Pregnancy And Nutrition

November 28, 2011 By admin 2 Comments

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Nutrition and weight management before and during pregnancy has a profound effect on the development of infants. This is a critical time for healthy fetal development as infants rely heavily on maternal stores and nutrient for optimal growth and health outcome later in life. Birth weight of the newborn at delivery reflects the quality of maternal nutrient for the fetus during pregnancy. Prenatal nutrition has a strong influence on birth weight and further development of the infant.

Maintaining a healthy weight during gestation lowers adverse risks on infants such as birth defects, as well as chronic conditions in adulthood such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Ideally, the rate of weight gain should be monitored during pregnancy to support the most ideal infant development.

Women are classified as underweight if they have a pre-pregnant BMI of 18.5 or below. Low pre-pregnancy BMI increases the risk of low birth weight infants, but the risk can be balanced by an appropriate gestational weight gain from 12.5 to 18.0 kilograms in total, or about 0.5 kilogram each week in the second and third trimesters.

Underweight women usually have inadequate nutrient stores that are not enough to provide for both herself and the foetus. While exercise and a proper diet are both very important to maintain the recommended weight gain, a balance between the two is essential. As such, underweight mothers should seek individualized advice tailored especially for them.

Overweight and Obese Women

Women with a high pre-pregnancy weight are classified as overweight or obese, defined as having a BMI of 25 or above. Women with BMI between 25 and 29.9 are in the overweight category and should gain between 7.0 and 11.5 kilograms in total, corresponding to approximately 0.28 kilogram each week during the second and third trimesters. Whereas women with BMI of 30 or above are in the obese category and should gain only between 5.0 and 9.0 kilograms overall, which equates to roughly 0.2 kilogram per week in the second and third trimesters.

In general, walking is encouraged for mothers classified in this category. They are encouraged to record activity and intake level. This can be done with the help of tools that are available online. In extreme cases where the BMI exceeds 35, help from a registered dietitian is recommended.

In order to have a good estimate of birth weight, an ultrasound during pregnancy and the date of last menstrual period are needed. Measured values from the ultrasound are compared with the growth chart to estimate foetal weight. Crown to rump length can be used as the best ultrasonographic measurement for correct diagnosis of gestational age during the first trimester. This correlation between crown to rump length and gestational age would be most effectively shown when no growth defects are observed in first trimester. If growth defects were observed in the first trimester, then the measurement of the date of last menstrual period becomes quite important since the crown heel length has become less of a reliable indicator of gestational age.

After the 20th week of pregnancy, the mother would need to visit the doctor for the measurement of height, which is the length from the top portion of the uterus to the pubic bone. The length measured in centimeters should correspond to the number of weeks that the mother has been pregnant. If the measured number is higher or lower than 2 centimetres, further tests using ultrasound would be needed to check the results. Another way to estimate foetal size is to look at the mother’s weight gain. How much weight the mother gains can be used to indicate foetal size.

Research show that when birth weights of infants are greater than the 90th percentile of the growth chart for babies of the same gestational age, they are considered large for gestational age or LGA. This indicates that these babies are weighing more than 90% of babies of the same gestational age.

Many factors account for Large for Gestational Age babies, including genetics and excessive nutrient supply. It seems that a common factor for LGA babies is whether or not the mother has diabetes when she is pregnant. An indicator for excessive growth, regardless of gestational age, is the appearance of macrosomia. Many complications are observed for LGA babies and their mothers. A longer delivery time may be expected since it is a difficult birth. The infant would likely suffer hypoglycaemia (low glucose level in the blood) after birth. The infant would also have difficulty breathing.

There might be a need for early delivery if the baby gets too big and perhaps Caesarean section would be needed. Since the baby is bigger in size, there’s a higher chance of injury during delivery. To increase the blood glucose level in blood, a glucose/water solution can be offered to the infant.

There are ways to help prevent LGA babies. It is necessary to monitor fetal growth and perform pregnancy examinations to determine health status and detect any possibility of unrecognized diabetes. For diabetic mothers, careful management of diabetes during pregnancy period would be helpful in terms of lowering some of the risks of LGA.

Points to Consider

The goal of pregnancy is to have a healthy baby. Maintaining healthy and steady weight gain during pregnancy promotes overall health and reduces the incidence of prenatal morbidity and mortality. This, in turn, has a positive effect on the baby’s health.

Since conditions during pregnancy will have long term effects on adult health, “moderation” should be taken into account for both dietary and physical activity recommendations. Most importantly, the total recommended pregnancy weight gain depends on pre-pregnant body weight, and weight issues should be addressed before pregnancy.

