Eat Right: 3 reasons why you should give your kid wholesome meals

Eating a variety of food will ensure that a person gets all the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that the body needs for proper development. This is especially true for growing children. While we know that nutrition plays an important role in one’s physical health, studies have also shown that nutrition directly affects our mental well-being.

Did you know that there is a link between diet and emotions and that there is a close relationship between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract (GI)? The GI is home to billions of bacteria that produce chemicals which in turn carry messages to the brain.

Eating wholesome meals promotes the growth of ‘good bacteria’. This affects the production of dopamine and serotonin and sends positive messages to the brain and reflects on the mental state.

According to Dr Rakhi Chottrra, a dietician, practicing homeopath, and mother of Nyesha Chottrra (of Class VII) of Apeejay School, Model Town in Jalandhar said that there is a close connection between being physically fit and mental well-being.

“A healthy body means a healthy mind. Vitamins and minerals enhance mental health, especially vitamin B and vitamin E. Vitamin B-12 and other B vitamins play a role in producing brain chemicals that affect one’s mood. When a person is anxious or stressed, the body uses a lot of vitamin E. Consuming this can restore balance and give a sense of calm,” Dr Chottrra said.

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“A healthy body means a healthy mind. Vitamins and minerals enhance mental health, especially vitamin B and vitamin E”

Dr Rakhi Chottrra, Dietician & mother of a student from Apeejay School, Model Town

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Foods that are rich in vitamin B are: Brown rice, whole wheat bread, oatmeal, and nuts like soybean peanuts, and walnuts. Vitamin E is found in plant-based oils, nuts, seeds, and vegetables like pumpkin, collard beans, and red bell peppers.

Nutritionist Lakshita Jain a clinical dietician and founder of the health clinic Nutr says that before we understand the importance of wholesome meals that promote physical and mental health, one must first know the meaning of wholesome meals. “The definition is simple. When a person adds all the food groups – there are eight: Vegetables, fruits; grains, protein, dairy, fats, sugars, and beverages – to the diet, it is called a wholesome meal,” Jain said.

A wholesome meal will have seven to eight servings of grains a day (one serving is 30 gm); three different fruits a day; five servings of vegetables (500 gm) including green leafy vegetables; a portion of fat (ghee/butter) or better still Medium Chain Triglycerides, these are fats that are made in a lab from coconut and palm kernel oils. They are especially good for kids. Pulses have to be two servings (30 gm); if the child is non-vegetarian then eggs (1-2 a day at least thrice a week); fish (80 gm to be given twice a week); meat/chicken (100 gm thrice a week).

Dairy has to be one to two servings; add nuts to this weekly plan of the day and the parent has a wholesome meal for the child for the entire week.

The need to have wholesome meals

In the last five-six years, the focus has been on wholesome meals and healthy eating. But COVID-19 brought this to the limelight; more so for kids. “Growing kids need proper nutritious food for stronger immunity and build bones, increase height, and even proper brain development. The ages – five to 13 – are a child’s formative years. And if we pay attention to this age group the adolescent and adulthood will be healthier,” Jain said and cited some examples of very young kids with several health issues.

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“When a person adds all the food groups — there are eight: Vegetables, fruits; grains, protein, dairy, fats, sugars, and beverages  –  to the diet, it is called a wholesome meal”

Lakshita Jain, Clinical Dietician & founder of the health clinic Nutr

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There have been cases where kids as young as five years have swollen intestines; rickets is also an issue for some toddlers; teeth falling at an early age and even two-year-olds not eating properly. “To address these issues, parents have become conscious and want to give their kids meals that will lead to proper physical and mental health,” Jain stressed.

“When a kid eats a meal that is wholesome and nutritious, it will help him/her to grow since they are getting calories, water, vitamin and mineral requirements. According to the World Health Organization, just eating healthy food is not enough to be termed as healthy. A child besides eating healthy meals should also be disease-free, mentally, and socially fit,” Jain said.