Food for thought

Nutritional tips for children and families

Tip # 1: Water is the single most important step to health

If your child often complains of thirst, constant hunger, headaches, dry mouth and skin, low energy, tummy aches, constipation, muscle aches or cramps – reach for a glass of water!

Taking into account that they’ll need more on hot days or when exercising, children need about 2 to 3 pints of plain, still water, taken gradually through the day, not in one gulp.

Squash, juices, fizzy drinks, coffee and tea are all dehydrating drinks and some will strip the calcium and other nutrients from your child’s body so switch to simple, pure, free water.

Is your child refusing to drink plain water?

¨ explain to them what water does to their body and why it is so important

¨ start gradually by giving only diluted ‘pressed’ juice at mealtime only.

¨ squeeze a few drops of lemon into their water bottles

¨ you could start a reward chart and reward them (not with food!) when they drink their water

¨ don’t buy squash (with or without sugar) or any other fizzy, sugary drink- if it’s not available at home, they won’t ask for it and they will drink water (and will save you a lot of money!)

¨ make it a rule that they leave home in the morning having already drunk one glass of water with breakfast

¨ Lead by example – you will equally benefit from switching to water as your children!

Tip # 2 Healthy lunch boxes

Crisps, chocolate bars, sweet drinks/milks and cakes/biscuits are not going to give your child the energy they need to recuperate from a long morning of learning and will not sustain them for the rest of the afternoon. If anything, these foods will only make them sleepy after lunch as their bodies are trying to ‘deal’ with the overload of sugar, salt, bad fats, colourings and preservatives.

If your child is reluctant to try new foods and brings them back home, give it to them after school as a snack when they’re really hungry and don’t have to impress their peers.

Here are some lunch-box options:

¨ Replace white bread with wholemeal and make sandwiches with:

o Tuna+sweetcorn+mayo/tinned sardines in oil/tomato sauce

¨ When you roast a chicken or beef/lamb, freeze some of the cooked meat and put in sandwiches with lettuce/cucumber/tomatoes

¨ Always use butter instead of margarine

¨ Nut/seed butters (without sugar) are great in sandwiches

¨ Variation to sandwiches:

o Sushi

o Cut up vegetables and bits of pitta/bread sticks with houmous

o Omelette (with vegetables inside) cut in cubes and put through a wooden skewer/a plastic straw or in pieces in a box - keep it cool

o Falafel and houmous with vegetables

o Edamame/soya peas are great as a ‘side’–cooked for a few minutes

o Sweet potato wedges dipped in cream cheese (softened with a bit of milk)

o Rice cakes instead of bread

o Plain yogurt with fresh mixed berries

o Wholewheat pancakes with nut/seed butter inside

o Lots of fresh and dried fruits for pudding

¨ Avoid salty foods such as marmite (use occasionally and spread very thinly!), or smoked salmon, smoked meats. Cheese: occasionally as it’s also very salty.

¨ Non-organic ham and sausages are full of harmful nitrites (preservatives) and organic ham/sausages are loaded with salt, so have these only very occasionally!

¨ Lots of water only to drink.

Tip #3 You make the ‘healthy rules’

As parents and carers, we can help to ensure our children achieve an optimum level of health – through good eating habits.

Children will eventually get used to most food you give them, particularly if you explain to them why they are good for them and if they see you eat them daily. You cannot control what they eat outside the home, but you can make sure what you give them is part of your ‘healthy rules’.

Your growing children’s bodies crave nourishing, real food, not ‘empty’ foods full of sugar, salt, toxic fats and artificial ingredients that will put pressure on their organs and health.

If your child doesn’t eat much, make every mouthful you give them count! If your child eats a lot and has weight issues, they probably are eating too much ‘empty food’ and their body is actually craving real, nourishing foods.

Remember: you make the rules.

Tip #4 Bad and good fats

If your children crave salty and fatty foods like cheese, crisps, chips, this could be a sign that their bodies are actually craving ‘good’ fats. Without good fats in our diets, our and our children’s bodies will not be fully hydrated, our cells will not be healthy and our organs, immunity, hormones and all tissues in our bodies will suffer. Behavioural and mental health disorders have also been linked to lack of good fats in our diets and especially in low-fat diets!

Good fats:

¨ fish oils/oily fish such as salmon, fresh tuna, mackerel, sardines. At least twice a week for a child.

¨ olive oil – extra virgin, but not used for cooking – add at the end of cooking!

