The world is still under the grips of the pandemic. The ongoing scenario has been tough on everyone, but it is harsher for small children and adolescents’ emotional and mental health. The reasons are quite clear. They have been confined to their homes for more than a year now. No visits to their schools, nor are they getting any chance to play in the playgrounds in their residential localities with their neighbourhood friends.
Dietitian Avni Kaul says that these prolonged restrictions not only affect your child’s or adolescent’s physical health due to the lack of physical activities such as playing outdoors or indulging in other outdoor activities but also impacts your little one’s mental health too. Everything works in a synchronized way. Good health is a combination of physical, mental, and emotional health and they are all interlinked. If any of those is missing, then it affects your child’s growth.
Further, the prolonged online classes mean your child is forced to spend more on-screen time. The rays from the mobiles, tabs, and computers further make things complicated for they affect mental health significantly.
However, there are certainly healthy ways, in spite of the ongoing restrictions, that could help your child’s or adolescent’s mental or emotional health. And nutritious food is one of them.
India’s top child nutritionist and Dietitian Avni Kaul talk about brain foods that will keep your child and adolescent emotionally healthy.
Protein-rich foods
Proteins play an important role, particularly when it comes to optimizing brain health. If you are a vegetarian, you have a lot of options to select from a variety of legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, peas, beans, soybeans, peanuts, etc. You can also make paneer and soya chunks for your kids as a part of their daily diet along with milk. If you are a non-vegetarian then try to include eggs in the breakfast.
Colourful vegetables
Vegetables are high in B Vitamins that are essential for the growth and maintenance of neurotransmitters and brain health. Be sure to include tomatoes and bell peppers in your kid’s sandwiches and salads, prepare snacks using sweet potatoes, opt for pumpkin and carrot, cook spinach and mustard greens. The idea is to have a colour-rich palette for your small and grown-up kids.
Fruits
Banana is not just packed with essential nutrients, it also acts as a great stress-buster. Include any form of berries as they are high in anti-oxidants as well as Omega-3 fatty acids.
Dry fruits
Keep giving your small kids or adolescents dry fruits such as almonds, walnuts, sunflower, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds. If your children do not like to eat dry fruits, crush them and add them to shakes, desserts, and porridges. Walnuts are especially beneficial for health as they contain rich DHA, polyunsaturated omega-3 acids besides vitamin E and polyphenols. Some studies also point out that walnuts are helpful in improving learning skills and memory and lowering anxiety.
Whole grains
Whole grains such as oats are a brain fuel. Get creative by including oats in your kid’s daily diet. You can make chilla, dosa, a pancake, and masala porridge to skip the monotony of plain oats. Besides oats, prepare vegetable pulao using brown rice. Replace plain wheat flour with multi-grain flour for better health.
Hydration
Your child should never drink insufficient water for it keeps the children alert throughout the day. Give them milk, yogurt, or coconut water at regular intervals as these not merely hydrate but also provide a healthy dose of vitamins, probiotics, and antioxidants.
Besides the above-mentioned things, it is important that your child gets a good night’s sleep for emotional and mental health. They should follow a consistent pattern by going to sleep early at the same time every day.
