Kids Need Nutritional Supplements?

  

The birth of a child is a precious gift for every parent. Raising a child is demanding with non-ending worries about their academic performance, personal development, interests and health.  A good starting point is very crucial for a child’s health which affects their adulthood later.  Not to mention kids are being raised in a more challenging environment, exposed to more toxins, pollution and stress.  Air and water pollution, pesticides, sun exposure, preservatives, radiation, smoke, fatty foods and stress are factors that raise free radical levels, affecting both young and old.  A sick child requires lots of attention and money spent on medication.  These days children seem to be commonly sick with fever, flu, cold, cough and Hand Foot and Mouth Disease.

Most parents buy education or health insurance to protect their kids’ future.  However, a child’s future is also much dependent on their current health status and nutrition status from infancy.  According to statistics, 70% of school-going children are malnourished despite better living standards. Common complaint is children are too selective in the food they eat.

For instance, most parents misunderstand that chubby kids do not suffer from nutrient deficiency and will slim down naturally once they reach puberty.  In fact, obesity remains even at maturity and danger lurks when health condition deteriorates.  What is noticeable is children tend to overeat on high protein and high fat diet from fast food laden with fats and sugar.

What should be done to change dietary habits?

The idea of a balanced dietary intake, at a regular mealtime must be promoted amongst children.  Breakfast should never be missed.  To make healthy food more appealing, parents can cut fruits and vegetables into finger-food size or by using a mix of many colors.

Any nutrient deficiency should be made up with nutrtional supplements.  Kids with severe, chronic iron deficiency score poorly in various aspects like visual-motor integration, quantitative or numerical concepts, visual matching and performance IQ.  Those lacking in Vitamins are found to be compromising in immune system.  Examples -

+  One very important nutrient is folic acid that causes approximate 200,000 severe defects each year and is associated with heart-related deaths for about 1 in 10 adults.  Hence, pregnant women should not overlook this.

+  Newborns grow rapidly during the first few years, and their brains are 90% developed by age 5.  It is known that essential fatty acids – docosahexaenoic acid  (DHA) from deep-sea fish is particular important for the development of the brain’s grey matter and retina.

+  Children above 3 years old tend to reduce consumption of milk and may suffer calcium and iron deficiency.

+  Inadequate intake of zinc and folic acid can prevent the intestine from absorbing nutrients properly. Mal-absorption commonly occurs when a child suffers severe stomach or intestinal flu.  This is more serious when children take frequent courses of antibiotics that destroy the intestinal flora.

In general, children like adults, need a balance of vitamins, minerals and protein for optimal body function.  Nutrients work synergistically, which means that certain vitamins and minerals work cooperatively in different metabolic pathways in our cells and tissues.

VIVA corner:

Children should take supplements to make up for any deficient, ranging from 1/3 (2-6 yrs old) to 1/2 (6-12 yrs old) of adult’s dosage.

+  VIVA Kids Plus is formulated with natural fruits concentrates, served to ensure children meet their nutritional daily requirement, with adequate and multiple amount of vitamins and minerals present for normal growth and development, strengthening bones, nervous and immune system.

+  VIVA Chloroguard combines 4 different types of algae – proprietary blend of spirulina, chlorella, Novia Scotia dulse and kelp all rich in chlorophyll that demonstrates protective effects towards allergic rhinits, heavy metal poisoning and environmental pollution.

+   VIVA Omega 3 contains highly concentrated EPA and DHA from deep-sea fish has the potency for increased visual and psychomotor development.

+  VIVA Smartee with fish oil concentrate (DHA & EPA) ,glycerin, gelatin, soy lecithin (enhance memory power), natural vitamin E,  natural beta-carotene oil suspension is a great booster for a child’s growth and development.

+  VIVA C-Chewable contains acerola and rose hips is a booster for low immunity, throat infection and improve asthma condition.  Children on antibiotics course should replenish with probiotics supplements and

+   VIVA Floraguard is the right product to aid the digestive system to get back on track.

Child INTELLIGENCE

  

Nature or nurture?

What determines the level of intelligence in a child is primarily 50-80% hereditary (nature) according to experts. Parents can make up the difference by providing the means to achieve a higher percentage like providing a conducive learning environment, motivational efforts (nurture) and adequate supply of brain nutrients.

 

The first 3 years of life are crucial for the baby’s brain development. When babies are exposed to sights, sounds, textures to feel, smells, and tastes, more connections are registered in the brain.

 

Children need both the active involvement of parents and time to explore on their own.  Your baby should be stimulated but do not overdo it and end up doing all the playing whilst the baby merely watched on.  On the contrary, children who are pushed too fast often have problems with certain types of thinking skills.  Excessive spankings or other harsh punishment can also harm a child’s intellectual, physical and social development.

Playing

To kids – playing is natural, exciting and fun to learn to adapt to the world as opposed to adults who have to learn something new to work.  Toddlers love to engage in household chores like washing the car, sweeping the floor or pulling the weeds that adults are usually preoccupied with.  In this way, they are learning how things work in the other world.