Practical Advice for Mothers

The following general tips can be helpful to pregnant women. It would be beneficial to maintain adequate physical activity to meet energy needs from the food consumed. Eating a balanced diet would be optimal for healthy pregnancy results. To prevent problems like dehydration and constipation, it is important to drink enough fluids, especially water, to support blood volume increases during pregnancy. It is recommended to accompany regular meals with a daily prenatal vitamin supplement that has sufficient folic acid and iron content.

If the fetus is predicted to have low birth weight, in addition to the general recommendations, it would be ideal to increase caloric intake, which can be done by having extra Food Guide Servings daily. If the fetus is predicted to have high birth weight, smaller and more frequent meals should be consumed to allow better weight management. Moderate sugar intake, such as fruit juices, is also suggested. It is essential to limit food and beverages with high calories and salt content.

Filed Under: Pregnancy and Nutrition

Parents Health Concerns For A Child

November 28, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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Many parents will be concerned about the health of their child long before it is born. Parents will attend parenting classes to learn how to care for their child and learn about the right nutrition to give them. All this is done in the best interest of the children because the parents only want to ensure the very best start, so that their baby is born healthy. They know that improper eating habits can have a significant impact on the way their child’s body grows and develops and how internal organs mature and develop over a nine-month gestational period.

A new parent will be diligent about questioning any ailment a child displays through a facial expression. Some are so concerned about the health of the child that they miss out on the enjoyment of seeing a child discover new things. Every movement with a jerky motion is cause for alarm in new parents, but a parent who has had several children would know that there was no cause for alarm. The emotions and behaviors that parents come to know as babies might blind them to changes that would be considered abnormal for a toddler.

To help guide new parents in the right path for tracking emotions and behaviors in an infant, many pediatricians have created wall maps with the age ranges listed for each developmental phase of the baby’s life. The charts will also offer helpful recommendations on the feeding needs for an infant and toddler to help alleviate parent’s health concerns for a child that they think is not eating enough, and in some cases, is displaying an appetite that is considered large at times.

Parents health concerns for a child might lead them to enroll in first aid classes that teach the artificial respiration techniques used on a baby and a small child. Parents will usually child-proof the home to keep the child safe by using plugs on light receptacles and child gates on stairwells and other areas where a child might tumble while toddling about. A parent’s health concerns will notice if the child is off balance too because they were taught to recognize the signs of an ear infection in the parenting classes that they attended.

Some children might display medical problems shortly after birth such as trouble breathing and this problem is generally attributed to an early birth or a low birth weight. This medical problem might resurface later in life in the form of asthma and parents health concerns for a child will be quelled some when the physician grants a reassurance that the child will probably outgrow the breathing difficulties as they age. Parents with asthmatic children will often quit using household sprays and certain cleansers on clothes and prohibit smoking in the home.

Some medical problems can serve justice to health concerns because the problems are life threatening. Certain sleep disorders will cause a child to forget to breathe but doctor’s offer parents some help by authorizing a sleep alarm as a safety device which will alert parents to any breathing problems that occur during the night. Heart problems occur in children too and there are pacemakers, which can be placed in the child’s chest so that an electric charge can regulate the pace at which the heart beats and parents can rest knowing it is there.

Tips For Feeding Your Baby From Birth Till Three

November 28, 2011 By admin 1 Comment

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Knowing when to start feeding your baby solid foods and when to start toilet training can leave new parents confused. Many questions pop up in the process, such as when to start solids.

Should you make homemade baby food? How much is enough? To assist you let’s look at some food guidelines for infants and toddlers. This will help you cover the when, what and how much questions you may have about feeding your child up to the age of 3.

In nearly all healthy children, the recommended age to start solid foods is 4 to 6 months. Age is just one criterion for readiness, though. Your baby’s motor skills and stage of development will also help determine when he or she is ready.

Does he have sleep issues? Hunger may be the culprit. He should be capable of holding his head up and should no longer have the reflex, which causes them to push anything but liquid out of their mouths.

What is on the menu for baby’s first meal? Rice cereal is a customary and safe first food, but most babies can tolerate a variety of foods like rice cereal, vegetables, fruits and meat. While meat is often reserved for older infants, some experts feel there is no reason to wait.

How do you know how much is enough? The first few weeks of eating solid foods is more about becoming accustomed to spoon-feeding than meeting nutritional needs. Your baby is learning to negotiate food. Don’t expect your child to eat more than one or two teaspoons at a time during the first week or so.

