BULLI NUTRITIONIST AND NATUROPATH LISA MOANE EXPLAINS THREE WAYS TO IMPROVE AND STRENGTHEN YOUR TODDLER’S TUMMY

Words Lisa Moane Images @thewomenspic

Kids are prone to getting gastro bugs – it’s a fact of life. They stick hands where they shouldn’t, they lick things they shouldn’t. But the thing is, they should bounce back after being sick. They shouldn’t get stuck in a loop of gastro.

Kids also shouldn’t have ongoing diarrhoea. If they do, they won’t absorb the goodness from their food, and it shows there is something amiss in their gut.

They also shouldn’t get constipated. No child has a stool-softener deficiency. Everyone knows that gut health is important, but what you might not know is that poor gut health is also linked to hyperactivity, anxiety, emotional regulation and impulsivity.

If your child has some gut issues, it is wise to seek help from someone who is going to get to the actual root cause of the issues. But there are a few changes you can make straightaway, that will benefit all children, no matter what the cause of their issues.

Don’t let your child graze
There are a few reasons why parents let their child graze. Perhaps they have been slow to put on weight, so they are trying to maximise calorie intake. Or constant pestering from your little one is causing frequent snacking. Either way, it is a big no-no for gut health to eat continuously. Your body needs 2.5 to 3 hours between eating, so it can sweep everything through. If the sweeping doesn’t happen, bacteria can build up and cause issues. Kids generally will need 3 meals, and 2-3 snacks per day, but these need to be distinct, 20-30 minute eating occasions with 2.5 to 3 hours between each one.
Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables
95 per cent of Australian children don’t eat enough fruits or vegetables. Kids need five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit each day, and these should be all different colours. Vegetables and fruit that are especially beneficial to gut health are ones high in polyphenols. Picking fruits and vegetables that are purple, blue or red is a good way to boost polyphenols. So choose black grapes over green ones, purple carrots over orange ones. The other type of fruit or vegetable to make sure you include are prebiotic ones – this includes garlic, onion, leeks, as well as slightly green bananas.
Avoid ultra-processed foods
These are the foods that no-one has the equipment to make at home. Lots of kid’s ‘snack foods’ are ultra-processed. The other clue that a food is ultra-processed is a long ingredient list with words you can’t pronounce. You may have come across guidelines for toddler food about the grams of sugar to aim for or amount of salt. But at the end of the day, if a food is ultra-processed, it is intrinsically bad for your gut, no matter what the nutrition panel or marketing message says. Eating ultra-processed foods will lead to an increase in the bad bacteria in your child’s gut and a decrease in the good bacteria. One reason for this shift is that there isn’t enough food left for the bacteria in the large intestine to eat as the ultra-processed food is too easily digested.

These things all work together – feed your child less frequently and you will need to give them less snack foods. Feeding less frequently will also make them hungrier at mealtimes and reduce fussiness, so they will eat more vegies.

Try to implement these three changes and reap the rewards with less tummy troubles, less days off daycare and happier kids!