Riya, a 8 years old sweet but pale looking girl, with dullness on her face walked to the consulting room with her parents. The reason to seek my consultation was, 'their daughter was not gaining weight according to her age.' In the history taking I came to know about the recurrent worm infestation & constipation. Then my very next question was about her diet, “She doesn’t like to eat roti-sabzi, daal-chawal much so I make her favourite veggie sandwich, cheese burger, french fries, milkshakes everything at home & try to incorporate maximum nutrition in her diet, we don’t give her outside food.” her mom said (proudly), “Also, we give her de-worming medicine every 6months!” her dad added. After a long session of counselling I was able to make them understand that only medicines are not enough but the root cause, ‘the diet’ needs to be corrected.
Being an Ayurveda physician I come across many such parents who are concerned about their child's diet. Kids not eating properly would generally make them worried about child's nutritional needs. Hence, many kid friendly recipes evolve by blending various food items together. Still the problem does not get solved always... So, today we will learn about your biggest concern & challenge... “Your Kid’s Diet!” from Ayurveda's perspective! Let us start from the body composition of your child. 'Baalyavastha', the childhood (age below 16 years) has predominance of ‘Kapha dosha.’ Hence, children are more prone to ‘kapha disorders.’ One of which is worm disorder majorly found which hampers the appetite, digestion & bowel habits & causes allergies, skin diseases, frequent cough cold etc. Here, we must know that giving only de-worming medicine regularly is not the solution but to avoid the food causing worm infestation should be encouraged. In Ayurveda following things are said to vitiate ‘kapha’ & are causative factors of worms: ➢ Stale food : You would say... “Naah! We don’t give left over or stale food to our children... Never!” But if you really think the packaged food like biscuits, bread, canned juices etc food items with added preservatives also act like stale food & are harmful to the body. In Ayurveda texts it is quoted, “ushnam ashniyat|” here ushnam means not just hot but freshly prepared. Hence, 2mins noodles or soups prepared by adding hot water or frozen food heated in microwave & served hot doesn’t fit in fresh food category.
Therefore, cooking meals from fresh ingredients, minimizing use of refrigerators & serving fresh & hot food to your children would certainly improve their digestion & appetite. ➢ Viruddha aahara : Have you ever checked the back side of the label of the health drink or cereals you are giving to your child. If you look at the ingredients, most of them contain salt. viruddha + aahara means wrong combination of food ingredients. According to Ayurveda milk should never be combined with salt. Hence, these health drinks or cereals, anything containing salt with milk becomes a wrong combo & if taken regularly, affects your child’s health. Hence, be wise before choosing any product for your child. Instead of these marketed health drinks you can always opt for Ayurvedic health supplements for your child with your Ayurveda physician's consultation.
Coming to the milkshakes & ice-creams, ‘fruits (except mangoes) + milk’ combination is also considered as Viruddha & harmful to health. Hence, frequent consumption should be avoided & Milk should be taken with a gap of min 3 hrs of consuming other opposite food items as explained above. ➢ High Sugar & Carbs intake : Nowadays, parents are more obsessed with the western food culture, they feed their children by calculating calories, vitamins & proteins etc. but, forget to follow traditional food culture. Bakery products like cookies, breads, Dairy products like cheese, yogurts, high carb veggies like potatoes, candies, chocolates, jaggery in excess causes your child’s digestion power weak leading to further disorders. Now, all of you must be wondering what to include in your child’s diet if all what is mentioned above is not healthy...
I would suggest go back in the time, stick to the traditional cooking style, follow your mother’s & grandmother’s recipes. No recipe in that time was instant or no dish was preserved with artificial chemicals. Hence, their generation was much healthier than this new generation.
Introduce all six rasas (tastes) i.e. sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, astringent gradually in your child’s diet.
Last but not the least, One of the most common complaints of modern era parents, “My child does not eat without watching cartoons on tv or mobiles...”
➢ Tanmana bhunjeet। : Ayurveda says food should be eaten with peaceful mind. Do not laugh or talk while eating. This is very important for the proper digestion. Engaging mind in something else while eating leads to indigestion & poor assimilation. Hence, Don’t get them used to it, make sure everyone else in the family should follow the same.
There are lot many things which can be easily followed at home for a healthy living. I share information and my experiences on my You tube channel here.
We need to start from ourselves, try to incorporate these small but healthy changes in your diet & your children will surely follow.
Have a happy & healthy parenting! :)