¨ Cold-pressed vegetable and nut oils: only used cold after cooking

¨ butter – unsalted and in moderation - great for cooking! (1-2 tsp per day for a child)

¨ unsalted butter, virgin coconut oil, ghee (clarified butter), duck and goose fat are the safest fats for cooking

¨ butters from nuts and seeds are very healthy and they make great snacks for kids spread on bread. Never heat them up.

Bad fats:

¨ all margarines and spreads – these toxic fats are used in baked goods and sweets as well so avoid them altogether.

¨ cooked and baked vegetable fats – again found in a lot of baked goods, cakes, ready meals etc. Vegetable fats have been linked to obesity and heart disease.

¨ burnt butter and animal fats on meat – remove obvious fat from meat before cooking it.

Tip # 5 It’s all about quality – not quantity

Children only have little stomachs and therefore should have small portions of food to keep them going. Therefore, making sure that each mouthful is healthy and fully nourishing will ensure that they get all the nutrients they need every day.

If they tend to eat all the time and want to nibble between meals, it might mean that the ‘empty’ foods they eat – crisps, chocolates, biscuits, cakes, white bread, sweets are not filling them with the right nutrients and their bodies are craving for ‘more’.

Tips to get more nutrition every day:

¨ switch white rice and white pasta and bread for wholemeal bread, pasta and brown rice. These wholegrains will be more filling and nourishing and will keep their energy going for much longer.

¨ Add a handful of nuts and seeds – plain, unsalted, raw – to their daily snacks and diets – add them in cereals, porridge, as a snack after school (making sure they don’t share them around in case of allergies!)

¨ Add some protein (fish, chicken, turkey, baked beans, houmous, nuts, seeds, plain live yogurt) to each meal – especially for breakfast. This will ensure their energy levels are steady all day. This can make a great difference to their learning and behaviour as well!

¨ Make sure at least a third of their daily food intake is in the form of vegetables and fruits – you won’t find those essential vitamins and minerals anywhere else!

Tip # 6 My child won’t eat vegetables!

Remember the tip about ‘healthy rules’ at home? Well, make sure you stick to them and eventually it will all become a habit for all at home.

Vegetables are crucial for giving your children the vitamins and minerals they need to improve their immune systems and to grow and learn. The nutrition they provide cannot be found anywhere else, so if you leave vegetables out of your child’s diet, it’s likely that they will be deficient in essential nutrients.

How do I get them to eat vegetables?

¨ get your child to take part in preparing food – this could be just washing the vegetables or cutting them (if they’re older) or choosing them at the shop. You could even have little pots on the patio or balcony, for them to grow their own!

¨ Find out about what each vegetable does to your body (ie: carrots are good for the eyes, broccoli is good for the heart, spinach and cabbage are good for immunity and blood etc) and give your child that information when cooking vegetables. Kids love to learn about their bodies!

¨ Make sure they eat all their vegetables before anything else on their plates – and especially before you give them any pudding!

¨ Colourful food is much more appealing to kids than boring white/brown food, so add colour to each meal by varying the vegetables – don’t just offer potatoes!

¨ Replace plain tomato pasta sauce with a vegetable sauce instead – like a thick soup to which you can add pasta or rice and then a bit of cheese!

¨ Make your Bolognese or plain tomato pasta sauce with other vegetables added to it – and then blend the lot – carrots, courgettes, mushrooms, spinach are great in pasta sauce. Then make sure they eat a lot of sauce, not just the pasta!

¨ Kids are normally hungry after school so will be more willing to try new things then. This is the best time to give them a healthy snack! (see next tip on healthy snacks)

Tip #7 Healthy snacks

As kid’s stomachs are little and can only take small portions at a time, they might need to replenish their energy after exercise, after school or after homework – away from meal times.

This is also when they are usually very hungry and the best time to introduce new healthy snacks.

Here are some tips:

¨ Before a meal, if your child starts acting up and showing hunger and low energy, give them some cut up vegetables. Even if it spoils their appetite a little, at least they’ll have had the vegetables!

¨ Ideas of healthy snacks: pieces of vegetables with houmous, nuts and seeds, fruits, dried fruit (dates, apricots, raisins), soups, yogurt with fresh berries, smoothies, cucumber and houmous sandwiches in wholemeal bread, fruit bars, avocado sandwiches in wholemeal bread, sushi, homemade sweet potato wedges with no salt, plain popcorn cooked in a tsp of butter, plain rice cakes with butter and fruit spread, or some cream cheese, houmous, avocado.

