First, the importance of complementary food nutrition
In the key periods of the fastest growth and development, infants and children should go through several important nutritional supply stages of "breast milk nutrition", "complementary food nutrition" and "dietary nutrition".
Infants and children grow and develop rapidly, and the demand for various nutrients will naturally increase. High-quality protein and vitamins and minerals play a vital role in your child's growth and development. It is not only necessary to meet the needs of healthy growth and development, but also to supply daily metabolic consumption. For example, zinc deficiency will lead to stunted growth and poor resistance in children; Iron deficiency can damage children's intellectual development and poor resistance; Calcium deficiency can lead to stunted growth, bone deformities, and poor tooth development in children.
Many parents believe that malnutrition is manifested by thin facial yellow muscles. In fact, stunting (various indicators are not up to standard), obesity, overweight, low immunity, etc., are all manifestations of malnutrition. Malnourished children often suffer from poor digestion, poor absorption, protein and multiple trace element deficiencies or imbalances.
Because many parents cannot add urgently needed nutrients to their children in a timely and scientific and reasonable manner in the process of raising their children, the transition from "breast milk nutrition" to "complementary food nutrition" and "dietary nutrition" cannot be successfully completed, so that the child is in a state of "hidden hunger" caused by nutritional deficiency or imbalance for a long time. "Hidden hunger" will directly affect the growth and development of children in the short term, such as impaired brain development, physical growth restriction, metabolic disorders, and frequent infections. In the long run, it will lead to poor understanding and cognitive ability, poor learning ability, decreased autoimmunity, high risk of chronic diseases, and increased disease burden, which will affect the health and happiness of children throughout their lives.
Therefore, recognize and grasp the window period for the addition of complementary foods, and add complementary foods scientifically in time to avoid children's long-term hidden hunger and help healthy growth and development.
1. The initial stage of the transition from breast milk nutrition to complementary food nutrition (June to December).
From birth to 6 months, breast milk is sufficient to provide the baby with the nutrients it needs and is rich in antibodies and other immune substances. After 6 months of the baby, relying on breast milk alone to supplement energy, providing protein, iron, zinc, calcium and other minerals and various vitamins, can no longer meet the needs of the baby's growth and development. If the addition of complementary foods is not timely and reasonable, the baby's nutritional intake will not be comprehensive, resulting in low nutrient density, and in the long run it will develop into hidden hunger.
2. The middle and late stages of the transition from breast milk nutrition to complementary food nutrition (13 to 36 months).
At this stage, the child gradually transitions from "breast milk + complementary food" to the establishment of a diet, and the dietary structure gradually converges to that of adults. However, adult diets focus on carbohydrates, and children's healthy growth and development require comprehensive, balanced and continuous nutrient supply. If complementary foods cannot be added scientifically and reasonably, it will be difficult for children to consume sufficient and continuous intake of high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals, which will cause hidden hunger in the long term.
3. Transition from complementary food nutrition to dietary nutrition (37 to 60 months).
At this stage, the child has established complete dietary nutrition. Due to the dietary structure and dietary characteristics of the mainland, there may be long-term insufficient intake of high-quality protein, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin D, C, A and B vitamins in dietary nutrition, resulting in hidden hunger.
4. Rapid growth and development period (after 6 years old).
At this stage, children often have problems such as spleen and stomach discord, partial eating, anorexia, etc., resulting in insufficient or unbalanced intake of calcium, iron, zinc, vitamins A, C, D, B vitamins and other trace elements for a long time, and long-term hidden hunger, which directly leads to poor growth and development problems such as short stature, reduced height increase during development, and poor immunity.
Therefore, seize the window period for the addition of complementary foods, add complementary foods in a timely and scientific manner, supplement necessary nutritional supplements, and ensure that infants and children in the key periods of the fastest growth and development, complete establishment of nutritional security lines, can be balanced, sufficient and continuous supply of nutrition. Scientifically and reasonably complete the smooth transition from breast milk nutrition, to complementary food nutrition, to dietary nutrition.
2. Add complementary foods scientifically
Complementary foods refer to foods with various traits other than breast milk and/or formula milk. Timely and scientific addition of complementary foods can ensure that children receive balanced and sufficient nutrition and ensure normal growth and development; It can also exercise your child's chewing and swallowing skills; Gradually complete the transition to an adult diet.
Infants add complementary food, refer to the child's weight, age of the month, whether the baby can sit alone, milk volume, the baby's interest in food, the baby's tongue reflex disappears, etc.
Premature addition of complementary foods (before 4 months) may result in complementary foods replacing breast milk, resulting in inadequate nutrient intake for babies, increased risk of disease, lack of protective factors, not as clean as breast milk, and difficult to digest.
Adding complementary foods too late will cause the baby to not get the nutrients he needs, which is not conducive to the coordinated movement of oral muscles and the development of language. Long-term hidden starvation, malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies occur, resulting in slowing growth and development.
The critical age at which infants begin supplemental foods is 6 months. The nerve and muscle development of the baby's mouth tends to mature, can better control the movement of the tongue, begin to chew activity and grow teeth, intestinal digestive enzyme secretion increases, has better digestion, and likes new taste and taste.
The principles and methods of complementary food addition: step by step, from less to more, from fine to coarse, from thin to thick, from one to many, from one to many.
●Extended reading: timely scientific and reasonable addition of complementary foods to care for children's growth every step
In the post-epidemic era, fight immunity and improve children's immunity should be paid attention to!
In the post-epidemic era, "immunity" has become everyone's most hardcore strength. Compared with adults, infants and children who are in the stage of immune insufficiency are less resistant to the virus. Therefore, in addition to "vaccination", "wearing masks" and "insisting on exercise" for their children to actively do a good job in epidemic prevention, they should pay more attention to the balanced and adequate intake of daily nutrition. The timely scientific addition of complementary foods and the necessary supplements of nutritional supplements are important measures to improve children's immunity.
Spring is the golden season for children to grow taller, and children need to help grow fiercely.
A large number of scientific studies have confirmed that children's growth and development are significantly affected by the season. Generally speaking, children grow fast in spring, the growth rate of children's height is 2~2.5 times that of autumn, and the peak of children's growth appears in May.
Therefore, in the spring of the fastest growth and development, pay attention to the child's adequate sleep, reasonable exercise, balanced diet at the same time, timely scientific addition of complementary foods, supplement balanced nutrients, in order to seize the golden season of spring growth and help children grow strongly! Guancong Doll Special Diet - Complementary Food Nutritional Supplement, is a specialized and special new key enterprise in Shanxi Province - Buyuantang Group, specially developed for infants and children timely, scientific, balanced complementary food addition segmented nutritional supplements, to provide comprehensive nutritional supplements for babies, insist on supplementing nutritional packages for children, have a great impact on children's height, weight, immunity, etc., to help children win at the starting line.
(Project Team of "Perinatal Health Care and Eugenics Grassroots Walk" of China Eugenics Science Association)