Tips for keeping your child healthy in the first 1,000 days.
The words ‘nutrition’ and ‘fun’ haven’t always traditionally appeared together, but making healthy eating exciting is just one small action that could have a big impact on you and your family.
Ensuring that the right things are going into your children doesn’t have to be a mundane task, and using these tips is just the start of a positive and healthier lifestyle:
Pregnant Women
What you put in is what you get out (literally) – The risk of being overweight or obese starts before a baby is even born. Pregnant women who consume unhealthy foods containing excess amounts of sugar and fat are more likely to have overweight children and develop associated health problems. Maintaining a healthy diet during pregnancy lowers this risk, and creates a healthier start for your baby and a healthier life for you.
Sugar Swap
Swapping sugary snacks for ones that are lower in sugar – Swapping to a healthier option, such as water, or fresh juice instead of sugary drinks can make a huge difference to children’s calorie intake. Not just that, but it’s also better for their teeth.
Breast Milk
Providing your baby with breast milk will give them the best source of nutrients and help to reduce the risk of infection, digestive diseases and obesity but if breast feeding is not possible then using a low protein formula milk is the best alternative. Healthy nutrition in the first 1000 days of life, including breast milk or low protein formula milk and foods low in sugar will help protect your health, your children and future generations.
Snacks
Snack check – Many snacks are full of things that aren’t necessarily good for us – sugar, salt, fat and calories. So try and keep a careful eye on how many snacks the kids are having. Try and keep count of how many sweets, crisps, and biscuits are being consumed. Keeping count means you’re more likely to cut down – which is good for your kids and for your pocket too.
Here’s a video that will hopefully help each and one of you out!
***This is a General post***
Good post. I work in a pharmacy and I’m always saddened by how many kids are on things for their digestive system :/
I know what you mean hun x
Some great tips here! I had so many good intentions about diet when I fell pregnant but I was so sick I ended up subsisting on orange juice and dry cereal for months! x
Oh no poor you hun, I was sick but not as bad as that. x
A great post and a reminder to use all, I don’t have kids yet but I know my SIL and brother work hard to ensure my nephew gets proper nutrition. He loves fruits than chocolate but he will eat chocolate if you give it to him. He’s firs request is always a fruit
I remember eating so many carrot sticks when being pregnant. No wonder my kids love them.
I don’t really like raw carrot sticks, prefer them cooked. 🙂
Luckily both my little ones will eat good food, they have treats but their general diet is a healthy one, because we just dont give them junk, which makes up for all the unhealthy stuff i ate whilst pregnant, i was so sick the whole way through i had to eat what stayed down, it wasnt the easiest and im still loosing the weight from it but at least we have a good diet and exercise now 🙂
I dont have any children but this is a great way to raise awareness and educate x
My daughter is a vegetable and fruit lover so it is really easy to pick snacks for her. Whilst I was pregnant I was very sick and couldn’t eat much, I lived on toast and water for a long time. However the end of my pregnancy I craved meat and pizza which I was alright with, I could have had a better diet though. Great informative post
I was very sick too, not nice! x
Thanks Rachel x
Me too, it was horrible! I’m loosing the weight slowly too. 🙂
I hate raw carrot sticks, my Son love’s them.
Thank-you Anosa.
Not sure I like how it’s made to sound here that formula will cause obesity. A lot is down to educating parents on food choice for the children once they are weaned as this is where many more bad habits start.
Thank’s for you’re comment Alice 🙂
I think it’s important to get kids into a wide variety of flavours at the beginning of weaning and keep returning to ones that are disliked. Definitely education around food is key x
Very true hun x
Sometimes it is hard getting the kids to eat healthily, especially when they see so much sweet stuff about.Thankfully we are quite strict and my kids love their fruit
My son loves all fruit and vegetables which I’m pleased about.
Great tips! Probably so many women have good intentions but just simply feel to sick to eat anything.
I was like that with my second pregnancy. Thanks for your comment x