¨ Give them a ‘healthy snack’ before you give them any other treat like pancakes (homemade with wholewheat flour), wholemeal biscuits, butter-only pastries (without vegetable fat), wholemeal bread with a few pieces of dark chocolate, homemade pastries (with at least 50% wholemeal flour) and cakes.

¨ Make sure they drink water with their snacks.

Tip # 8 Sit down to a family meal once a day

Children often love sitting down with their family to have their dinner – it’s a great opportunity for them to discuss their day and for all to share a good moment. Meals should be an enjoyable – not stressful – daily event. No matter how healthy a meal, if your child is distracted by television or not paying attention to what’s in their plate, their body will not gain the same benefits as a meal shared with joy and enthusiasm!

This may also be a good time for you to explain to them what they will gain from the food they are eating (more energy, better learning, strength, growth etc) and what else they might want to eat the next day.

Tip # 9 Sugar or ‘no sugar’

White sugar is a man-made substance that will play tricks on your children’s moods and behaviour, energy levels, learning abilities. Sugar also strips their bodies of essential nutrients needed for their vital organs, bones, brain, and for general health and immunity.

‘No sugar added’ products like squash, sweets, gum, sugar-free yogurts and other treats, contain sweeteners such as aspartame and other artificial substances that have been linked to degenerative diseases, digestive disorders and behavioural and learning difficulties. The chemicals they contain also have a powerful impact on your children’s brains, to keep them ‘hooked’ on the products that contain them.

Healthier ‘sweet’ tips:

¨ sugar – whether ‘healthier’ or not – will cause tooth decay when eaten in between meals so limit to meal times only

¨ switch white refined sugar for unrefined, unprocessed raw sugar – when baking or cooking.

¨ Replace sugar with agave syrup, raw honey, date or other fruit syrup, maple syrup. These have a lesser impact on behaviour, moods and energy levels

¨ Use full sugar squash – only as an occasional treat – never sugar-free!

¨ Replace all fizzy, sugary drinks with water and occasional diluted fruit juice (unsweetened) at meal times.

¨ Fruit drinks contain sugar so opt for pressed fruit juice instead.

¨ Sweets contain sugar, sweeteners and bad fats, so should rarely feature in your child’s diet – if at all!

¨ Milk drinks and milkshakes also contain sugar, so take at mealtimes only occasionally

¨ Plain live yogurt with fresh berries or pureed fruits are a great alternative to sweetened yogurts. You could also add a handful of dried fruit or some raw honey.

¨ If your child craves sugar, make sure they have some protein at each meal (fish, lean meat, nuts, seeds, pulses, plain yogurt, cheese in moderation)

Tip # 10 Breakfast of kings

There are several reasons why breakfast is the most important meal of the day for the whole family:

¨ it’s been a long time since dinner and your child’s blood sugar is very low on waking. If your child wakes up grumpy, this is the reason!

¨ between 7am to 9am is when the stomach is at its most active, so it’s ready to receive and digest lots of good food!

¨ eating a good breakfast with protein in it keeps the energy going until lunchtime and prevent slumps of energy and hunger throughout the day

Here are some ideas for breakfast:

¨ water is the most important aspect of breakfast as your child is dehydrated on waking, so a large cup of room-temperature still water or very diluted pressed juice is great!

¨ make more vegetables for dinner than required for that meal and serve them for breakfast

¨ porridge oats with nuts and seeds with half a banana/other fruit

o cook porridge oats with coconut milk or almond milk for a more nutritious meal

o add 1tsp of raw honey if your child has a little cold

o vary the flakes you use: millet, brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat flakes

¨ bake your own bread if you can, adding protein in the mix: chickpea flour, quinoa flour, some brown rice flour..then use with beans, eggs, etc.

¨ wholemeal bread with baked beans (choose the reduced sugar & salt variety – but make sure there aren’t any sweeteners) and some vegetables

¨ pita bread with houmous and avocado/cucumber/tomato/salad

¨ pancakes with wholewheat flour with plain yogurt & fruits

¨ smoothie with coconut/rice/nut/cow’s milk with fresh fruit or frozen berries, one banana, a handful of oats, some nuts+seeds

¨ soups are great in winter – add pulses (lentils, beans) and lots of vegetables

¨ eggs on toast, scrambled, boiled, ‘soldiers’ etc with some vegetables

¨ plain yogurt with some oats + seeds and nuts and fruits

¨ omelette with sweet potatoes and vegetables

No time in the morning? Organise the night before on days you’re rushing, ie: prepare pancakes and only warm them in morning, keep soups, vegetables, omelettes from dinner and just warm them up in the morning. Smoothies are very quick, easy to make and drink, and you can add lots of very healthy ingredients to them!

