Children are often reluctant to eat more fruits and vegetables. Here are some tips and tricks to get them, look like much, to take advantage of these health food by excellence.

Tips for eats vegetables

- Offer beginning of the meal or during the preparation of the meal, raw vegetables cut into sticks or small pieces (carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, cucumber). These vegetables can be chewed or soaked in a natural sauce with yogurt or cottage cheese. Being able to eat with your fingers is also very attractive.

- Introduce the vegetables in an attractive and original. Play with colors and associations. Be careful not to over mix the different vegetables. Children do not like mixes (they sort those they like and abandon the others). Moreover, it is important that children find and analyze the taste of each vegetable separately.

- Involve your child in meal preparation, and ideal for racing on the market.

- Submit soups. This presentation as a soup can vary the taste and make them swallow vegetables considered more “difficult” as broccoli, endive, etc..

- Add vegetables to more substantial dishes: casseroles, quiches, pies.

- Finally, insist, but do not force your child to eat. However, do not give up: regularly represent or vegetables they refused.

Tips for  eats fruit

- Do not book systematically fruit for dessert. Offer fruit as a snack, for breakfast, and at any other time of day as a snack, such as after school, returning from a walk or after sport.

- Always leave the fruits in evidence, freely available.

- Eat fruits also. If your child sees you eat it you want to taste it and imitate the habit.

- Prepare the fruit that you present to your child while peeled and cut into small pieces, the fruits are more easily accepted, especially since children often refuse to eat out of the fruit.

The risk of iron deficiency in young children is not zero in our developed countries. The period following the cessation of breastfeeding is the most sensitive as a baby goes from milk containing highly absorbable iron in another iron-containing significantly less bioavailable. Better to carefully choose the milk away and watch for signs of fatigue and anorexia.

Iron and Anemia

In the body, iron is found in various forms. Overall, there is the heme iron that is present in hemoglobin, ferritin and iron which is the reserve. If deficiencies in vitamins and minerals are now very rare in developed countries, iron deficiency is one of the few that still persist. It concerns mainly young children under three months. The effects of iron deficiency are significant and result in anemia, which results in insufficient production of hemoglobin and tissue oxygenation, which ends up sounding on psychomotor performance.

Iron deficiency: fatigue, anorexia and weakness

But before reaching this stage, there are also iron deficiency that can be described as lighter and do not result in a marked anemia. Only the stock ferritin is decreased. This condition results this time by a decrease in physical abilities of young children, fatigue and anorexia. Psychomotor development slowed and reduced mental performance. Such a ferritin deficiency can result in behavioral problems: child fearful, irritable, restless sleep. It is also suspected iron deficiency to interfere with hyperactivity. But children who do not have sufficient iron levels are weakened, they are more vulnerable to infections, including intestinal and ENT, which is affecting their growth.

The absorption of dietary iron

In fact, toddlers need very high in iron, about eight times larger than those of adults. At birth, they have sufficient stock for the first six months of life. But then, the dietary intake is essential. Now the iron content in foods comes in different forms, making its availability varies. In other words, it is more or less absorbed, used by the body. So do not necessarily rely on theoretical iron content of foods (milk, cow’s milk, beef, liver, spinach, etc). You should know that the iron in breast milk is better absorbed with a bioavailability of 50-70%. By comparison, the bioavailability of iron in cow’s milk is 5 to 10%, 30% for meat and offal and less than 5% for vegetables.

Furthermore, bioavailability varies greatly with the cooking and the presence of other compounds. Some of the decrease (oxalates, tannins, phosphates, phytates), Others increase as vitamin C, citric acid or lactic acid. Finally, note that the amount of iron absorbed from vegetables and grains increases when these foods are consumed together with meat or fish or other foods rich in vitamin C.

In conclusion, we must ensure that baby receives sufficient iron intake and take into account the degree of absorption of iron for the food, rather than theoretical content. But that attention needs to be strengthened to stop breastfeeding. Indeed, the transition period when one moves on to the milk or cow’s milk is at risk for iron deficiency in the infant. You should choose a milk content of highly absorbable iron guarantee.