Julie Dean's daily nutrifix

Children drink too little in hot weather

In today’s Daily Express, the well known nutritionist Anita Bean (she has written some great books on nutrition and sports for children!)   Click here for Anitas web stie. reported on a recent survey that children are not drinking enough during this hot weather. 

Im not surprised by the findings -  children do tend to be more at risk than adults of becoming dehydrated as they’re generally more active and may have difficulty recognising when they’re thirsty.  Having a variety of drinks including water, juices and squash readily available is the best way to keep children hydrated this summer. 

Did you know….?

• Children need proportionally more fluids than an adult
• Children do not always respond to thirst. Often they are just not bothered to stop what they’re doing, they may not have access to fluids or simply don’t like what is on offer!
• Dehydration in children may cause a lack of concentration and poor short term memory, fatigue, dry skin, irritability, craving sugar, less urination (dark coloured urine) and is a common cause of constipation
• Children will often grow at a faster pace in the summer versus the winter adding to their hydration needs
• All soft drinks can contribute to daily fluid needs including fruit juices, squashes, water and fizzy drinks
• Drinks will vary in their sugar content so by having different drinks throughout the day, it is easier to balance energy and hydration needs
• Although an excellentorm of hydration, drinking only water can become boring. Research shows that if children enjoy what they are drinking they are more likely to voluntarily stay hydrated

 

Hydrate to activate

When the suns out – its great to encourage as much out door play as possible and with both Wimbledon and cricket on the TV children can become really inspired!  The only watch out is to make sure they drink enough – they can find it quite a chore to keep topped up! But persevere because keeping hydrated really does have benefits, not only for their sporting performance but for concentration, alertness and also their general mood. When the temperature rises so does our need for fluid  but combine this with more activity and you really do have to plan ahead.

To help keep young ones hydrated:

• Don't wait until they say they are thirsty – make drinks readily available and remind them to stop and drink
• Pack a drink in their sports bag -  remind them they will perform better if they have a drink before, during  and after activity

Strawberries and Cream

Strawberries

 

Thank goodness for Wimbledon – I may not be a die hard tennis fan (I never really got over Bjorn Borg’s retirement  ..!) but I love the tradition and excitement which builds up around the event and of course bring on the strawberries. A luxury we really can feel good about indulging in – a small bowl (150g) only contains about 45 Kcals and they are an excellent source of Vitamin C – a massive 82 mg – more than your total daily requirement!

 

Technically strawberries are not actually a fruit but are classified as a “false fruit” but a portion does count as one of your five portions fruit and vegetable per day – so enjoy!

 

I love them on their own or mixed with other summer berries but if you have to have them the traditional way with cream – you may need to think about those extra calories..!.

 

A tablespoon double cream – 112 Kcals

1 table spoon clotted cream – 146 Kcals

A tablespoon of single cream – 50 Kcals

One scoop (60g) of vanilla ice cream – 116 Kcals

125g  natural yoghurt – 75 Kcals

 

 

Post on Dulwich Mum's blog

I’m sure many follow the extremely engaging Dulwich Mum blog and I couldn’t help but laugh at her recent post on Fruit Shoot – yet another classic post from the Lady of Dulwich. She need not worry thought Freya is quite correct – there are no artificial colours, flavours or added sugar in Low Sugar Fruit Shoot……!!

Fruit Shoot

Recently the Fruit Shoot team sent out some of the new range for various mums to try so thought I’d give you all a brief update. 

We’ve had some great feedback from dulwichmum,  and littlemummy whose daughter Erin was particularly keen on the rucksack the drinks came in.  The Fruit Shoot team back at Britvic HQ are poring over the feedback so they can continually improve the drinks.  As always if you have any questions on Fruit Shoot or anything on nutrition then please don’t hesitate to leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Netmums Chatter

 

 

 

I’ve noticed there has been some chat on Netmums around drinks for young children and in particular the value of Fruit Shoot. My heart goes out to mums over all the anguish around what to give young children to drink – we mums are meant to understand so much!

 

 I wish this communication was around when my girls were young – they are teenagers now so I should probably find a site to help me!

 

Being a qualified nutritionist helps me in one area at least when it comes to being a mum! My advice is that pre school children need to be encouraged to drink a little and often – the best choices would be milk, diluted fruit juice andwater but well diluted squashes are fine for this very young group too. All Robinsons drinks are free from artificial flavours and colours.

 

The issues are different once they start school, mainly because they often then do not drink enough – they are simply too busy with all their activities, can’t be bothered or don't like what’s on offer.  This is where drinks like Fruit Shoot, designed for on-the-go, can play a valuable role.

