balanced diet – Baby Creysi

Stop there! Foods that babies should not eat

Posted on 22/03/2022 - 16:19 by Astrid Rivera Reynoso

Your little one grows every day, and with it, his needs increase. Little by little, he will need to have more food besides breastfeeding. A balanced diet is very important to start establishing healthy habits in children. We tell you the foods that babies should not eat.

Breastfeeding during the first six months of life is essential for development. Still, after that age, it is necessary to start complementary feeding, the gradual consumption of solid foods, since energy and nutrient needs increase as one grows.

You must be careful with certain foods because their ingredients can affect your little one’s health or are more difficult to digest, causing discomfort in your baby.

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When starting complementary feeding, you should include all food groups. Photo: Pxhere

Healthy habits from a young age

Your child’s first two years are very important; a balanced diet will reduce the risk of suffering from malnutrition and developing chronic diseases such as obesity, explains the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Few children receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary feeding. In many countries, less than a quarter of children aged 6 to 23 months meet age-appropriate criteria for dietary diversity and meal frequency”.

A balanced diet in the first 24 months is crucial to maintain the necessary iron reserves for the neurological development and proper growth of the child; it is very difficult to reverse the deficiencies of energy, proteins, vitamins, and inorganic nutrients that occur during this stage, warns the Medical Gazette of Mexico.

The first two years of your child's life are very important for establishing healthy eating habits. Photo: Pixabay — The first two years of your child’s life are very important for establishing healthy eating habits. Photo: Pixabay

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Forbidden foods for babies

The eating habits that you teach your children from an early age will influence their growth. For this reason, pediatric neonatologist Laxmi Chowath advises parents not to add salt or sugar when preparing baby food and warns that babies should not consume canned products due to their high salt and sugar content.

The Nemours Kids Health organization recommends not giving your baby these foods:

Added sugars and sweeteners without calories: Their consumption can cause problems such as obesity, diabetes, or tooth decay.
High sodium content: Two-year-old children should not have more than 2 grams of salt daily.
Honey: It can cause botulism, so it should wait until after a year.
Unpasteurized juice, milk, yogurt, or cheese: Young kids may have trouble digesting these.
Cow’s milk or soy drinks: Do not give these products until 12 months; they contain proteins and fats that make digestion difficult.
Grapes, popcorn, and nuts: Due to their size, they can cause choking.
Fish: The contaminants in the sea, such as mercury, can harm your baby’s health. It is recommended to wait after two years to start its consumption.

Sugar and salt can affect your baby's health; avoid their intake. Photo: Pixabay — Sugar and salt can affect your baby’s health; avoid their intake. Photo: Pixabay

It may interest you: Keto diet for children: is it good?

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Translated by: Ligia M. Oliver Manrique de Lara

Spanish version: here

Keto diet for children: is it good?

Posted on 22/02/2022 - 14:50 by Astrid Rivera Reynoso

This eating plan has become a trend in recent years and is very popular among celebrities. Low carb intake accelerates weight loss, but is the Keto diet recommended for kids?

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb diet in which the body produces small fuel modules in the liver called ketones, which are used for energy. According to Top Doctors Spain, ketones are an alternative fuel for the body, used when there is a shortage of sugar (glucose) in the blood.

“The entire body switches its fuel supply to run almost entirely on fat. Insulin levels become very low, allowing fat burning to increase dramatically. The body is in a state of ketosis when it produces ketones”.

The Keto diet consists of low carbohydrate consumption. Photo: Pixabay

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A healthy relationship with food

The Keto diet is indicated for particular cases, both in adults and children; it is recommended for children who have epilepsy, so it cannot be applied to every child, details the nutritionist Rosa Ávila.

The restriction of food is not healthy on a physical level since children need to consume all food groups for their development; in addition, by prohibiting products with sugar or junk food, curiosity is aroused, and they likely consume them in secret so that it is necessary to maintain a balance.

“It is a diet you cannot follow in the long term; zero sugar diets are not recommended for children either. It is not advisable to exclude food groups such as meat or carbohydrates; children need all food groups because they serve a function”.

The specialist highlights that to have a healthy diet, it is necessary to adapt the foods made at home and try to include at least three food groups in each meal.