 

However, some adults may feel frustrated with kids handling real objects in a cumbersome way.  They failed to understand that kids should be exposed to real objects before they understand the meaning of letters and numbers.  Proper guidance helps the child to discover how things work, where things fit and why things act the way they do.

So what is intelligence?

Everyone is born with a certain potential to be discovered which we termed ‘intelligence’.  By recognising a child’s interest and stimulating that part of the mind can the potential being realised upon further nurturing.  There is an instance where a blind child identified as musically-inclined was taught to play the piano and he became a well-known pianist later.

 

A child may be a late developer, ”above average” performer, or in between.  Parents may not be aware of such potentials and do not see the need to stimulate their minds.  Children whose intelligence develops more slowly are just at different points on the road as compared to children whose intelligence develops more quickly. 

 

Applying gentle touches, patting, tickling and rhythmic movements are natural stimulants for them. Giving interesting things to look at or listen to also help.

 

Sensory experiences are where intellectual development begins.  Children explore and understand the environment through their senses. Young children learn best from experiences that involve more than one sense, so provide many objects that can be tasted, seen, smelled, heard, felt and played with.

 

From the minute they are born, set their sights on slow moving objects, a variety of patterns and bright colors.  Hearing sounds of things like clocks, rattles, music boxes and cars are useful to develop their senses. Find more time to talk and sing to them.  You will be surprised they understand what is being said to them. The miracle of language development is intertwined with the development of intelligence.

 

Janet Werker, a psychology professor with University of British Columbia University found out that the learning of language starts in the womb when babies are exposed to the rhythms and sound of language and carries on for another 6 months after birth.  This was put to test with experiments involving babies picking up a second language.  They are able to detect phonetic sounds of a second language within the 6 months’ exposure in a social netting (not on video or tv) and discriminate both later but those who are not exposed lost this ability 10-12 months later.  Of course, borned to a bilingual mother helps to register that the two languages are different.

 

Over the past decade, Dr Ellen Bialystok, a distinguished research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, has shown that bilingual kids not only develop double vocabularies, but also develop the ability to solve logic problems or to handle multi-tasking skills that forms part of the brain’s executive function, localised in the frontal cortex and prefrontal cortex.

What about memory?

Memory gets stronger as babies become toddlers.  Big improvement is made when they are able to remember what took place in the past and draw comparison of old and new information to make new connections.

 

Most parents misconstrued early intelligence as knowing the names of things.  In actual fact, children relate their many experiences to a name.  For instance, a child’s first contact with a four-legged animal is a dog but further contacts of animals can be cats, dogs, cows and horses. It takes some time for the thinking processes to mature.

 

 

What can I do to help my child build intelligence?

	Create an atmosphere for learning and be sure your child is interested. Let the child lead the activity; stop when the child is bored, tired or frustrated.
	Repeat those activities that your child wants to do again. They may be boring for you but enjoyable for the child.
	Encourage your child. Assure your child that making mistakes is a normal part of learning.
	Encourage active play. Running, jumping and other active play is better than sitting in front of the TV or watching adults play.
	Keep a variety of toys and books on low shelves where your child an reach them. Introduce new toys one at time. Too many toys can overstimulate a child.
	Help your child use the senses-hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling-to explore objects. Focus on one sense at a time.
	Talk a lot as your child explores. Talk about what is happening and what you are doing.
	Provide toys that allow baby to see cause and effect. Pushing a button to make a cat appear is not as stimulating as hitting a pan with a spoon and seeing it move, or hearing the noise.
	Provide activities at the child’s developmental level. Allow the child to choose which toys to play with.
	Work as a team with your child’s teacher or therapists. Share ideas and solutions. Together, you can help your child live up to full potential, at school, at home-and in life.

More comments

 

+  Keep your child’s brain busy with physical, mental and social activities, and novel experiences. All these stimulations can contribute to a bigger, better functioning brain with more so-called ‘cognitive reserve’ which is believed to protect against memory decline in later stages.

+  Lab animals raised on berries, spinach and high omega-3 fish have great memories in old age. Those overfed with junk foods such as sugar found in soft drinks, saturated fat and trans fats become overweight and diabetic, with smaller brains and impaired memories as they age.

 

+  A child’s brain development can be impaired during foetal formative stage or in the crucial 3 years after birth. Various factors contribute to the poor nutritional status in a child, such as poor dietary intake, picky over food, chronic diseases and congenital metabolic malfunctioning.

The important nutrients for a child’s mental development are as follows:

+  Choline and vitamin B complex for increase of memory power and maintain normal functions and healthiness of nervous system.  The peak formation of myelin sheath falls around the age 2 and completes around 10 years of age.

+  DHA present in fish oil helps in memory power and learning ability of newborns as it is a main component of human cerebral cortex.  In fact, pregnant women should be taking it to pass through the placenta to the foetus.  Lactating mums should also consume enough DHA.