THE RIGHT DIET FOR YOUR CHILD

A good nutritional foundation and a healthy diet are essential to a child’s mental development, stresses childhood nutrition expert Professor Eric Louis Lien in his opening remarks at the recent “One-step Ahead: Revolution in Childhood Nutrition” discussion organised by the S-26 Club at So Bangkok Hotel.

A professor at the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois, he’s applied knowledge gained from his extensive laboratory research to his own kids, and now it’s his nine grandchildren who are reaping the benefits.

Breast milk, he says, satisfies all the nutritional needs of an infant for the first six months of life. But the little ones also need the right balance of nutrients to develop, and this is where his Biofactors system comes into play. The new paradigm of 10-5-5-10 refers to the groups of nutrients that work in harmony to stimulate a child’s mental and visual development, physical growth, immunity and digestion.

The synergy has been developed in line with the most current recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP).

Lien’s 10-5-5-10 Biofactors System is a science-based holistic nutrition approach, which is formulated to improve a child’s fullest potential by grouping nutritional components that deliver functional benefits.

“Human milk is the best for infants, as the nutrients are present in the right amount and the right ratio,” says Lien, whose areas of specialisation include the composition of human milk, fat absorption in pre-term and term infants and protein and mineral requirements of infants. 

While individual nutrients carry their own set of benefits, parents must recognise that a baby needs a wide variety of nutrients that interact together appropriately to maximise their child’s development. And despite the promises on their labels, not all the formulas available on the market deliver this supplemental balance.

“The new paradigm is a system of nutrients interacting together in an integrated manner,” he says. 

“Our extensive studies reveal that breast milk contains the best nutrition resource for a baby. Based on this, we have scientific data that strongly supports the synergy nutrition approach. From the 450 breast milk samples collected worldwide, we found major similar components that are essential to the growth of children, despite the different diets consumed by the mothers in each region. This was the origin of the 10-5-5-10 Biofactors System, which enables mothers to provide their child with the best possible nutrition for their child’s optimal overall development.”

For example, he explains that infants are born with iron in their liver. If a mother has sufficient iron stored, it is no problem whether an infant is breastfed or formula fed. But in six months, the iron store may be depleted and if the infant does not receive an iron supplement, the brain doesn’t develop appropriately, because iron helps the nerve fibres achieve the impulse speed. 

“When you have only one source of nutrients for an infant, you have only one chance to get it right,” he says.

In addition, every child is born with particular genetic traits, which can lead to either positive outcomes or negative outcomes, such as allergies, genetic or metabolic diseases that develop later on in life. Good and proper nutrition at an early age not only strengthens the body’s cells, but also shuts down these negative genetic outcomes. 

This prevents the child from developing potential diseases, thereby allowing the child to maximise his or her growth potential.

Ultimately, Lien concluded, “Each child should receive a complete set of nutrients at the appropriate amount and time throughout each growing stage to make sure that they increase the fullest potential of the child. 

These early developments are extremely important as they determine a child’s future. Likewise, for a child one year and above, a mother should realise that she shouldn’t focus on one nutrient but the entire nutrient requirement. These work in a scientifically proved synergy.