» Wave: Dear Jacquie
Your health queries answered with Jacquie Lane, from the College of Naturopathic Medicine
My six-year-old boy is becoming increasingly fussy about his food and I’m afraid he is not getting the nutrients he needs. With the school term approaching, what should I be giving him in his packed lunches?
SC, Peacehaven
First of all, don’t panic. If he sees it’s a problem it will become a battle of wills. Try to make meal times fun and interesting. Taking him shopping, especially to farm shops and markets so he can see where food comes from, will allow him to take an interest in it. Although you may be busy, letting him get involved in food preparation and cooking is a great way to solve the problem because he may enjoy eating what he has helped to prepare. Ask him to select as many different colours of fruits and vegetables as he can at the shops so it becomes a game. And as he has selected them, he is more likely to eat them.
The foods he should be eating include: five portions of raw and cooked vegetables and fruits a day (preferably organic); Omega-3 oils from seeds and fish; good quality complex carbohydrates such as oats, potatoes, sugar-free wholegrain flakes including rye, corn and rice; and puffed wheat, wholegrain breads and pastas. Brown basmati rice tastes similar to white rice but contains minerals essential for children.
From a protein perspective, choose whole fish to cut up and coat in oatbran to make fish fingers. You can also use chicken and turkey strips or minced turkey in tomato sauce for pasta dishes.
Snacks could include carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes, bite-sized fruits – especially berries – and sugar snap peas, which most children like, or small containers of mixed seeds. Probiotic yoghurts are also good for snacks and lunch.
Try to avoid processed foods such as ham and cheese spreads, biscuits, white bread and sugars. If it’s white then it’s probably low in nutrients.
Supplements that may help with a child’s brain development and behaviour include Omega-3 oils, and these can also be found in oily fish including sardines, salmon and mackerel.
If you have a general health query that you would like to raise here you can email Jacquie at healthqueriesforWave@naturopathy-uk.com. Please note that Jacquie cannot enter into individual correspondence unless your query is chosen for publication.
CNM Seminar
Thursday 30 September in Brighton. Fit for the Future: What to feed your child for good health now and into adulthood. To book: 01342 410505, info@naturopathy-uk.com
Jacquie Lane is a lecturer at the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM) and the Director of Studies at CNM in Brighton. Jacquie also runs her own nutrition clinic in Brighton and manages a biological testing lab specialising in digestive issues.
