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Focus on the right fatty foods

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Jack Sprat could eat no fat, His wife could eat no lean has been in English literature since the early 1600s and appeared in Mother Gooses Melody in 1765. Young children could tell you that Jack was very, very thin and his wife was fat. Fat as a food or energy source has been known to be associated with fat bodies. Fat has become somewhat of a dirty word because of its relationship with shaming and bad health, such as heart disease, strokes, fatty livers, painful joints, diabetes, etc., etc., etc.
It may come as a surprise for some that fat is an essential food. Fats are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, like carbohydrates but in different arrangements. This makes them easier to store and be available when the sugars of the carbohydrates are used up. Fats are divided chemically into saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats tend to come from animal fats (beef, pork, ham, whole milk, ice cream) and unsaturated tend to come from vegetables. Trans fat is an artificial fat made from vegetable oils in the early 1900s. It has been found to be significantly unhealthy and has been banned from foods since 2020. Small amounts may be found in highly processed foods, so read your labels.
Parents of infants and preschoolers should not aim for low-fat meals for two basic reasons. Low-fat diets may actually promote unhealthy weight gain, especially if dietary fats are replaced with added sugars. Second, but equally important, is that fat is an essential part of a well-balanced diet and critical for a childs growth and brain development.
It has been said that the brain is a hungry organ. The adult brain makes up about 2% of the bodys weight but uses 20% of the energy. In an infant, the energy used by the brain is 65% of the energy available. Maybe this is why they sleep so much and why starving infants have permanent injury to their brains development.
Childhood is the best time to start heart-healthy eating habits. However, adult goals for cutting back on total fat and saturated fats are not generally meant for children younger than two years. Fat supplies the energy or calories for brain growth and active play. After age two, children should be served foods that are lower in fat and saturated fats.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 12:06 am

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