“Diets should not be maintained long-term. To make it easier for moms to incorporate fruits and vegetables, you have to adapt the foods they usually eat and thus modify their meals”.

Consumption of all food groups is important for the development of children. Photo: Pixabay

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Negative effects

If your little one follows a Keto diet, he could have low blood sugar, dehydration, and fatigue. He may also have nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, or abdominal pain explains Drugs.com.

Keto diet vs. epilepsy

This type of eating plan is used to treat epilepsy in some children. It is an alternative when medications do not work or have adverse side effects, details the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In these cases, this feeding mode consists of a proportion of 3-4 grams of fat for each gram of carbohydrate and protein. About 90% of calories come from fat, requiring you to eat more fatty foods, such as butter and cream.

The research Epilepsy, cognition, and ketogenic diet published in the Journal of Neurology reveals that the ketogenic diet is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for epilepsies that do not respond to pharmacological therapy; in addition, it shows no adverse effects on cognition or behavior and improves mood, as well as social interactions.

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A balanced diet is essential for the development of your little one. Do not forget to receive advice from a professional so that your child has adequate nutrition.

Translated by: Ligia M. Oliver Manrique de Lara

Spanish version: Here

How many kilos can I gain in pregnancy?

Posted on 22/02/2022 - 09:46 by Astrid Rivera Reynoso

One of the concerns while expecting your baby is to stay healthy. You face the dilemma of feeding a being within you and keeping balance for the benefit of you and your little one. We tell you what weight gain during pregnancy is like.

Food is a key element in life; health depends on it since you can prevent many diseases with a balanced diet. While you expect your child, you must have products from all food groups and avoid those with high caloric content and salt.

A study from the University of Granada, Spain, reveals that the Body Mass Index (BMI) before pregnancy is a powerful indicator of the child’s weight at birth. Hence, it is important to promote BMI care to avoid perinatal complication conditions such as macrosomia (when babies are larger than normal) or low birth weight.

Dr. Liliana Cortés, a specialist in nutrition during pregnancy and lactation, explains that weight gain during pregnancy depends on several factors, such as obesity before pregnancy or some pathology. In these cases, the diet must be taken care of even more so that the weight gain is correct for the baby’s development, but without reaching extremes.

“We must remember that if we allow ourselves to gain excess weight, this will result in babies with a heavier weight than appropriate. We are conditioning that our baby may develop a disease in the near future”.

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A balanced diet will bring benefits for you and your baby. Photo: Pixabay

Target weight gain

Nutritionist Ana María Vilas comments that it is a myth that women should gain 9 kilos during pregnancy; this depends on the particular situation of each one, especially her weight. If she is obese before pregnancy, she should gain less.

The Institute of Medicine and National Research Council details how much a woman should gain during a singleton pregnancy, that is, with a single child:

Low weight (BMI at 18.5): 13 to 18 kilos
Normal weight (BMI 18.5 to 24.9): 11 to 16 kilos
Overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9): 7 to 11 kilos
Obesity (BMI 30 or more): 5 to 9 kilos

“It’s a weight range you can put on; it doesn’t necessarily have to be the highest or the lowest; you can stay in the middle”.

Nutritionist Ana María Vilas

Weight gain during pregnancy will depend on the health status of the mother. Photo: Pixabay

Multiple pregnancies

When you expect more than one baby, the weight gain must be more significant; it is distributed as follows:

Normal weight: From 17 to 25 kg
Overweight: 14 to 23 kg
Obesity: 11 to 19 kg

“Although it may seem like many kilos, you must consider how much your baby weighs, the placenta, the amniotic fluid, and many other factors that contribute to this increase”, explains nutritionist Ana María Vilas.

“What the mother should keep is more or less two or three kilos of fat because the body prepares for lactation to have more reserves. As soon as the baby is born, most kilos are gone in the first two weeks; those stayed behind leave during lactation”.

When you expect more than one baby, the weight gain is greater. Photo: Pixabay

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Kilos per trimester

You must gain weight little by little throughout your pregnancy, not all in one month, to avoid increasing the risk of suffering from preeclampsia or gestational diabetes.