Tip # 11 Portions

Children only have little stomach room so require small but frequent meals, rather than 3 large meals every day – please refer to tip # 7 healthy snacks. It is therefore important to make sure that however little their plates are, they are balanced and packed full of nutrients – no room for junk there!

A balanced meal will contain about 50% vegetables, 20% protein, 15% good fats, 15% carbohydrates.

¨ Children often regulate themselves naturally according to their appetite at the time, so do follow their cue when they stop eating their plates but make sure it’s not just boredom or distractions

¨ It’s fine to encourage them to finish their plates if you know they might get hungry within an hour of finishing their meal, but don’t make it an issue every meal, or meal-times might become too stressful for them and you.

¨ Children go through periods of growth when they will be ravenous, and this is the best time to focus on very healthy, nourishing foods and good quality proteins to help with their growth.

¨ When children’s appetites decrease, this could be caused by fatigue, illness, or sometimes nutrient deficiencies. Do check with your GP or a Nutritional Therapist if it last longer than a couple of weeks.

¨ Making sure they drink plenty of water during an illness is the most important help you can give your child and never force them to eat if they have a fever or are feeling ill or nauseous.

¨ If your child is constantly hungry and putting on a lot of weight, consider whether they receive sufficient nutrition through their diet or whether they are eating too many ‘empty’ calories from junk.

¨ Never put a child on a diet. Diets change the fragile chemical balance of a child’s (and adult) brain and will trigger a lifelong struggle with food. Consult a Nutritional Therapist for advice.

¨ Consult a Nutritional Therapist for advice on frail or overweight children.

Tip # 12 Top 5 healthy tips so far

¨ Water is the healthiest single step to health for your child and the whole family. With warm days upon us, make sure your child drinks 1 to 1 ½ litres of pure, still water every day. If their wee has a strong smell and is dark yellow, if they suffer from headaches, dry skin/lips, low energy, constant hunger, they are likely to be dehydrated.

¨ Good fats are essential for vitality and lasting health. Good fats are: fish oils: salmon, trout, fresh tuna, sardines, mackerel; flax/linseed oil – used only cold in smoothies, on salads. Avoiding bad fats is equally important: cooked vegetable oils in biscuits, cakes, pastries, ready-meals; transfats in margarines and ‘spreads’. Safe to cook: butter, butter-ghee, palm oil, virgin coconut oil, goose and duck fats – add olive oil only at the end of cooking!

¨ Vegetables contain more vitamins and minerals than any other food and are essential to your child’s health. Involve kids in choosing, growing, cooking, tasting. Show the right example by eating lots of vegetables in front of them and explaining why they are so important. Make sure they have at least 5 portions of vegetables (fruits are on top of that!) per day.

¨ Breakfast of kings: including proteins for breakfast will help keep your child’s energy levels steady all day. This will ensure they don’t feel low and peckish all the time. Breakfast is also a great opportunity for you to include vegetables and savoury foods into your child’s diet, as opposed to cereals that give them very little nutrition and lots of sugar and salt that will sap their energy and vitality.

¨ Snack time is a great opportunity for you to introduce vegetables, fruits and wholesome foods into the children’s diet. Give them cut up vegetables with houmous, homemade popcorn with a few drops of agave syrup, sandwiches with salad/tomato/vegetables on wholemeal bread, sweet potato wedges, nuts and seeds, plain yogurt and fruits - are just a few examples.

Reaching your fitness goals through nutrition

It’s time for a checkup.

Are your New Year’s resolutions to exercise more and stick to a ‘good’ diet fast becoming a fading memory?
Has the lack of tangible results (toning, weight management, energy levels) made you reach for the comfort food and the TV remote?

Don’t throw in the towel just yet! With the help of wholesome, nourishing and energy-giving foods, there are ways of making these hours on the treadmill count!

Here’s an easy-to-follow list of tips that will maximize the effect of your exercise programme and help you reach your goals.

