Nutrition & Infants

During infancy, nutrition plays a critical role in promoting optimal growth and development, strengthening the immune system, and enhancing social and cognitive ability. During this first year of life, the infant's weight should triple, and length should increase by 50 percent. Growth and development is more rapid during the first year of life than at any other time. Because of this amazing growth, the infant requires an adequate intake of calories and essential nutrients. Good nutrition, along with a loving, appropriately stimulating environment, is essential for normal development. The Department of Health and Senior Services has gathered these web links to provide information about proper nutrition as well as food assistance to help infants reach their optimum life expectancy and to enjoy better health and quality of life.
window.google_render_ad();
Food is a key to growth and development. An infant’s nutrition is basically, mothers’ milk. Breastfeeding is best for the mother and the baby due to the following reason:
Stimulates uterine contractions, reduces post-partum bleeding and brings uterus back to its pre-pregnancy size
Provides a bond for both mother and the infant - a bond of love…
Less expensive
Breast milk is best for the baby as it provides the right nutrition. It contains all the anti-bodies needed for the baby to protect the infant.
Breast milk has more iron, vitamin A, C, amino-acids, niacin and potassium content.
During the first six months, the infant is very much susceptible to colic. This can be reduced by reducing the mothers’ milk for sometime. Mother should take supplements like the B vitamins, calcium, magnesium and potassium, which will help her reduce her intestinal gas and also the colic problem of the infant. The sixth month of age of the Infant is the best time to start feeding solid foods and here, I mean pureed foods. Simple and natural foods should be pureed and fed to the little baby. Avoid using sweet and salty foods. During the seventh and eighth month, teething may start. Try giving toast to the baby during this period. Baked or boiled potatoes along with some vegetables can also be fed. From the ninth month to 12 month, some serious feeding can be done. Just make sure that whatever you give to the baby is nutritious.
Children aged between two to twelve should also be given nutritious food. It is very common that children usually love eating the junk food. Inculcating healthy eating habits at an early age will help the child to get adapted to the kind of diet that you feed them. Hence, here mother should be creative. She should come up with new recipes, which include vegetables, legumes and all the healthy foods. Give wholesome food to kids. It’s not easy to inculcate the habit of healthy eating in children; nevertheless, every attempt should be taken to make sure that children are having healthy foods. As much as possible, try to keep their diet balanced by giving them healthy foods and avoid giving them refined foods such as chocolates, chips or any kind of dried foods. To provide them with maximum energy, try giving them hot whole-grain cereal breakfast in the morning. To make sure that the child is not deficient in any nutrient, add additional nutritional supplements to their diet such as those chewable tablets (children prefer chewables more than swallowing pills or capsules). Powdered formulas can be added to their foods if the children don’t prefer chewables.
Food provides the energy and nutrients a baby or toddler needs to be healthy. For a baby, breast milk has all the necessary vitamins and minerals. Infant formulas imitate breast milk. For children younger than 2, up to 50 percent of calories should come from fat. Whole milk is a good source of fat after age 1. You can switch to low-fat milk after age 2 or 3.
Some other things to watch for:
Make sure your child gets enough iron
Toddlers between 1 and 3 need 500 milligrams of calcium each day
Dietary fiber is important after age 3 because it might prevent diseases later on
Don't feed your baby eggs, citrus fruits and juices, cow's milk or honey until after his or her first birthday
Don't feed your child seafood, peanuts or tree nuts before age 2 or 3