Nutrition Information
One of the most important contributions we can make to our health is to eat the healthiest foods possible.
The ideal diet should be rich in whole foods and will promote optimum health and encourage vitality and energy. Nutritional issues for children include everything from fussy eating, poor food choices, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, to allergies and behavioural disorders. By knowing what foods to include and what to exclude from a child’s diet we can avoid many health issues. The early years can influence children’s relationship to food for many years to come – so it is particularly important to develop healthy attitudes and eating habits during this time.
Nutrition expert, Karen McElroy of Healthy Kids Naturally, sees the impact of nutritional deficiencies in her clinical practice.
“Most children start out healthy at birth and then in many cases, through poor eating and lifestyle patterns, their health starts to deteriorate. While illness is clearly a sign of a body under stress and strain, for many kids, nutrient deficiencies show up as more subtle problems such as fatigue, poor growth, learning issues and behavioural difficulties. It is my aim to restore the good health that children are blessed with at birth and help them to truly shine with vitality.”
Healthy Kids Naturally can help provide the right message to children, teachers and parents about the benefits of healthy eating. We can provide useful tools and strategies for implementing healthy choices into school canteens, kid’s lunch boxes and family meals.
“Real food really does promote real health. Being healthy doesn’t mean you have to endure boring, bland or weird foods. I am passionate about enjoying every aspect of food, from growing and buying it, to cooking and preparing it, and finally to eating it. Best of all, when you engage children in this process too, they learn firsthand all about whole foods and their benefits. They also learn about the cycles of nature and where food comes from."
Whole Foods v's Processed Foods
Whole Foods
Whole foods are foods that are minimally processed that come straight from nature. Whole foods include fresh fruit and vegetables, free range eggs, wild caught fish and fresh grass fed meats, whole dairy products, whole grains such as brown rice and nuts and seeds. Organic, locally sourced and sustainably raised & grown foods offer the healthiest options for us and our planet. The nutritional quality of the meat and eggs is superior when the animals are allowed to follow their natural diets and habits and it is more ethical and humane for the animals. Small scale mixed farms produce quality foods that are sustainable in our current climate of environmental challenges.
Processed Foods
The more a food is processed, the more nutrients are lost and generally more additives and preservatives need to be added. Processed foods include most breads, pastries, biscuits, commercial breakfast cereals, tinned fruits or vegetables, confectionary and preserved meats. When we move away from nature's laws we experience a loss of nutrients in our food. But it is not just in the processing and preparing of foods that we need to follow nature's lead. We should also avoid factory farmed animal products, such as grain fed beef and conventional poultry and pork that are not raised in free range and natural environments. These modern farming methods do not offer either good health, good ethics or good environmental practice.