Older infants may try to feed themselves. It means messy meals, but letting your child feed himself encourages the development of his fine motor skills. Around the 1-year mark, give your baby water, breast milk or formula from a cup they can sip from.

If your child seems disinterested in solids when you first offer them, wait a few days and try again. While some are persistently poor eaters, most babies eat what they need to be healthy. If your child is growing and developing in a way that satisfies his doctor, and he is healthy and energetic without sleep issues or potty learning issues, then his intake is meeting his needs.

How do you know if you are feeding your baby enough? Look for a few telltale signs, such as pursing his lips tight when the spoon comes his way, spitting out every spoonful you manage to get in his mouth and swatting at the spoon.

Toddlers tend to be unpredictable eaters. Growth spurts, painful teething, and toddler toilet training all contribute to their unpredictable food intake. Many times, toddlers are more interested in fine tuning large motor skills or learning a new word than with eating. One thing is for sure; toddlers eat when they are hungry. Feeding your baby a healthy diet will no doubt promote healthy eating habits for life.

Filed Under: Pregnancy and Nutrition Tagged With: baby, feeding your baby, homemade baby food, infants and toddlers, rice cereal, stage of development, till three, tips for feeding your baby from birth till three, toilet training, when to start solids

Get Them Off To A Healthy Start

November 28, 2011 By admin 1 Comment

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Children that are growing up and developing today are our future! Without doubt they are our future leaders and decision makers so as adults, caretakers, nurturer’s and role models we have a great opportunity to give them all the privileges and advances that were bestowed upon us.

That’s why it’s so critical to educate and show them the right things now. And learning proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle are two vital considerations that we need to think about now and for the future. A child’s present education on nutrition will be the foundation of good health for them as an adult. Physical growth and mental development are dependent on a child having not only adequate nutrition, but also having proper nutrition. It is the adult’s role – whether it be a parent or other family member, teacher, or friend – to educate children on proper nutrition. Because as we know, neither the body nor the brain can function adequately without the right nutrients; so for strong, sound development it’s imperative that their bodies and minds are as sharp and strong as possible.

Much time and effort is put into nourishing newborn babies with the most nutritious foods available – from formula and breast milk to fortified cereals and baby foods. This concern is justified given the amount of growth a baby is expected to do in his or her first 12 months. (Healthy babies should double their birth weights by 6 months of age and triple them by 12 months of age.)

Then they become toddlers and develop minds and tastes of their own. Suddenly, the only foods allowed to enter into their mouths are chicken nuggets and chocolate chip cookies. Forget the four food groups – they’ve just been reduced to two; and a balanced diet on two food groups (and not even good ones) is like a balanced table on two legs – it just doesn’t work. Parents do their best to teach their little ones that peas and applesauce are more important in their diets than crackers and fruit snacks, but it becomes a battle of wills. Eventually, it becomes a compromise (sometimes known as a bribe).

Just when parents think they’ve got a handle on the whole diet and nutrition thing with their little ones, the toddlers become students and go off to school for one or two meals a day. This means an introduction to hot lunch and cafeteria food. Sure, school menus are regulated by certain government guidelines, but when ketchup and salsa are classified as vegetables, how much faith can be had in the nutritional value of a school lunch? So, well-intending parents send their kids with sack lunches full of the four main food groups.

While adults cannot necessarily control what their children will eat when not under their direct supervision, they can still have a major influence over the choices that they make and they can provide those children with nutritional supplements and vitamins to fill in the nutritional blanks that their daily diets create.

For infants and toddlers, there are vitamin drops available from a number of sources. These drops provide multiple vitamins, but are concentrated in vitamin D. Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium and is critical to the development of strong bones and teeth. As children get older, they are able to graduate to the fun and fruity chewable multi-vitamins. These are available in sugar-free, vitamins-plus-minerals, extra vitamin C, extra calcium, and other versions.

Additionally, there is much research and information to be found online regarding children’s nutrition, vitamin supplements, and some of the major dietary issues facing kids today.

When researching vitamins and nutrition for children, it would also be a convenient time to do the same for oneself. While adults are no longer growing and developing, proper nutrition is still vital for maintaining proper organ function, preventing disease, and for staying energized. Additionally, consuming the right nutrients can also slow the signs of aging and help keep adults feeling like children themselves. Besides, grown-up diets are often more nutritionally void than those of their kids. Hectic schedules and a lack of healthy convenience foods are major contributing factors.

