Kiddipedia
The supplement world has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. With increases in funding supporting research in all areas of nutritional repletion and correction, children have not missed out in the race to understand the relevance of their nutritional supplementation requirements. Some supplement companies even appoint a flavour expert, to improve the taste of their formulas – mostly with children in mind.
Supplemental formulae used to be considered an adults-only option, and for the most part, nutritional supplements for children were essentially non-existent. At best, a traditional dose of cod liver oil, a chalky salt tablet, a gritty and pungent powder that blended poorly with its intended fluid, and artificially flavoured chewable tablets with questionable quality and content of active ingredients, were on offer.
Many practitioners shied away from recommending nutrients in supplemental form to their child patients, for they knew the solutions offered were unlikely to be implemented due to poor compliance.
Simply put, they often tasted horrible, hard to ingest and difficult to source.
As practitioners, we could see a growing need to support our littlest patients over the decades with nutrients, and as necessity is the mother of invention, children today can be offered a wider range of nutrient solutions for better health outcomes.
Some of these outcomes require frank nutritional intervention, and where children are concerned, this needs to be achieved swiftly and consistently to avoid rapid loss of functions where it’s being affected. Dietary intake in the home may not be cut when supplements are being considered. Remember, supplements are only meant to be implemented for a short period of time, with supervision and the view to cease once repletion is achieved, or modified in dosing until this time.
There are a number of contributing factors that lead to recommendations of nutrients in supplemental form.
- Poor dietary intake of food containing high-quality minerals and vitamins – green vegetables, pumpkin, sweet potato and capsicum. Family dinners are becoming a ‘quick fix and fill the hungry gap’ vs a nutritional balanced affair these days.
- Little to no regular intake of omega 3 fatty acid rich foods – fish such as tuna, salmon, and sardines or conversion foods such as hemp, chia seeds and walnuts are often overlooked in a child’s weekly menu. Children’s brains need fatty oily omegas for healthy
- Higher exposure to water and air borne chemicals containing heavy metals and inorganic compounds. This challenges the body’s usual nutrient receptor attachment sites, taking up space where a nutrient would otherwise reside and function to support the
- Elevated stress exposure following the impacts of decisions made in and outside the family and education facilities during COVID, or The impact of this on a small person’s nervous system can be detrimental and shift the requirements for Phospholipids, Magnesium and B vitamins in favour of regular support to correct neural rewiring. We often see children regress in their milestones and learning stages during these times, nutrients buffer that regression until the trigger is better managed or removed.
- Increase in presentation of genetic flaws, affecting nutritional absorption and availability, and most functions of the, For example, a patient with a genetic flaw in methylation pathways, have a higher requirement for the nutrients that drive methylation along – Choline, Folate, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin B6, and potentially poor tolerance of chemicals from within and outside of their little bodies.
- Microbiome balancing formulae are now considered to be best used for function vs a blanket probiotic hit. For this reason, we now see getting on top of gut related conditions that children often have, are well managed with specific selections of beneficial bacterial strains, vs a one size fits all approach.
- Athletic children particularly benefit from extra nutritional support – particularly with amino acids, iron, magnesium, zinc and vitamin c/ bioflavonoids, in order to replenish their rapid utilisation during their training and eventing. Omega 3’s can also support membrane flexibility and prevent injuries, or speed up healing of supplementation and how to improve compliance in your child, please reach out to us. Nicky Wood offers community and school based presentations on this and other health related subjects for children.
Please contact her at:
nicky@wisehealthyliving.com.au www.wisehealthyliving.com.au
FB: @wisehealthylivingwellnesshub (private group) FB: @wisehealthylivingnaturaltherapies
IG: @wisehealthyliving Linked In: @wisetherapies
Nicky Wood is qualified Naturopath, Clinical EFT Practitioner, Wellness Program Facilitator and Spa Industry Business Consultant, who has authored a number of E- Books and published articles on health and wellbeing for online and in print publications around Australia. Nicky has over 30 years of industry experience in health care support.
Nicky works with organisations in designing and implementing Corporate Wellness Programs to their teams, consults privately in clinic, mentors other practitioners and works closely with her corporate clients in supporting the wellbeing of their teams. She is also a busy mum with a pro junior surfing athlete daughter – and understands how to master the juggle of parenthood and healthy eating.