Forget diets - you need calories to burn calories! Your body’s metabolism* is like a great fire that needs constant fuel to keep it burning. When you increase your exercise/activity levels and you starve yourself at the same time, your metabolism slows way down to conserve the little energy it has. So in addition to preventing you from losing the weight, this starvation will exhaust you and prevent you from exercising effectively.
Hydration is vital for energy! A dehydrated body will be too exhausted to think - let alone spend an hour spinning! Two litres of water every day (spread throughout the day, not in a few big gulps) will prevent the accumulation of dehydration and is much safer and more effective at getting rid of nasty toxins than any detox program. On exercise days, make sure you top up your 2 litres during and after your workout. Sports drinks are full of chemicals and very high in sugar and can send your blood sugar on a rollercoaster, which in turn will increase your cravings, so limit your use of these. Alternatively, make your own chemical-free sports drink: 500ml fruit juice (not from concentrate) diluted with 500 ml water and a pinch of salt.
Eat energy-giving foods before a workout. Complex carbohydrates like wholemeal pasta and bread, brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes and quinoa, eaten with a little protein in the form of nuts and seeds, lean meats (turkey, chicken, fish) will give you lasting energy. Make time to eat up to two hours before a workout, and munch on a high-energy banana up to half an hour before a longer session for a quick top up.
Don’t forget protein! Proteins (lean meats, nuts and seeds, dairy foods, quinoa) will help you to build and repair muscles for a lean and toned body! They also keep your blood sugar level, which will prevent you from snacking - so make sure you have a variety of proteins at each meal – and don’t forget that includes the most important meal of the day: breakfast!
Good fats are essential for life and energy. Low-fat diets are never nourishing or filling and they make you crave fatty foods (chocolate, cheese, fried food, crisps). So eat good fats every day, including essential fatty acids from omega oils like fish oil and flax oil – even a little butter – full-fat dairy products and saturated fats once in a while. Stay away from margarines or vegetable oil spreads, as they add zero nutritional value and don’t get utilized for energy. They only add toxins, go straight to your waistline, and can clog those important arteries!
Recovery is key. Make sure you drink extra fluid after your workout and eat a combination of carbohydrates and protein within two hours following exercise. My personal favourite is a banana with a dollop of peanut butter on top or a couple handfuls of unsalted, raw almonds – yum!
Throw away the scales! Constantly weighing yourself can become very stressful and depressing, especially since muscle is heavier than fat! So the more toned you become, the likelihood that you might be a little heavier on the scales. Go by how your clothes fit. Bearing that in mind, you might want to reconsider if your goal of slimming down is unrealistic – just aim for healthy, energetic and fit instead!

Planning to run a marathon this Spring?

6 tips for good nutrition while training for a marathon:

Dehydration is one of the top two reasons runners ‘hit the wall’ during a marathon: Don’t wait to be thirsty to take a drink, as thirst indicates that you are already partially dehydrated! Drink up to 250/300 ml of fluid every 20-30 minutes on a long run and make sure you drink at least two litres of water every day.
If you’re on a long run of over one hour, water will quench your thirst too quickly before you’re fully re-hydrated, so opt for either a sports drink or make your own (see the recipe above).
For a run longer than one hour, you need to not only replenish your fluids but also to refuel with carbohydrates. Choose a sport drink, or gels and water, or food and water.
Be careful not to mix water and sports drinks. You will only be diluting the carbohydrate (energy) from the sports drink, which will delay the supply of energy to your muscles.
Eat complex carbohydrates (whole grains, wholemeal bread and pasta, quinoa) during training. Use simple carbohydrates (glucose, sugar, dried fruits) during a long run/marathon, for a quick supply of energy.
Don’t forget protein and good fats! Athletes tend to focus too much on eating lots of carbohydrates for energy, but protein and good fats (omega 3 oils in particular) are essential for muscle repair, hormone production and balance, good skin, and healthy, well-lubricated ligaments and joints.

*metabolism: The rate at which an organism transforms food into energy and body tissue.

References:

International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) (2007), Nutrition for athletics: The 2007 IAAF Consensus Statement.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) (2004), Consensus on Sports Nutrition, 2003, J Sports Science, vol 22 (1): X
Bean, A. The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition, 2009
Dr F. Batmanghelidj. Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, 2000
Erasmus, U. Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, 17^th printing. 2006

Weaning your child

Building baby's immunity and preventing

fussy eaters

As a mum, if you haven't already been spending the first few months of your baby's life agonising over what you and your child are eating, weaning might be the next stage when you feel a little inexperienced and anxious to do the right thing. From personal and professional experience, I have learnt that weaning is one of the most important stages in a child's life, one that might even determine whether your child might suffer from food intolerances, allergies, low immunity or may become a fussy eater.

When shall I wean my baby?

