Parents Failing To Make Informed Decision About Right Nutrition For Children

By Wan Shahara Ahmad Ghazali KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 (Bernama) -- A child needs proper nutrition for a healthy and adequate development as well as strong physical growth. A child’s normal development and physical growth are crucial, particularly during infancy and up to the time he or she is around seven years old. Hence, healthy nutrition is vital for a growing child and parents should ensure that they play an instrumental role in this aspect. A recent study indicates that in the bid to ensure that their child gets all the essential nutrients, young mothers resort to using formula milk or growing up milk (GUM) for meeting the nutritional needs of their infants. STUDY INDICATORS The Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM), in collaboration with Abbott Nutrition, carried out a recent study, which included 300 mothers who have children below three years of age. The study shows that several factors influence a young mothers’ choice of GUM. Among these factors is the milk recommended by pediatricians or child specialists, which backed up by scientific data, shows that the recommended milk is good for the child’s growth. "Many mothers opt for GUM, as it reinforces a child’s immunity, boosts mental and physical development, complements their diet with vitamins and minerals and also includes a high level of DHA," NSM president Dr Tee E Siong stated. DHA stands for ‘decosahexanoic acid’, an essential omega-3 fat that is crucial for vision and brain development in babies. The study also indicates that more than 55 per cent of mothers choose the GUM formula, which has DHA, Omega 3 and Omega 6, Lutein or gangliosides, with the view that these ingredients will be good enough for their child’s development. CONFUSED ABOUT CHOICE OF NUTRIENTS Dr Tee said parents usually find the various advertisements for GUM to be confusing, to the extent that they only focus on certain nutrients, believing that a high dosage of these nutrients will be good for their child. This notion is wrong as there is no single nutrient that guarantees superior mental and physical development of a child, he pointed out. "Infants and small children need a combination of all nutrients in the correct proportion to meet the body’s growth needs," Dr Tee explained. Consuming excessive amounts of nutrients like DHA and ‘gangliosides’ does not make much of a difference to the body, which is only able to utilise specific nutrients in certain proportions, while the excess is excreted from the body. "Furthermore, a portion of the amino acids like the DHA can be formed within the body," Dr Tee said. The study also revealed that 80 per cent of young mothers fail to take note of the other ingredients listed on the GUM, despite this information being crucial to the nutritional needs of their children. "Three out of four mothers do not understand the nutritional information given on the label of the milk product, while half of the respondents who read the label are more focused on only one type of nutrient," Dr Tee noted. BEST NUTRITIONAL COMBINATION According to the NSM, parents should be aware that the best GUM nutritional combination includes nutrients which provide energy and protein, and also realise that this combination of nutrients keeps evolving as the child continues to grow. "Therefore, parents themselves should decide on the best nutritional combination for their children by consulting professionals for advice. Parents should study the information obtained, and refrain from giving too much credence to uninformed advice from friends and relatives or be easily be influenced by advertisements," Dr Tee stated. The study also shows that 56 per cent of mothers have never made the effort of researching available information before deciding on the best GUM for their children and that not even half of the respondents solicit professional advice. Instead 68 per cent of the respondents, rely on advice from parents and relatives before opting for a particular brand of GUM. THE FAD OF ‘INTELLIGENT’ FOOD The study also points towards the fact that most respondents think that the correct GUM will make their child ‘intelligent’. According to Dr Tee, there is no such thing as ‘intelligent food’ and that good parenting and external factors are far more crucial in developing this aspect of a child’s personality. "The child will be intelligent if the parents focused on proper and balanced nutrition and care, which will enable the child to have good learning abilities," he said. He added that parents should ensure that their children get adequate and proper nutrition during their growing up years, as this is the stage where a child’s mental and physical growth expands rapidly. KEEPING TABS ON BMI Most mothers assess the healthiness of their child by the optimum level of food they are able to consume, and the particular type and quantity of the food they are eating, the study revealed. At the same time, only a few parents are also attentive to their child’s weight, which is also a good indicator of his or her health. Dr Tee advised parents to regularly monitor their child’s Body Mass Index (BMI) and measure their height and weight periodically, for instance one every six months. Parents can obtain additional information at www.nutriweb.org.my. -- BERNAMA