The most important reason adults should consider their own health and nutrition as much as their children’s is that kids learn by example. The whole “do as I say, not as I do” approach to teaching children values and good habits doesn’t go very far. The best way to teach a child about nutrition and diet is to show him. When children see adults taking their vitamins everyday and eating an appropriate diet, chances are that the children will follow suit and want to do the same. Couple this with an explanation of how vitamins help kids grow up big and strong (and help adults stay that way), and children will soon be reminding the parents to take their vitamins.

Solid and complete nutrition is an extremely important foundation of a child’s development. Not only does adequate nourishment ensure a healthy body, but it also ensures strong mental and cognitive development. Children who receive proper nutrition not only grow up healthy and vital, but they also have greater capacity to learn and retain knowledge better whilst developing stronger cognitive thinking skills.

Eating balanced meals and taking multivitamins are not things that children learn to do on their own. They are dependent on the adults in their lives to teach them and to be a solid role model for them. By setting a fine example, children learn about healthy lifestyles and how to take care of their bodies. Adults can teach children by establishing their own healthy routines, such as eating a sound well rounded diet that covers all of the essential food groups and less of the unnecessary junk food.

This is a great opportunity to do something that is so vitally important for the ones you love and cherish.

Filed Under: Pregnancy and Nutrition Tagged With: baby foods, child, chocolate chip cookies, four food groups, get them off to a healthy start, healthy lifestyle, little ones, nutrition, proper nutrition, vitamin

Nutrition for Children

November 28, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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As a mother, I am constantly thinking about what my children are eating. I try to cut out refined sugars, white flours and add an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. Recently, I was searching online on the subject of nutrition in children with the hopes of finding a nice guideline to post on my refrigerator. As luck would have it, I found some great information focusing on nutrition in children from the American Heart Association that I found extremely helpful.

Because proper nutrition in children is important to their mental and physical development, it is important as parents to make sure we’re doing all we can to fuel our children’s bodies with healthy food. Read below for important recommendations to consider helping promote cardiovascular health and proper nutrition in children.

Proper nutrition in children starts in infancy. Consider these tips below:

• Breastfeeding is the most nutritional food for newborns hands-down! The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for a minimum of 2 years while the American Academy of Pediatrics encourages mothers to nurse a minimum of 12 months. At about 4-6 months of age, start adding other foods full of nutrients but do not stop breastfeeding until at least 12 months of age to ensure sufficient micro-nutrients in the diet.

• At 6 months of age consider adding no more than 4-6 oz of juice a day…but make sure it’s juice and not “sugared water”. Juice should only be served from a cup and never from a bottle.

• Don’t “force feed” infants and toddlers if they aren’t hungry. Children are actually able to regulate their food well so if they’re not hungry, don’t push the issue.

• Introduce a variety of healthy foods and continue to do so even if they’re refused.

• Make sure the foods you introduce are nutritionally sound and not full of empty calories.
Healthy nutrition in children and proper eating patterns for families are as follows:

• Avoid overfeeding your kids. A one-year-old should consume 900 calories a day. A 14-18 year old girl should consume 1,800 a day and a 14-18-year-old boy should consume 2200 a day.

• Dairy foods should be low fat and fat-free. Children ages 1-8 require two cups of milk each day while children ages 9-18 require three cups.

• Replace white breads and refined cereals with whole grain and high fibre breads and cereals. For a one year old, the recommended grain intake is 2oz. a day. For a 14-18 year old boy, that intake jumps to 7 oz. a day.

• Make sure the food your family consumes is low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, and extra sugars.

• Focus on providing a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. Ensure that each meal contains at least one fruit or vegetable. Children between the ages of one and three should consumes at least one cup a day of fruit and ¾ cup of vegetables a day while a 14-18 year old boy should consume at least two cups of fruit and three cups of vegetables a day.

• Offer a variety of food that includes carbohydrates, protein and other important nutrients in order to encourage proper nutrition in children.

• For children ages 2 to 3 years old: work to keep the total fat intake between 30 to 35 percent of calories per day. For children and adolescents age 4 to 18 years: 25 to 35 percent of calories per day with most fats coming from polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids such as fish, nuts and vegetable oils.

• Make sure your child’s diet includes enough calories to maintain a healthy weight for the height and build of your child.

• Encourage activity in your child for at least 60 minutes a day.

• Serve fish regularly: fried fish doesn’t count!

Filed Under: Pregnancy and Nutrition Tagged With: academy of pediatrics, american academy of pediatrics, american heart association, children, fresh fruits and vegetables, fruits and vegetables, healthy food, nutrition for children, proper nutrition, world health organization