Nippers Nutrition

Fast food for thought... A child's attitude towards food frequently mimics that of their parents or carer - a reason why modelling healthier eating habits, forbidding food restriction and resembling a positive role model (etc!) plays such a predominant part in helping to prevent children from developing unhealthy habits, negative nutrition associations (think branding specific food sources as 'bad'), fussy food eating and an irrational relationship with food in later life. www.twitter.com/N_NutritionUK

Despite being largely preventable, dental decay continues to be the core cause of hospital admissions in young children, with 26,000 5-9 year olds and 9,000 pre-schoolers undergoing tooth removal in 2013/14 alone. In order to ensure that you reduce your youngster's risk of dental damage, decay and delayed speech development - a common concern connected to tooth extraction - here are our top ten tips for keeping your tot's teeth healthy... 1. Little'uns should have a limited intake of dried fruit (its sticky consistency sticks to teeth and contains a concentrated source of sugar), fruit juice/squash and smoothies (no more than 150ml a day for these three fluids singular and combined) as well as sugar sweetened drinks and sweet treats. If tots' do tuck into these favourble foods and fluids, always ensure that it's at mealtimes only in order to provide more protection against dental damage and decay. 2. Water and milk are the only sensible sources for tots' to

Although the troublesome tantrums that stem from tempting tots to try new tastes and textures may be tiring, introducing infants to unfamiliar foods doesn't have to deteriorate into another failed fight. In order to ensure that eating is an enjoyable experience for the whole family, here are ten fundamental facts to consider when faced with fussy food eating... 1. Offering unhealthy options after the shunning of a specific food source can cause children to become purposely (and persistently) picky in an attempt to acquire more favoured foods. 2. The first food refusal should never be seen as final - it can take up to 15* exposures before cautious children accept a previously avoided food. 3. Force feeding won't work - the aggressive attitude that's associated with this inappropriate action can not only drive children to develop a genuine dislike for their 'feared' food/s, but leave them less likely to sense their satiety signals (a sensation that signals a fee

Although many minors are starting their day with a bowl of breakfast cereal, this favoured (and often overeaten) food source commonly contains a substantial amount of salt and/or sugar per portion - the latter largely linked to obesity, dental decay and type 2 diabetes. In order to highlight how much one standard 30g serving of cereal can contain, we're taking a closer look at five of kids' favourites... 1.  Frosties: although tots' may be tempted by the talking tiger, the frosted flakes that he promotes are far from 'great' - particularly when they contain a staggering 11g of the sweet stuff and 0.25g of salt per serving. 2. Chocolate coco pops: coco and friends may claim to make breakfast more fun, but they also make morning meals far sweeter than they should be - this chocolatey concoction contains a colossal 9.0g of sugar and 0.23g of salt per serving. 3. Crunchy nut cornflakes: nuts may well make nutritious nibbles, but not when they're coated in

Fast fact... Basing dietary decisions on the calorie content of foods and fluids - an action that's currently being encouraged by Change4Life (the two snacks, 100 calories max campaign) in an attempt to aid our childhood obesity crisis - can still leave little'uns consuming unhealthy options. This is simply due to the fact that low-calorie food (and fluid!) sources can still contain a substantial amount of salt, sugar and/or saturated fat per serving (think the 89 calories and 15g of sugar found in six wine gum sweets), and resembles a root reason why we should be focusing on promoting a positive relationship with food (and the beneficial nutrients that certain sources contain), as opposed to teaching tots' to fixate on figures by banning them from specific food sources simply because we're told that they contain too many calories for children to consume.  www.twitter.com/N_NutritionUK