Is It True that Children's Behavior is Influenced by Their Daily Food?

According to the American Psychological Association, in addition to the adequacy or lack of attention of parents, children's behavior is influenced by the food they eat as well. The reason, children who eat nutritious healthy food is usually able to cope with stress and manage emotions well. How can food affect a child's behavior? Check out the explanation below.

Children's behavior is influenced by food eaten daily

Each child needs good nutrition to grow. The American Psychological Association (APA) says that children aged 2 years and over need a healthy diet that includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy products. APA also recommends restricting your children from eating foods containing saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol and artificial sweeteners.

In addition to behavior, food also affects the child's cognitive development. For example, children who eat unhealthy foods are usually difficult to concentrate, tired easily, irritable and tend to face difficulties in learning. Worse yet, later they are predicted to cause behavioral and social problems. If parents get used to eating healthy foods in children from the beginning, chances are the child will have good behavior as adults, according to APA.

The behavior of a child with ADHD is also influenced by the food

APA also explains that there is an influence of food intake and the behavior of children with ADHD. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD disorder is a developmental disorder that affects children's behavior, attention, and learning.

A study published in the journal Pediatrics sees the role of eating healthy foods as something that can reduce the symptoms of ADHD in certain children. After the results were compared, researchers found that 70% of studies suggesting ADHD children eat healthy foods can actually help these children to reduce the symptoms of ADHD.

Avoid giving children foods containing trans fats

There are some foods to avoid, one of which is trans fat. Trans fats are a kind of synthetically produced fat. These fats are found in fast food, fried foods, packaged foods (such as biscuits or packaged chips) and baked goods.

In addition to increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke, trans fats can be linked aggressive behavior in children. As you know, aggression is an attitude that refers to the behavior of destructive things or toys and tends to be harmful if your child experiences this.

Research from the Public Library of Science in 2012 also says that foods containing trans fats, in general, can be categorized as poor food choices, potentially causing health problems and bad behavior in children later.

Give nutritious food to children every day

As mentioned above, the child's behavior is influenced by the food he eats. By providing healthy food, at least you have directed and kept the child's behavior to stay good and potentially reduce behavior problems.

So, you parents should keep and provide nutritious food. You can follow these simple tips in providing the following nutritious foods:

• At least give half a plate of vegetables and half a plate of fruit
• Also, avoid cooking food by baking or frying, you can steam or stir-fry food
• Replace soda or beverage packaging with mineral water
• Replace packaged snacks into snacks from seeds or nuts
• Provide healthy protein from animal meat, or at least eat 1 egg every day

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