cover story
Early years' nutrition
by Nigel Denby Dietitian and Author
and Kathy Klein Paediatric Dietitian
Delivering a clinical service to Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Hospital Women's Halth Clinic and acting as Nutrition Consultant for the Childbase Children's Nursery Group, Nigel also runs his own private practice specialising in Weight Management and PMS / IBS
Kathy works as a community paediatric dietitian for Buckinghamshire PC and as a freelance dietitian. She works with infants and children with a range of nutritional needs ranging from allergies, obesity, early feeding problems, behavioural related feeding problems, neuro-disabilities and other special needs.
It is well documented that during a child’s early years, good nutrition is vital, not just for growth and development, but also to help children establish healthy eating habits as an investment for a lifetime of good health. So what are the best resources out there to help all parents get early years’ nutrition right? Nutrient requirements are comparatively higher in the early years than at any other life stage and the general healthy eating principles targeted at adults and older children are not appropriate for the under 5s. Nutrients of particular importance in the early years include: Iron, Calcium, Zinc and Vitamins C, D and A. Family menus, recipes, snacks and breakfast foods all need to be nutrient dense as well as providing sufficient energy for appropriate growth and development. This can be a daunting task for parents, especially for those on limited budgets, or with poor cooking skills, or who struggle with reading English recipes and nutrition education resources. Looking at nutrition statistics for the under 5s makes grim reading and suggests we need to find more simple but effective ways of supporting parents at this critical time. 10
• There is a re-emergence of rickets in UK infants and children, especially amongst Asian populations (1) • A recent population study demonstrated that 20-34% of Asian children were vitamin deficient with vitamin D levels <25nmol/l (2) • One in eight children aged 18-28 months had a low haemoglobin (3) • 25%-35% per cent of ethnic minority and white young children from impoverished inner city areas of the UK have Iron Deficiency Anaemia (4) • 13% of toddlers aged 2-3 years are obese (defined as BMI at or above the 95th centile) (5) A key element in achieving better nutrition in the early years is evidence-based nutrition education resources that can be used by health professionals to help new mums get nutrition right from the
start. To be more effective at getting our messages across to the widest audience possible, it would seem logical, therefore, to share good nutrition education resources in order to avoid reinventing the wheel - especially in this increasingly timeand financially-pressured working environment. In a recent pole of dietitians working in the early years sector who are members of the online community www.grub4life.org.uk, there was a consensus that resources in languages other than English, weaning recipes that reflect cultural diversity and visual toddler portion size guides were all educational tools frequently requested by health professionals to make communicating the fundamental issues around early years nutrition easier to parents. The professionals at the frontline in this area of public health are of NHDmag.com Dec '09/Jan '10 - issue 50
