Kids Health and Nutrition

How to Keep Your Kids Healthy

We begin our anti-aging journey at birth. The way we live from the time we are a baby, throughout childhood, and into adulthood, will determine our health and longevity.

We are going to lay out some important issues here, but IT’S NOT ALL BAD. Of course there are healthy, vibrant, active children everywhere.

But if you are struggling at all to keep your child healthy, or are looking for ways to supplement his or her nutrition, this article is for you.

You may read that kids are more health challenged today than ever before, with both childhood illnesses and diseases and from being over weight.

You may hear warnings that the present generation will have a lower life expectancy than their parents.

How can this be true in a world where we have more access to information about how to be healthy than anytime in history.

With children, and the same for adults, it is not all genetic.

Lifestyle and lifestyle choices, such as diet choices, play a huge role. Scientists say environment, including exposure to chemicals, matters also.

When you consider the fact that many illnesses are preventable for adults, the same is believed true for children as well.

Most of us know WHAT we should do, and yet we don’t always do it.

Children’s Health

Have you heard the statement that we are overfed, and yet under-nourished? It’s tough to understand.

If we’re eating more food that is making us overweight, how can we be undernourished?

The problem is that the food we are eating does not always have the nutrition our child’s body needs. It certainly has enough fat and calories.

When we talk about being undernourished, it’s different from a long time ago when children or adults would be severely deficient in vitamin C and get a disease like scurvy or lack vitamin D and get rickets.

Today our children have more allergies and asthma than ever before. They get chronic ear infections and have more learning disabilities. Rates of children on the autism spectrum seem higher.

It seems like more kids are getting serious illnesses like cancer, the same as adults do.

Doctors are alarmed at the high levels of cholesterol in kids; and other diseases that are traditionally associated with aging are now affecting our children.

Chemicals

We live in a toxic world – exposed to chemicals everywhere, including our food.

We also live in a very fast paced world, with our own busy work lives and running with kids from one activity to another.

Fast food, junk food, and processed food are quick and easy; but most are not ‘real food’ and that means there are chemicals involved.

This overload of chemicals can be an article on its own, though I still wanted to mention it since it is relevant to this discussion of kids health.

There are also chemicals in skin care products and personal care products like body wash and shampoo. These chemicals are absorbed into the skin and body and some children are more sensitive than others with immediate reactions such as allergic or asthmatic. The long term effects for all kids are not completely known.

So we make poor food choices, we eat too much food, and we are exposed to a heck of a lot of chemicals and toxins.

Nutrition

What’s happening with our kids and their health? Can better nutrition help?

Here’s what we know.

• Eating foods that are nutritious and avoiding foods that have a lot of sugar can both improve children’s health and help manage their weight.
• The nutrients in the food our kids eat is what gets into their cells and determines their health. Good in, good out.

When we consider the fact that it can be hard to get the nutrients we need from our foods, even if we do try to eat healthy, we can evaluate the benefits of supplements.

Children’s vitamins, from the brand we here on the blog have used for over 38 years, support a healthy immune system and healthy development.

The same as antioxidants such as vitamins C and E help adults fight free radicals (that come from chemicals and toxins), they can help kids that are also exposed.

Essential fatty acid supplements can help children since they don’t get much DHA from diet alone. DHA is one of the most important omega-3 fatty acids found in the brain and eyes.

Calcium and vitamin D are crucial bone-building nutrients.

There are certain vitamins that the majority of people in America are low or deficient in their bodies. Vitamin B, D, calcium and magnesium are a few of them.

Kids are at risk for these deficiencies as well. If they drink too much soda, it complicates being low in calcium because the phosphorus in carbonated drinks increases calcium requirements.  White flour and sugar can deplete b vitamins from the body.

Stress is another issue facing our kids today. We live in a fast paced world and often there’s not a lot we can do to slow it down. Stress increases the need for multiple nutrients in the body.

Some other challenges children can have and that nutrition can matter are:  struggles with muscle contraction and relaxation, hyperactivity, anxiety, sleep disorders, or headaches.

