Let’s teach them good eating habits.

Nowadays, life in the city keeps getting busier and busier, so family mealtimes can become a hurried affair. Sometimes, it’s just easier to heat up a ready meal without checking the ingredients properly, or choose something pre-packaged for an after-school snack rather than a piece of fruit. We eat too many unhealthy things, such as animal protein and pre-prepared sauces, instead of fresh vegetables and pulses. It’s easy to fall back on these options as a last resort, but they can lead to poor eating habits. A good rule of thumb (for mums and dads too!) is to always make sure you’re cooking with a wide variety of fresh ingredients – ideally ones that are in season too.

Fill up for energy, but not too much!

Feeding your child too much is simply counterproductive – your child is like a finelytuned machine which is perfectly capable of maximising the chemical energy produced by the food you make for them every day. After all, a three year old only needs 1.400 calories a day. And at four years of age, a child needs 1.500 calories, 1.700 when they turn five, and 1.800 calories at six to seven years old. Your child will only need 2.000 calories a day once they’ve reached eight or nine years. It’s more important to give your child a varied diet of fresh and simply prepared foods rather than lots of elaborately prepared meals.

Probiotics – a useful friend to help you make sure he’s healthy.

The word ‘probiotic’ is made up of 2 Greek words: ‘pro-bios’, which mean ‘for life’. The term was first coined in the 60s to describe a living organism, such as bacteria, similar to the flora normally found in the intestine. The World Health Organization’s official definition for them is ‘live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host‘. However, probiotics and lactic fermenting agents are not necessarily the same thing. The latter are a group of bacteria which, thanks to a series of complex enzymatic reactions, convert some sugars into lactic acid. Only lactic fermenting agents capable of surviving the high levels of acidity in the gut are called probiotics. These manage to reach the intestinal tract ‘live’, where they fulfil their vital function. It is also important to note that not all probiotics are necessarily lactic fermenting agents. There are hundreds of different probiotics, organized in groups called ‘strains’, all with slightly different characteristics. The majority of bacterial probiotic strains belong to the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium genera. Their beneficial role was hypothesized in the early 20th century by the Russian biologist Metchnikoff (awarded the Nobel prize for medicine in 1908), who had observed that Bulgarian peasants enjoyed a greater life expectancy and typically consumed large amounts of fermented milk.

Why take them?

Our intestines are home to a complex ecosystem. When the population of ‘good’ bacteria that normally colonize it is reduced, other microorganisms, often potentially harmful pathogens, are able to reproduce in great numbers, and can take over. Dysentery is the most classic and discomforting symptom of this. When this happens, probiotics can be administered while investigating the cause of the infection at the same time, in order to counteract the negative impact of these micro-organic pathogens on the body. Probiotics are termed as such only if they are able to survive the digestive action of the gastric juices, intestinal enzymes and biliary salts. It’s only in this way that they are able to provide renewed energy to the bacterial flora.

What about motion sickness?

Travelling by car, by boat, by plane (or even by bus!) can be a problem for a lot of children. Motion sickness is a common neurological disorder that often affects little ones right up to when they’re 15 to 20 years of age. To understand why it happens, we need to look no further than the excessive stimulation of the minute and delicate areas in the inner ear that are responsible for balance, although visual stimuli, odours or even a stomach upset can also make the condition worse. Once these stimuli have been transmitted to the ‘vomiting centre’ of the medulla oblongata, they create a general feeling of discomfort, which is accompanied by paleness, cold sweats, yawning and an increase in saliva production. This induces a wave of nausea which can trigger episodes of vomiting – this normally stops once the trip is over.

A few tips to prevent motion sickness?

A few simple tips can help to ensure happy travels with your child.
Firstly, give them a light meal before you leave home, focusing on solid low-fat food, and avoid fizzy drinks, milk and fruit juice. Remember to take some little snacks along so they don’t end up with an empty tummy. When you’re ready to go, seat your child in the most stable part of the car, and make sure he looks forwards and doesn’t move his head around too much.
Distract him during the journey by talking to him and playing games, but make sure he doesn’t focus too much on them rather than on the road ahead, as it can bring on nausea. Make sure the car’s well ventilated and take a rest stop every now and then, especially if it’s a long journey.