Nutritional mistakes make children grow slowly

KNot breastfeeding, giving solid foods too early or too late, giving foods that are too nutritious or lacking in protein... all cause children to develop slowly and be short.

Associate Professor Le Danh Tuyen, Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, pointed out some mistakes in care that slow down the growth rate of children's height:

Do not breastfeed

Breast milk has many benefits for children, but not all mothers know and practice it. Factors that affect exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months are often that mothers have to go back to work early, mothers think their milk is not as good as formula milk, prefer foreign milk, want to keep in shape... In addition, some mothers do not know how to breastfeed properly and protect their milk supply.

Supplements too early or too late

Complementary feeding is the practice of giving your baby other foods in addition to breast milk. According to the World Health Organization, the time to start giving your baby complementary foods (weaning) is when he or she is 6 months old.

Nowadays, many women believe that giving their children complementary foods early will make them stronger and less hungry. Therefore, children are given complementary foods from the 4th or 5th month, and many even start supplementary foods from the 3rd month. This affects the utilization of breast milk, making children susceptible to digestive disorders leading to malnutrition.

Many studies have shown that a child's height development depends 20% on genetics, while nutrition and environment account for 80%. Photo: BD.

Some mothers in rural, remote areas still feed their children chewed rice, spoon-fed rice, which is very unhygienic and even a source of disease transmission to children.

On the contrary, when complementary feeding is given late, breast milk is not enough to meet the needs, the child will gain weight slowly. Because breast milk after 6 months cannot meet the child's increasing nutritional needs, it is necessary to give the child additional complementary foods. In addition to breastfeeding, the child needs to eat 1-2 more meals of rice cereal a day.

Care and nurturing when children are sick

Caring for and nurturing children before, during, and after illness is very important because it will help them recover quickly, regain their health, and increase their resistance to disease.

When children are sick with fever, diarrhea, etc., their energy and nutritional needs are greater than usual. Meanwhile, some mothers have the misconception that their children must be on a strict diet, such as not feeding them oil or fat, only feeding them MSG (flour cooked with sugar), not breastfeeding, not feeding them green vegetables, etc., for fear that their children will have more diarrhea. Children with fever will lose water, but they do not rehydrate them and give them ORS solution, etc.

After children recover from illness, many mothers do not feed them more to help them recover quickly; their diet is restrictive, their meals are unbalanced and lack nutrients... that is why children are at risk of malnutrition.

Feeding children too many nutrients

Children's supplementary meals must ensure enough essential nutrients, meet the needs, and balance nutrients to help children develop well. However, if the diet contains too much protein, it will make the immature digestive system work hard, easily causing digestive disorders, causing loose stools, diarrhea...

Broth and bone broth are enough.

These types of broths contain almost no protein, so eating only the broth and not the rest is not as nutritious as many mothers think.

In addition, protein-rich foods are still used monotonously. Many mothers do not feed their children fish, crab, shrimp, eggs, etc. for fear that their children will be allergic to the food or afraid of the fishy taste. This can easily cause loss of appetite and create biased eating habits that are difficult to change later.

Take care of your child when he grows up

Due to the impact of modern lifestyle, parents often do not have the conditions to take care of their children from a young age, because they think that when their children grow up, they can take care of them "to compensate". This is a completely wrong point of view, still existing in many parents, especially young families.

Science has proven that malnutrition during critical periods of human development - before and during pregnancy, in the first 2 years of a child's life - programs each individual in regulating growth and affects brain development.

According to VNE