I mentioned that some of the health issues that challenge kids today are preventable. Many can be helped by better nutrition.

It is important to get the nutrition your body needs for optimal health from your food. The reality is that many children do not.

Natural, food-based supplements can help bridge the gap between the nutrients your child’s body needs and what he or she is not getting from food on a daily basis.

Nutrition Supplements

Kids’ bodies need good nutrition every day.

If your child doesn’t eat enough vegetables, fruits, protein, and other nutrients every day, a supplement can help.

The good news is that there are minimal side effects with all-natural, whole food supplements that are made as close to the way food is grown in nature as possible.

If there is a medication that has a food interaction to avoid, the same may apply to a supplement – that should be checked with a doctor.

How do you get your child to take their vitamins and supplements is another story.

• One way is to make them both healthy (natural) AND good tasting.
• Another way is to make them in formulations kids will like – so that they take them daily without an argument.

Natural Supplements

Here are the kids vitamins from the brand we trust here at AntiAgingByDesign.com. We can say that because we have personally used the brand for so many years, have raised 4 children taking these supplements, and now have 5 young grandchildren powered by this brand’s nutrition.

If you are not familiar with this brand, check out more about us and why we stay loyal to this #1 Natural Nutrition Company in America – the company that made the very first multi-vitamin in the country and that clinically proves every product they make. We only want to use a product that works!

MULTIVITAMIN WITH IMMUNE BUILDING LACTOFERRIN

Loaded with a comprehensive assortment of 23 essential vitamins and minerals. Also contains lactoferrin, which supports a healthy immune system in kids.* Chewable tablets in three tasty flavors, with no added artificial sweeteners, flavors, or preservatives. Gluten free and naturally sweetened with xylitol, which does not promote tooth decay.

Incredivites is made with supersafe ingredients that bring out the best in your lil’ superhero. Features 100% of the Daily Value of all eight B vitamins, as well as vitamins C and E, which play crucial roles in supporting immune function and more.*

• Loaded with 23 essential vitamins and minerals for healthy development*
• Provides calcium and vitamin D, which are crucial bone-building nutrients*
• Lactoferrin, a protein that supports a healthy immune system in kids*
• All natural grape flavor

CHEWABLE VITAMIN C

Your body is capable of many things, but it can’t make vitamin C. This Chewable Vitamin C is a great tasting natural lemon flavor, and each tablet has 250 mg of Vitamin C.

Vitamin C has been shown to support immune health and help maintain natural antioxidant defenses that protect against free radicals.*

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that protects our bodies from damage caused by free radicals and plays an important role in immune function. Vitamin C is not manufactured or stored in the body and must be replenished through diet. Shaklee offers two ways to get daily vitamin C support.

Chewable Vitamin C is ideal for children who can’t yet swallow tablets or prefer to chew.

DHA – OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS

IMMUNE BUILDING GUMMIES (brand new – can order now!)

Powerful, great-tasting gummies packed with critical immune-supporting nutrients your kiddos need most.*  Natural cherry flavor.

With vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc plus the powerful antioxidants from elderberry, supporting immune health has never been so tasty and fun!*Delicious, natural cherry-flavored gummies in a cool bear shape

• Tooth friendly?
• Sugar free, GMO free, gluten free, soy free, vegan
• No artificial flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives added

^?Frequent between-meal consumption of foods high in sugars and starches promotes tooth decay. The sugar alcohols and isomalto-oligosaccharides in Super Immunity do not promote tooth decay.

Prevention is a choice. To me it’s a choice I make with my family every day.

If there is something natural to take that can provide a benefit, or bridge a gap, to help make us healthier, it’s my philosophy that it’s worth a try.

To learn more about all-natural, whole food supplements with lots of side benefits instead of side effects, visit: Kids Health and Nutrition.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Information on this site should not be relied upon to make a medical diagnosis or determine treatment for a medical condition, and it is not intended to replace your one-on-one relationship with your doctor or health care professional.

Information on this site should not be used to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease or condition, and is not intended as medical advice.