Most parents I see in my practice worry about the 'right time' for introducing their babies to solid foods. As a lot of today's modern ailments stem from impaired digestive systems, I would really encourage you to hold off for as long as six months. Rushing your baby before they are ready might bring problems with food intolerances, allergies and reduced absorption of nutrients, which may compromise their immunity. This is particularly true if there's a history of allergies in your (or dad's) family.

In addition, forcing babies to eat when they are too young, can put them off food and create fussy eaters.

On the other hand, it isn't advisable to leave weaning later than six months, as vital nutrients like zinc and iron need to be supplied through food, as baby's 'stores' start to run out by that age.

When small babies are hungry

Parents often notice their four or five month old baby suddenly becoming hungrier and waking up more often during the night for an extra feed. If you are breastfeeding, increase the amount of nuts, seeds, oily fish and vegetables in your own diet, as your milk might just be lacking in nutrients. Also, your milk will adapt to baby's needs so just give it a few days to keep up with the increased demand while adding more nutrition to your own diet.

What first foods should I give my baby?

The first foods you give your child are very important for various reasons. They obviously provide some essential nutrition and sustenance, but also seem to 'set the tone' for your child's future taste preferences. For instance, babies who eat mainly sweet fruits and vegetables as their first foods tend to develop a sweet tooth later on, while those given more bland, savoury foods are less likely to do so. Of course, what tastes bland to us will provide plenty of taste to your baby's new taste buds, as they have not had years of salt, sugar, flavourings' and other additives that have numbed our own adult taste buds.

The best foods to give your baby as it starts exploring food are:

From 6 to 9 months:

Mostly green, leafy vegetables (broccoli, green cabbage, kale, beetroot tops, watercress, parsley and peas), other vegetables except potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines and peppers that are more likely to create allergic reactions.
Some fruit except citrus fruits and berries.
A little dried fruit (unsulphured apricots, dates, raisins without oil coating)
A little organic poultry and meat, some fish, except shellfish.

From 9 to 12 months:

Introduce gluten-free grains and pulses, but soak them overnight or sprout them first to ease digestion: millet, brown rice, quinoa, buck wheat. Flakes are great for porridge mixed with a little water.
Continue with lots of vegetables and slowly include some potatoes, tomato, aubergines and peppers.
Small portions of fruit and dried fruit as well as a little protein from lean, organic meat, poultry, fish and some egg yolk.
From 12 months, carefully introduce ground nuts and seeds and their milks, but watch baby for potential allergic reactions (up to a few hours after eating them).

12 to 24 months:

Introduce gluten grains like oats, a little whole-wheat (bread, pasta, flour), rye and some dairy products, preferably goats' cheese, milk, yogurt.
Introduce whole eggs from about 18 months and watch for potential reactions.

Top tips for healthy feeding:

Water is very important: get baby used to a beaker or bottle of pure, filtered water with food or in between meals. Diluted fruit juices from about one can be used occasionally but water is best at any age.
Milk: breast or bottle-fed babies will naturally reduce their milk intake to about 25% of their diet by about age two. Don't replace meals with lots of milk, as this will reduce their appetite and nutrient intake.
Add flax oil to a baby's food from six months - 1 tsp/day at six months, 2 tsp/day from two to three years. Flax oil is very rich in the essential omega 3 fat, very important for brain and immunity development. Mix in yogurt, milk or fruit compotes. Never heat flax oil as it becomes toxic.
Combine foods properly: many of babies' colic's or stomach upsets when they first eat solid foods can be avoided by keeping milk and milk products away from other foods. This will ease digestion, which can be quite slow and difficult in small babies. Children of all ages prefer simple meals.
Avoid pork products: pork is the hardest meat to digest, and is often packed with salt, nitrites and other harmful preservatives.
Never add salt, sugar, additives, soy sauce, or other flavourings to baby's foods. Use fresh herbs and homemade stocks freely for flavour and additional nutrients.
Don't force children to eat certain foods, but keep trying rejected foods regularly. It sometimes takes ten tries before a child accepts a food!
Make meals a relaxing, fun time: babies (and adults!) thrive in a relaxed atmosphere and tend to eat better in calm environments. Let baby take their time, and chew their food well.

See a professional Nutritional Therapist for further help and recommendations on your children's diets.

Sources:

Healing with whole foods, Paul Pitchford, third ed. 2002
Optimum nutrition for babies and young children, Lucy Burney, 1999.
Staying healthy with nutrition, E. Haas, MD. 2006.
They are what you feed them, Dr Alex Richardson
Gut and Psychology syndromes, Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, Cambridge: Medinform Publishing, 2004.

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