 

When it comes to ingredients and making choices – you do need to consider the needs of your child at that particular time and in the context of what they are doing that day. To me it’s all about variety – we tend to go for the 100% juice at breakfast or lunch - because it’s a convenient way of having  one of your five a day. If I want my girls to have some energy as well as good hydration – such as when they come out of school and go straight to a sports activity I'm happy for them to have drinks with  some sugar such as a regular Robinsons squash or a Fruit Shoot.

  

When it’s purely hydration they need (sometimes this can be mistaken for hunger!) then they might go for an artificial sweetened drink. I think artificial sweeteners are overly criticised and misunderstood. They can actually have a very valuable role in making great tasting products which are virtually calorie free. The sweetener aspartame is one of the most thoroughly tested ingredients of all time (just last month another report from the European Food Safety Association, has once again given it the all clear).  In reality aspartame brings nothing new to the diet. It is made up of two amino acids –which are the building blocks of protein – and you will find these amino acids naturally occurring in many foods. The amino acids are incredibly sweet – in fact these same amino acids are found in breast milk and they contribute to its sweetness -  so only a very small amount is needed to be added to drinks to get some sweetness.

 

As with all things its balance and moderation and helping your children to make good choices – simply banning a food can often make it even more desirable.

 

One final point I wanted to touch on that was raised in the Netmums forum was the ingredients in Fruit Shoot.  A list of the ingredients was posted in the forum; however this was actually an outdated list as none of the Fruit Shoot products contain sodium benzoate.

 

If you’d like to have more information on the Robinsons range, or ingredients, click here and do please get in touch if you want more advice.

 

 

Sweet news on Aspartame

Most of us enjoying keeping hydrated by choosing a variety of drinks through the day ranging from water to pepsi. I tend to balance those which contain sugar and/or fruit juice to give me some energy as well as hydration with those  which are sugar free but which contain artificial sweeteners. The option to choose drinks with artificial sweeteners is very helpful when you want hydration but not the calories. However some people are concerned about the safety of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame - in spite of it being one of the most thorough researched food ingredients of all time. We can be further reassured  by a recent report (a report that received no media coverage, probably because it was too positive!) was that the European Food Standard Agency (EFSA) published the results of an extensive review of the research looking into the use aspartame. The EFSA Panel concluded:

 

"... on the basis of all the evidence currently available including the last published ERF study that there is no indication of any genotoxic or carcinogenic potential of aspartame and that there is no reason to revise the previously established ADI for aspartame of 40 mg/kg bw/day."

Support Breakfast!

I’m such a believer that breakfast is such an important meal especially for children and numerous studies show that if children start the day with some food and have something to drink their concentration and alertness is improved.

However according to a report last week, the most popular brands of breakfast cereal - including those targeted at children contain too much sugar. This report was widely reported on by the media which in the main part was very negative for breakfast cereals. In my opinion much of the coverage was misleading and may stop mums giving their children breakfast cereals all together. Yes there is sugar in some of children's breakfast cereals but per portion when served with milk this is not such a large part of their GDA for sugar. It is ridiculous to compare with the sugar in a chocolate bar because most of these cereals also supply young children with much needed mineral and vitamins and some contain wholegrain fiber as well as the goodness from the milk.

Giving children something they enjoy at breakfast helps to encourage the sensible and lifelong habit of making time for breakfast. As they get older their tastes change and they tend to move on from the more child like cereals but the breakfast habit is there.

Its thirsty work..

My heart goes out to the children taking their key stage 2 sats exams this month. In spite of all the best intentions, getting them to bed early, making sure they are eating proper meals and encouraging them to keep hydrated, it can be so very stressful for them and their parents. Good luck!

Drink Up

Lots in the news today about what we are drinking. Of particular interest is the study on children from the University of East London shows that drinking water has a direct link to children performing better in tests. Sounds simple but so often overlooked – as children so often go for long periods without stopping for a drink. In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers looked at the effects of water on the performance of 58 children between 7 and 9 years old. Half the group were given a 250ml glass of water and both groups then took a variety of tests 20 minutes later.

The children who had consumed the water performed up to a third better than the children who hadn’t. This is one of the first studies of its kind and clearly demonstrates the importance of drinking water and the boost it offers to cognitive performance. As water accounts for a larger proportion of children’s bodies compared to adults, making water depletion more likely, it is even more important to keep children adequately hydrated.

Children should drink about 6-8 glass per day – and all soft drinks will count. It can sometimes be hard to get kids to drink enough, they are often just to busy and having fun so can’t be bothered or they simply don’t like what is on offer. Variety, enjoyment and always having something available are key. Look at labels to choose whether you want a low sugar drink, which is perfect for hydration or with added sugar when a pick me up is needed.