Fat and Your Child
As with carbohydrates in recent years, fats have been wrongly accused of being “bad.” Some are definitely better than others, but certain kinds of fat are actually good for us and are an important part of a healthy diet.
Fats are nutrients in food that the body uses to build nerve tissue (like the brain) and hormones. The body also uses fat as fuel. If fats eaten aren’t burned as energy or used as building blocks, they’re stored by the body in fat cells. This is the body’s way of thinking ahead: By saving fat for future use, the body plans for times when food might be scarce.
Fat gives food flavor and texture, but it’s also high in calories and excess amounts of fatty foods (as with excess amounts of any food) can cause many health problem
Parents often wonder how their kids gain so much weight so quickly, especially when their diets aren’t that terrible. After all, your kids don’t need to be eating a big bag of chips, a double serving at each meal, or a bedtime snack every night to become overweight. Although that would usually do it, more often it is smaller things that creep up on you and a few extra calories add up day after day until your children become more and more overweight.
Adequate fat intake is essential to growth and development. Young kids, especially, need a certain amount of fat in their diets to help the brain and nervous system develop correctly.
Besides supplying fuel for the body, fats:
• aid in the absorption of some vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat soluble, meaning they can only be absorbed if there’s fat in a person’s diet)
• are the building blocks of hormones
• are necessary for insulating all nervous system tissues in the body
• help people feel full, so they’re less likely to eat as much
• Although some people may think it’s wise to try to cut fat altogether or excessively limit it, it’s crucial for fat to stay a part of a child’s diet.
• For young kids, especially, fat and cholesterol play important roles in brain development. And for those under 2 years old, fat should not be restricted. Starting at 2 years old, kids should eat a varied diet with about 30% to 35% of calories coming from fat. For ages 4 to 18 years, the recommendations are about 25% to 35% of calories.