Mayo Clinic comments that most women do not need to gain much weight in the first trimester, so they usually gain between 0.5 to 1.8 kilos.

The most significant weight gain occurs in the second and third trimesters, especially if you start at a healthy weight or below average. You will gain about half a kilo a week until delivery. That represents about 300 extra calories a day.

For women who are overweight or have a body mass index of 30 or more, it is recommended to increase 200 grams per week in the second and third trimesters.

“Have a healthy diet and keep your prenatal appointments to keep your weight gain during pregnancy on target”.

Mayo Clinic

The most significant weight gain occurs in the second and third trimesters. Photo: Shutterstock

Do not forget that a balanced diet is vital so that both you and your baby have good health.

Translated by: Ligia M. Oliver

Spanish version

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Food in pregnancy: what can you eat?

Posted on 17/02/2022 - 15:29 by Astrid Rivera Reynoso

Waiting for your baby’s arrival, you have been told that you should eat for two and satisfy your cravings. How is the diet during pregnancy? Do you have to eat food without restriction?

At this stage, you must be very careful with food and achieve a balance in which you obtain the necessary nutrients for both you and your little one without stopping eating, and do not overdo it with products with a high salt content sugar.

It is essential that you have a healthy and adequate diet according to your age, weight, and specific characteristics, indicates the Ministry of Health.

Because this helps prevent anemia, infections, poor healing in the mother, and premature or low birth weight emphasizes the Ministry.

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Food to prevent diseases

A study published in the journal Nutrición Hospitalaria from Spain points out that a balanced diet in the first thousand days of life, which is counted from the moment of conception until the child’s first two years, is key to health throughout life; as well as for the prevention of diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.

The nutritionist Rosa Ávila, a specialist in maternal and child nutrition, highlights the importance of having control over food during pregnancy, together with the support of a professional, to prevent diseases such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia; so you must follow a balanced diet in which all food groups are present.

“The most important recommendation is that pregnant women eat as balanced a diet as possible; I’m not talking about following a strict or special diet. The pregnant woman can eat from all the food groups, but her diet must be low in salt, fats, and sugars to preserve the good state of health reflected in the baby”.

She explains that it is not contraindicated for the future mother to fulfill a whim, “As long as she does not have a health condition that limits her, such as the beginning of preeclampsia or gestational diabetes; in that case, you have to look for options that can be adapted to the woman’s condition”.

She adds that the gynecologist should prescribe a special multivitamin for pregnancy, complementing a balanced diet.

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A balanced diet during pregnancy reduces the risk of diseases. Photo: Pixabay

Foods you should eat

The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) recommends that pregnant women include these foods in their diet:

Seasonal fruits and vegetables: Have between 4 and 5 servings per day, as they provide vitamins A and C, folic acid, iron, magnesium, potassium, and fiber.
Carbohydrates: Bread, cereals, rice, pasta, and flour that, in addition to being fortified with folic acid and iron, are essential nutrients.
Animal products: Beef, poultry, and fish are good sources of B vitamins, protein, iron, and zinc, as well as fats and oils that are vital for the child’s brain development.
Fiber: Orange (with bagasse), tangerine, pineapple, figs, prunes, tamarind, wheat germ, soybeans, oats, barley, green salads. This will reduce constipation.
Water: Drink 2 to 3 liters daily.
Have five meals a day: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks. Include all food groups in each of the meals.
Tea or coffee: You can have a cup, but not overdo it.
Pasteurized cheeses low in fat and salt: Cottage, panela, and fresh cheese will prevent or reduce stomach inflammation.
Dairy: Milk and yogurt, in addition to the cheeses mentioned, are a source of protein, calcium, and phosphorus.

In pregnancy, you should have all food groups. Photo: Pixabay

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Products to avoid

Salt: Be careful with sausages, cheeses, canned goods, jerky, ketchup, mineral water, powdered consommé, olives, and crackers.
Raw or undercooked foods: Avoid dishes like sushi, beef tartare, ceviche, raw salmon, and medium-rare meat; you could get an infection if they were not appropriately prepared.
Spices and condiments: With this, you will reduce heartburn.