, “Benefits of food-based strategies include not only improved intakes of specific nutrients but also improved overall diet and health status. They are the most sustanable approach which can help in prevention of micronutrients deficiency.”

The impact of micro-nutrient deficiencies are not always apparent. Fulfilling the micronutrient requirements of infant should be addressed on a priority basis, not occasionally, but daily. Nutrient-rich foods like dark green vegetables, dairy products, nuts and fruits are powerhouses of micronutrients and need to be fed daily to a child. Therefore, providing vitamins and minerals enriched food or fortified grains/food are essential for overall growth of an infant.

Dr Jyothy Chabria further adds, “In India, infants are usually fed with home cooked food which is not different from what adult eats while the child's need is much different, both due to their growth velocity & small size of the tummy. Giving nutrient dense food is the best way to prevent micro nutrient deficiency.”

Infancy is a primetime for optimum growth of your child as what he eats as an infant, has a strong impact on over-all health in the long run. Also, most of us are not aware of the fact that 90 per cent of brain development is completed by the time a child reaches the age of 2 and nutritional intervention in the first 1000 days is very crucial.

Vitamins and minerals need special attention during this time for ensuring proper brain development and to protect the babyfrom infections. There are several approaches which can be taken like supplementing infant’s normal diet with vitamins and minerals enriched food, fortifying the standard food and improving dietary plans.

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