CHILDREN'S HEALTH
By Eve Prang Plews, Licensed Nutrition Counselor

Reprinted from Natural Awakenings Magazine
Sarasota, FL                             August 2007

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that’s what little boys are made of. Sugar and spice and everything nice,
that’s what little girls are made of. Clearly, Mother Goose was not informed on what it takes to make a healthy 
kid. Veggies and fruits and grains that are whole, might be a better beginning for parents to chant to raise a 
smarter, fitter child.

Since the human brain is unfinished at birth and is molded by both diet and experiences for the next five plus 
years, actually all through life, it is important for every parent to understand how to direct that dramatic 
body and brain transformation. Great brains are made, not born, according to David Perlmutter, M.D., author 
of Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten. According to this holistic neurologist, 30 IQ points are up for 
grabs between birth and age three. Poor diet equals a sluggish brain and great diets equal smart kids with 
better behavior control.

Breast feeding babies for the first year of life can boost IQ up to 8 points if the mother has enough brain 
boosting minerals like iron and iodine as well as essential fatty acids like DHA from fish oils. After the 
baby is weaned, smart eating takes over.

Of all the caloric energy kids’ use, half goes to fuel their brain. A nutrient rich diet, (as organic as 
possible) builds both strong, healthy bodies and a powerful brain. The brain is two-thirds fat. You are a 
fat head and so is everyone else. While bad fats from all fried food or hydrogenated oils are bad for 
everyone, they are especially detrimental for brains under construction. The most common sources of these 
unhealthy fats include snacks from cookies to chips to crackers. Chicken nuggets and French fries are 
staples on kid menus and can insure a slower brain as they interfere with normal cell signaling, but if a 
kid isn’t getting good fats from nuts, seeds, avocado, egg yolks (especially) and fish, the building brain 
will make do with whatever bad fats it can derive from pizza, hot dogs and pretend chicken. Building a 
brain from unhealthy fats can insure dulled thinking capacity and is the perfect set up for diabetes.

The good, the bad and the ugly certainly can refer to carbohydrates. Bodies and brains need glucose, the 
primary source of our energy. Slow burning carbs are the good carbs from fiber rich fruits, vegetables, 
beans and whole grains. The bad examples are refined carbs of flour, sugar (and sugar’s sidekick, high 
fructose corn syrup and juice flavored drinks.) These foods increase appetite by causing rapid blood 
sugar increases followed by drastic blood sugar drops that increase mood swings, irritability and 
attention problems not to mention loss of spirit. Ugly carbs include those bowls of sugar bombs at 
breakfast, sodas, ice cream, chips, excess cookies and other snackies. What’s a parent to do? Start 
by keeping the junk foods out of the house. We teach by example, if you eat healthy, your kids will 
too. If it’s not in the house, you’ll at least eat bad foods less often.

American children have recently come up short, literally. A paper by economic historian John Komlos 
and Benjamin Lauderdale in Social Science Quarterly, defines that Americans have become shorter and 
fatter than Western and Northern Europeans. In fact, the U.S. population is currently at the bottom 
end of the height distribution in advanced industrial countries. As the paper says, height is 
indicative of how well the human organism thrives in its socioeconomic environment. There is commonly 
a strong association between a country’s average height and per capita income. Yet something is 
allowing Americans to grow richer but not grow taller. The Dutch are currently the world’s tallest, 
nearly three inches taller than non-Hispanic American whites. Maximizing height in children requires 
adequate change in the reliance on fast food, rich in fat and calories but low in essential 
micronutrients. Plus, according to the paper’s authors, U.S. children consume more meals outside the 
home than do European children; America has turned into the Fast Food Nation.

UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) reported measurements of child 
well-being in 21 rich countries including evaluating health and safety, whether children eat fruit 
and are physically active, family and peer relations and many more markers, the U.S. ranked 20th of 
21 nations. Does this mean America doesn’t take good care of its children? Obviously, not meeting 
simple nutrient needs is only one of many challenges American children face.

Amino acids from protein foods like egg, poultry and lean pork, beef and lamb are not just brain 
food, they are mood food. Without adequate protein early in the day, kids don’t learn as well, 
doesn’t matter whether it’s figuring out how to stack blocks or decipher math. Additionally the 
chemicals that allow cells to talk to each other, the neurotransmitters, are also made of protein. 
Learning, memory, coordination, alertness are just a few of the control arenas that require 
adequate dietary protein. While beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains all contain protein building 
blocks of amino acids, none alone contain all the aminos a brain and a body need. So children 
raised on strict vegan diets can more easily become deficient in protein, iron and B12. This is 
especially true if they don’t eat beans every day.

According to the Child Trends Data Bank, the rise in childhood obesity, from 6% of children aged 
6 to 17 in 1980, to 18% overweight or obese in 2004, have caused the Surgeon General Richard 
Carmona M.D., to say it is the greatest threat to public health today. We’re seeing health 
problems in children that were unthinkable twenty years ago. Overweight children are at risk, 
not only of disease and disability but of social and psychological development negatively 
affected by bullying, teasing and rejection by their peers. Its obvious American families have 
a challenge promoting healthy eating and providing healthy food choices. Yet, the consequences 
of not doing it are grim. Obese kids most often become obese adults. With kids spending 6.5 hours 
DAILY watching TV or playing on computers or video games, activity (especially outdoors) has 
become another link in the health of every family member. It’s impossible to have a healthy 
child that is not an active child. Reading The Last Child in the Woods can give you insight on 
getting your kids outdoors and more active.

Dr Linus Pauling, two time Nobel Prize laureate stated, It is now recognized by leading workers 
in the field that behavior is determined by the functioning of the brain and that the functioning 
of the brain is dependent upon composition and structure. Easy, the brain is made of stuff and 
that stuff comes from your plate. Improving a child’s diet literally creates a different brain 
and thus different social behaviors. Every parent wants a happy, self-confident, socially flexible 
child. Great food choices can help both child and parent to enjoy excellent health.

Smart Kid Snacks

Frozen fruit, especially grapes and pineapple
Guacamole with raw veggies
Peanut butter on celery sticks
Air-popped popcorn
Boiled or deviled eggs 
Part-skim mozzarella cheese sticks
Hummus on whole wheat crackers
Nut and seed mix
Baked chicken legs
Plain yogurt with fruit