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Food and Nutrition Topics..

 
You are here : home > Food and Nutrition > Eating Disorders and Compulsions > 10 Signs of Nutritional Deficiencies in Kids

10 Signs of Nutritional Deficiencies in Kids


Nutritional Deficiencies in Kids
Surprisingly, even normal looking kids may have nutritional deficiencies. It is not easy to know unless you are aware of the signs and symptoms. Read on to learn about 10 signs of nutritional deficiencies in kids.

Sometimes even if parents put in their best efforts, children suffer from nutritional deficiencies. Some of you may have gone through such times, but for the parents who have not yet noticed or found their children deficient of one or more nutrient, it is better to get educated so that you provide your children the nutrients they actually need.
Some of the signs mentioned in the article might appear normal, but just make sure that they are not symptoms showing any deficiency in your kid. This is because sometimes normal looking habit or sign can be a sign of deficiency and if not attended on time, they might create any kind of problem in future.

Signs of Nutritional Deficiencies in Kids

Here are the 10 sings of nutritional deficiencies in kids.

1. Restlessness

Many of you might think that restlessness in kids is a good sign. However, hyperactive children have poor digestion and this makes hard for the body to absorb many nutrients. According to some research it is found that usage of food colours can cause restlessness in kids. Therefore, you should avoid or stop using artificial food colours and giving processed food to the child to avoid hyperactivity. Giving healthy food that aid in digestion might also help. You can add foods like papaya, yogurt and buttermilk in the diet of your child to aid digestion.

2. Mental Weaknesses

Mental weaknesses like depression and anxiety occur in brain and are results of nutritional deficiency. Proteins contain amino acids which are important for right functioning of brain. It is advisable to give your child protein from animal food as it is easily absorbed in body.

3. Dry Skin or Hair

Dry skin and hair shows that your child is deficient of Vitamin A, D, E and K2. Add high quality fat soluble vitamins to your child’s diet. You can also opt for supplements. However, you need to consult a paediatrician to find out if vitamin supplements can help.

4. Speech Problems

Normally, speech problems like delayed speech is related to heredity, but it indicates that your child might be deficient of Vitamin B12. It is advisable to give natural foods rich in vitamin B12 instead of going for a supplement. These foods are dairy products, eggs, pork, fish, chicken, beef and organ meats.

5. Crowded Teeth

Crowding of teeth is another example which is usually related to heredity. However, scientific researchers have shown that crowding of teeth occurs mostly due to nutritional deficiency. It is not just kids eating more processed food lack in proper dental spacing, but also kids whose moms did not pay attention to taking nutritional food during pregnancy, have poor spacing in their teeth. Children, who ate traditional food including rich fats, animal protein and properly cooked carbohydrates, had enough spacing in teeth and also had fewer problems when wisdom tooth erupted.

6. Dental Cavities

Usually parents relate cavities to excess of sugary products or candies. However, doctors are of the opinion that it is not what kids eat that cause cavities, but what they do not eat do. Children lacking in minerals and fat soluble vitamins develop cavities in their teeth.

7. Falling Ill Frequently

Many children get sick often, but changing diet makes a big difference. In fact, try to introduce traditional way of cooking and choice of foods. Also, instead of paying attention to any one nutritional deficiency, focus on providing all nutrients through food to your child. Her immune system will get better and she will not get sick easily.

8. Low Energy Level and Foggy Brain

Children who are deficient of iron get tired easily and also get sick and have foggy brain. Introduce foods like meats, nuts, seeds, vegetables, legumes and dried fruits to cover the iron deficiency in the body of your child.

9. Pain in Legs

A deficiency in calcium is often apparent during bed time. This is because at this time your child’s body slows down. The child get anxious, finds hard to sleep and experiences growing pain in legs. Give your child calcium rich food in different forms.

10. Obesity

Most of you might get surprised to see obesity in the list of nutritional deficiency. However, surprising it may seem but it is deficiency of proper nutrition that leads to obesity. Kids feel satisfied when they eat properly balanced food which includes animal products, milk, butter, cheese, fruits, vegetables and properly prepared grains.

What to Do to Improve Your Child’s Health?

Having perfect health is not possible because there are many factors that work behind. But you can definitely improve your child’s health by keeping away processed food and offering real and traditional foods so that your child feels satisfied also. Try to prepare food at home and make it nutrient-rich and delicious.
Along with paying attention to good and healthy food, you should also make sure that your kids have plenty of daily outdoor activities. This will also help them sleep better and have a good lifestyle as well. A healthy diet is the best way to receive nutrition for your child. Just keep in mind that supplements are mere back-ups and there is no substitute to real whole food diet. Remember, nutritional deficiency can hamper proper growth and development of your child and have significant effect on her overall health.

What are the causes of nutritional deficiencies in kids? How can parents identify nutritional deficiencies in kids? How to prevent nutritional deficiencies in kids? Discuss here.


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Stutee
Stutee.8 years ago
This article is an eye opener. I gotta share this with my friends at my kid's school (Orchids). Some of them dont carry much as to their lil' one's diet and such articles wd be good eye openers for them.
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Dhwani
Dhwani.8 years ago
It is very important to provide balanced diet to kids in order to prevent nutritional deficiencies. Strict "No" to processed foods.
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Dhwani
Dhwani.8 years ago
And also junk food should be avoided
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Hetal
Hetal.8 years ago
Nutritional deficiency can also give rise to poor academic performance and lack of concentration in kids.
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Preeti
Preeti.8 years ago
It is very important to look for the signs and symptoms of nutritional deficiencies other wise it may cause some health issue in kids.
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