Nuts and Children

Nuts and Children

Good nutrition is important for everyone, but particularly for children who have extra nutritional needs for growth and development. Ensuring that your child eats a well balanced diet which provides all of the essential nutrients they need can help them develop healthy habits, now and in the future.

Nuts are nutrient-rich foods which can make a significant contribution towards helping to meet the nutrient requirements of growing children, including:

Nuts allergies in children

Peanut allergy is the most common cause of serious food allergy reactions, affecting as many as one in 50 young children. Tree nut allergies are also growing, but are less common than peanut allergies. Around 20% of children with a peanut/tree nut allergy grow out of their allergy while around 20% worsen; the remainder stay much the same in terms of severity. It’s not possible to predict reliably who might get better or worse over time, but if the allergy persists into teenage or adult life it is very unlikely it will disappear.

Should nuts be banned from schools?

Many schools claim to be “nut free”, however a Nuts for Life commissioned Newspoll survey in 2012 found that 1 in 3 parents / guardians of school aged children (attending schools with nut free policies) reported either accidentally or intentionally sending their children to school with nuts and nut-containing products. No school can guarantee to be nut free and it is unsafe to do so. It may create a false sense of security and as a result student vigilance for checking foods and labels is reduced. Allergy awareness policies are needed in schools where allergic students attend. State Government school allergy policies in general do not recommend nut bans in schools.

Tips for including nuts in your child's diet

• Snack on mixed nuts and dried fruits.
• Use nut spreads as a sandwich filling or with celery.
• Add walnuts or pecans to cakes and muffins.
• Top a banana split with vanilla ice cream and chopped pistachios.
• Combine homemade popcorn with roasted cashews and almonds.
• Make a parfait with berries, yogurt, and crushed hazelnuts.
• Mix crushed macadamia or Brazil nuts with breadcrumbs for homemade nuggets.

References

This information was provided by Nuts For Life. For further information on nuts and health, refer to www.nutsforlife.com.au