If we look at most of the studies that support Paleo, the vast majority of them were done in adults. That makes sense because Paleo actually started as a diet to combat chronic diseases of diet and lifestyle like type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. Until recently, the vast majority of people who received these diseases were middle-aged adults. If only adults get type 2 diabetes, all of their studies on type 2 diabetes have to be done in adults.
But today, those lifestyle diseases are appearing in younger and younger patients, including children. Childhood obesity is the obvious case at point, but kids today are also getting diseases like type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. The root problems are basically the same: lousy food, too much stress, poor sleep and sedentary lifestyles. The only difference is that today, children can eat so much sugar and garbage that they are getting diseases that used to take decades. Efficiency!
The point is that children can suffer from eating junk food just like adults do. But there is a diet specifically designed to cure those problems - or better yet, to prevent them before they start.
There is no "perfect diet" for children any more than there is for adults. But the evidence suggests that a Paleo diet can absolutely be safe and healthy for children. It is easy to meet all the special nutritional needs of childhood with Paleo food, and yes, it is possible to get children to eat broccoli.
Kids Don’t Miss Out on Any Essential Nutrients in Grains and Legumes
There are no known nutrients known only in grains or legumes. No one has developed a nutrient deficiency by avoiding those foods unless they are also eating a diet unbalanced in other ways. Do you want fiber and antioxidants? Get fruit and vegetables. B vitamins? Eat meat or fish. A child who eats a balanced diet of Paleo will not be in any way in danger of avoiding grains or legumes.
Fresh, Whole Foods are Good for Everyone
Here is a basic guide to building a Paleo meal:
• A huge pile of fresh vegetables
• A moderate amount of animal protein (meat, fish, eggs)
• Healthy fats like olive oil and coconut oil
• Optionally, some fruits or nuts.
• Optionally, some starchy vegetables such as potatoes
Of course, there are a thousand variations on that subject. You can make high in fat or low in fat. High-carb, medium-carb, or low-carb. Dairy products or without dairy products. "Paleo" can mean all sorts of different things, all versions of Paleo rely on eating fresh and whole foods with lots of vegetables and plenty of nutritious dense foods. It's not about eating lots of meat all the time; It involves balancing reasonable amounts of animal protein with many other whole foods.
These foods are good for children for the same reasons that are good for adults:
• High nutritional value (yes, including meat, especially fish and eggs)
• Low in intestinal irritants (which are dangerous for children, too!)
• Low in sugar and do not cause sugar spikes in the blood, so they do not cause metabolic problems
• Do not contribute to inflammation (children may have systemic inflammation induced by the diet as adults)
It is difficult to even reach a reasonable case against a plate of Paleo food. Try to tell yourself, "No, I do not want my son to eat vegetables because then he could get all the nutrients he needs and that would be ... bad?" Or maybe "I'd rather have my son eat Lunchables with plastic 'cheese' and fake bologna than some leftover meat and green pepper strips." Really? Can you say that with a straight face?
Kids and Carbs
Much of the reluctance to put children on a Paleo-style diet comes from the misconception that Paleo has to be low in carbohydrates. That is not true. Paleo may be low in carbohydrates, high in carbohydrates or moderate in carbohydrates. You can have any amount of carbohydrate you want.
For children, the extreme end of the low carbohydrate spectrum tends to be less than ideal. The ketogenic diet (extremely low in carbohydrates, high in fat) has been widely tested in children; It is a very effective treatment for drug-resistant childhood epilepsy. But here's the problem: children on the ketogenic diet routinely report very unpleasant side effects, especially gastrointestinal problems.
Other research has shown that children can safely eat a moderate carbohydrate diet, within the Paleo standards.
In this study, 31 obese children (mean age of 11) were on a 30% carbohydrate diet. The children lost weight and improved markers of heart health and insulin resistance. There were no serious side effects.
In this study, patients were slightly older, aged 12 to 18 years. The study tested three different diets:
• Low in fat, high in carbohydrates: 50-60% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 20% protein
• Low in carbohydrates, low in fat. Up to 20% carbohydrate, 30% fat and 50% protein (which is high in protein)
• Low in carbohydrates, high in fats. Up to 20% carbohydrate, 60% fat and 20% protein
All groups lost weight at the same rate and there were no significant differences at the end of the study. None of the groups had major problems: some of them had headaches or upset stomach, but for most children, it was only once. No diet had more complaints than any other diet. Moderate in carbs, high fat can be as "safe" as high in carbohydrates, low in fat.
And if you are interested in weight loss specifically, here is a review of the evidence. The authors concluded that "current evidence suggests that better weight status may be achieved in overweight or obese children and adolescents regardless of the macronutrient distribution of a reduced energy diet." Translation: Kids can lose weight regardless of the percentage of their diet. Proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
Children can be perfectly healthy on a moderate carbohydrate diet, and Paleo can easily be that diet. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are your friends. Fried bananas are your friends. Low-carbohydrate diets are not good for kids, but that does not mean Paleo is off the table.
Special Nutritional Considerations for Children Children are not just adults on a smaller scale, and they have some special nutritional needs. But it is easily possible to fill all of those with paleo.
Calcium
Calcium is particularly important for children, especially girls (who are more likely to develop osteoporosis or other bone problems later in life). The dairy is a gray Paleo area and some children do very well with it. But if yours does not, calcium from bones (bone-in salmon and sardines) and green leafy vegetables is more absorbable than calcium from dairy products.
Iron
Iron deficiency is especially likely among children who are overweight or obese. On average, these children eat as much iron as anyone else, but low-grade inflammation in their body prevents them from absorbing and using iron. The solution is no more dietary iron; It is healing the inflammation.
Vitamin D
Low vitamin D is a problem for anyone who spends most of their time indoors. A child may be deficient in vitamin D, even if their weight is normal. The best source of vitamin D is sunlight: send your kids out to play!
How do I Get Them to Eat It?
Quite apart from nutritional concerns, another big problem with children is the old problem of getting them to eat their vegetables in the first place. And what about the food they get at school? What food do they get in the homes of their friends? Nobody wants their son to be known as the Paleo weird boy who is never funny because she can not have candy.
Each child is different, and each parent has a different set of cultural preferences and rigor and discipline options.
The research so far supports
• Parent modeling. Eat good food in front of your children and make it clear that you enjoy it. Do not treat vegetables as something gross they have to eat to "win" the dessert.
• Involve children in the cooking process. Get your hands dirty.
• Early and repeated exposure to new foods. Often a food has to be offered to a child several times before the child tries it. Offering vegetables early, just when you introduce solid foods, increases a child's willingness to try them later.
• Flexible rules. Making sugar and absolutely forbidden treatment just makes it more attractive, and you can not control your children's diet forever. This study found that banning a food just made children eat more of it when they finally got their hands on it. And children (especially children) who grow up in ultra-strict food households are more likely to develop eating disorders later on. Except for life-threatening allergies, it is totally good and normal for children to have the flexibility to enjoy social events. Let them discover for themselves how foods affect their bodies and talk together.
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