Contents:
- Medical Video: Standing With Syria: One Family's Story From Zaatari
- How to choose milk that is good for the health of children aged 1-3 years
- 1. Adjust to age
- 2. Choose milk that tastes good for children
- 3. Pay attention to the nutritional content
Medical Video: Standing With Syria: One Family's Story From Zaatari
Entering the age of one year and above, children need additional nutritional intake to support their growth and development. One of them can be obtained from milk, a mainstay drink to strengthen children's bones and teeth. However, you can't just give your little one milk, you know. So, how to choose the right milk and good for the health of children aged 1 to 3 years? Here's the explanation.
How to choose milk that is good for the health of children aged 1-3 years
Mother's milk, aka ASI, is a main source of nutrition for children before one year of age. However, once your little one steps on his first birthday, breast milk alone is not enough to meet the nutritional needs of children.
As a solution, you may give it milk to meet children's vitamin and mineral needs. But remember, do not just choose milk. Not all milk is suitable for consumption by children, you know.
So as not to be confused, here's how to choose the right milk and good for your child's health at the age of 1 to 3 years.
1. Adjust to age
The first way to choose milk is to adjust the type of milk to your child's age. Because, each type of milk is formulated according to the needs of children based on their age.
The method is very easy. You only have to look at the label on the box or can of milk, then note the age recommendations listed. If your child is one year old, this means that you must choose milk specifically for your age. Usually, in milk boxes or cans it is written "for ages 1-3 years."
2. Choose milk that tastes good for children
The selection of children's milk flavor is one way to choose milk that is often ignored by parents. Not a few parents who choose milk, the important thing is that milk is good for the health of your child.
When your child drinks milk with a taste that he doesn't like, he will certainly immediately refuse or even strike a drink of milk. As a result, children do not get enough nutrition during their growth period.
So, choose the type of milk that has a delicious taste and is liked by children. If your child likes vanilla flavor, give him milk with vanilla flavor. Similarly, if children like chocolate milk, give chocolate milk so that children want to drink milk.
3. Pay attention to the nutritional content
One year old children can no longer rely on fat intake from breast milk to support their growth and development. This means, children begin to need the intake of extra fat from the outside, one of them from milk - both cow's milk and low fat.
Milk fat is useful for improving children's brain development. But remember, this fat should not be too much so as not to trigger obesity in children. Children at this age can only drink a maximum of 2 glasses of milk a day, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reported by The Bump.
Make sure the milk you choose contains rich in vitamins and minerals needed by children, including vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, and so on. All these nutrients are important for maintaining healthy eyes, forming healthy bones and teeth, and increasing the child's immune system.
In addition, milk for children aged 1-3 years needs to contain fine protein so that it is easily digested in your baby's stomach and will not cause digestive problems. But most importantly, milk for children must also contain omega 3 and 6 which are important for the intelligence of the brain.
Omega 3 and 6 are the most important types of fatty acids that can improve cognitive function and intelligence of children. Omega 3 and 6 from food or milk will be converted to DHA with the help of the delta-4-desaturase enzyme.
The more omega 3 and 6 the child gets, the more DHA is formed in the child's body. As a result, this can help strengthen children's brain function and improve intelligence.