Diabetes
<p><b>Intermittent fasting: safe for kids?</b></p>
<p>Teaching your children about wholesome food and healthy eating is a crucial part of cultivating a healthy relationship with food in your family. It will be a habit that they will well take into adulthood too.</p>
<p><br />There are several ways of eating and dieting that may work for you, but how safe are they for your growing child?</p>
<p><br />Let’s find out.<br />Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It doesn't specify which foods you should eat but rather when you should eat. It's not a diet in the conventional sense but more accurately described as an eating pattern.</p>
<p><br /><b>Is it appropriate?</b><br />The truth is that children don’t need to follow intermittent fasting. Apart from not being fully able to read their bodily signals yet, a child has a smaller stomach than an adult. Your child’s brain and muscles are constantly growing therefore their growth rate demands a lot of fuel to keep up with their daily demands as children. This is especially important if they play sports and need fuel to keep them going.</p>
<p><br />As the frontal cortex - the part of the brain that helps recognise when you’re hungry – isn’t fully developed in children, intermittent fasting can encourage bingeing and overeating.</p>
<p><br />Children and teens are still learning lifestyle behaviours, and they need vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients from food to develop and stay healthy.</p>
<p><br />Teach and help your child enjoy a healthy, balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner.</p>
<p><br />According to the Harvard School of Public Health a healthy and balanced diet for children consists of the following:</p>
<p><br />1. The greater the <b>variety</b>, the better. (French fries don’t count as vegetables as they can have a negative impact on blood sugar).<br />2. <b>Fruits of all colours.</b> Choose whole fruits or sliced fruits (rather than fruit juices; limit fruit juice to one small glass per day).<br />3. <b>Wholegrains</b>. The less processed, the better. Choose wholewheat, brown rice, quinoa, and foods like wholegrain pasta and 100% wholewheat bread which have a gentler effect on blood sugar and insulin than white rice, bread, pizza crust, and pasta.<br />4. Choose beans and peas, nuts, seeds, and other plant-based <b>healthy protein</b>, as well as fish, eggs, and poultry. Limit red meat (beef, pork, lamb) and avoid processed meats (bacon, cold meats, hot dogs, sausages).<br />5. <b>Healthy oils.</b> Extra virgin olive, canola, corn, sunflower, and peanut oil in cooking, on salads and vegetables, and at the table. Limit butter to occasional use.<br />6. Choose <b>unflavoured milk</b>, plain yoghurt, small amounts of cheese, and other unsweetened dairy foods.<br />7. <b>Water</b>. Limit sugary drinks to one small glass per day. Over time, drinking sugary drinks can lead to weight gain and increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other problems.</p>
