Critical Dietary Habits in Early Childhood: Principles and Practice

Abstract

The adequacy of a diet is usually evaluated based on nutrient intake. As people eat foods but not nutrients, food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) are needed. To evaluate dietary habits in infants and young children, the following stepwise approach is suggested: (1) develop country-specific FBDG to identify the potential of common nonfortified foods to ensure adequate nutrient intake and (2) examine potential 'critical' dietary patterns if main food groups are excluded, such as in vegetarian diets or if a family's precarious social status leads to food constraints. The German FBDG for infant and child nutrition demonstrate that a well-designed mixture of common foods results in an adequate supply of nutrients, except for vitamin D, iodine and iron. The following solutions are feasible to address deficiencies in these critical nutrients: routine supplementation (vitamin D), fortified complementary food consumption or supplementation for infants as well as inclusion of table salt in the family diet for children (iodine), and individual pediatric care for infants at risk (iron). In the exclusion of food groups of animal origin from vegetarian diets, several nutrients are at risk of becoming deficient if not substituted. Existing studies characterizing vegetarian children are rare. These were mainly published in the 1980s and 1990s and were biased towards a high social status. Thus, firm conclusions on today's dietary practices and health statuses of European vegetarian children cannot be drawn. A social gradient exists for food patterns and dietary quality in children, but energy intake need not necessarily be affected. Scenarios in Germany suggest that families on unemployment assistance can afford to eat a diet compliant with German FBDG only if they restrict food selection to basic food. Yet, the question of how families cope with financial constraints in everyday life remains. In conclusion, well-designed FBDG provide various opportunities to identify critical nutrients and critical food habits in early childhood and beyond.

Red meat and processed red meat consumption behaviour of healthcare professionals: do they participate in the World Health Organization’s view of red meat carcasses and red meat carcinogens?

“…The importance of consuming red meat is extremely clear for health and especially for children's development. However, the consumption habits of young individuals in the family will affect their health throughout their entire lives (46)(47)(48)(49) . All consumers should be informed about the importance of avoiding an unbalanced diet and instead aiming for healthy and balanced nutrition, and also be informed of the importance of the nourishing natural products in all food items, not just red meat.…”

Brain nutrients: Cerebral metabolism and micronutrients

“…HELENA study 1 Balanced diet (FKE) 2 Meat, processed meat (g/day) Table 1. Comparison of the eating habits of adolescents (HELENA study) with the FKE (Research Institute for Child Nutrition) recommendations for an age-appropriate balanced diet [1,3]. ( 1 Age group: 12.5 to 17.5 years; 2 Age group: 13 to 14 years.…”

A Cross-Sectional Survey of Vitamin A Deficiency and the Associated Risk Factors among the Children of District Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan

“…to WHO, VAD is predominantly associated with malnutrition and remains a leading cause of blindness in school going children [28]. Selective dietary patterns, climate and sociocultural factors are other variables leading to VAD [29]. Statistical data showed that girls having carbohydrates and lipids as primary diet were more exposed to VAD, comprising 79.4% and 12.17%, respectively (Table 4).…”