How Food Can Affect Your Child’s Mood?
Mar 19, 2024
Did you know that what your child eats or doesn’t eat can affect their mood and behaviour?
While we’ve all heard about sugar highs and the effects of food additives, have you ever considered how missing essential nutrients might play a role in your child’s behaviour?
For example, insufficient Vitamin B9 Folate can manifest as anxiety, tension, depression, and impaired memory.
And restlessness, anxiety, hyperactivity, and insomnia could be symptoms of a magnesium deficiency.
What about the physical signs such as rough dry patches on their skin, dull, dry hair, soft or brittle nails, and cracked lips, a sign they’re lacking essential fats?
The good news is that just by tweaking their diet and adding more nutritious food, they can boost their overall health.
NUTRIENT DEFICIT
To be healthy, your child’s body needs nutrients to work properly.
So, what are nutrients?
Nutrients are Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, Vitamins, Minerals and Water.
Think of these nutrients as the superhero squad for your child’s body. They help it grow, fix things up, keep the energy flowing, balance fluids, and make sure those bones stay superhero-strong and healthy!
When your child’s missing key nutrients, it’s like a game of imbalance. These imbalances don’t just throw a wrench into their physical and mental well-being; they also take a toll on their learning and development.
Especially if your child eats a lot of highly processed foods.
“Processed food” refers to food that goes through changes, like cooking, preserving, canning, or packaging.
Although not all processed foods are unhealthy, “junk food” typically refers to highly processed foods that are high in calories, sugars, salt, and unhealthy fats with little nutritional value.
These ‘empty calories’ provide no benefits to your child’s health and can contribute to obesity and hinder their learning, development, and mood.
NUTRIENT RICH
The main purpose of food is to provide energy and nutrients, which fuel your child’s growth and learning.
As a mum, do you know what nutrients your child needs and can you easily identify foods that provide these nutrients?
If not, don’t worry, you aren’t alone. It’s a mystery trying to decipher the jargon on food packets, and often, we just don’t have the time.
But it’s worthwhile learning more about nutrition because what you may assume is healthy or low-fat may not be.
If you’re curious about what your child needs or you’re wondering how food affects their mental health and sleep, take a gander at my latest article, “Food for Mood” in the Spring issue of Mums & Tots magazine, on sale now.
Read the digital version here for free on Magzter using my referral code https://magzter.page.link/Ts2KrRkdjZohp42j8
Much Love, Em x
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