Can young children eat nuts?
Nuts are very beneficial foods for the diet, but children should not eat them before the age of 4, due to different health reasons.
Including nuts in a child’s diet , from a nutritional point of view, can be one of the best ways to provide their body with a high dose of energy and fats rich in Omega 3, which are so necessary for the proper functioning of the body but can young children eat nuts?
Feeding nuts to children under 4 years of age can increase the risk of lung choking in an exaggerated way, since until the child reaches at least 4 years of age they do not have a maturity in the chewing and swallowing process that allow you to eat certain types of food, such as nuts, without the risk of choking and suffocating. According to studies, 70% of cases of child choking occur with nuts, so it is a fact that we should take into account.
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WHY SHOULDN’T I FEED NUTS TO YOUNG CHILDREN?
Although it is a very nutritious food and we think that our children are already mature enough to eat all the food that we want to give them, you should take into account the following risks that a small child is exposed to when eating nuts .
– Allergies : Hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts or pistachios, among many others, can develop an allergy in children. In the event that the child suffers from any type of allergy, we should be very careful when introducing it into their diet, since they are prone to experiencing a skin or respiratory reaction. This includes creams and other products that contain those ingredients.
– Choking: As we have already advanced before, 70% of cases of choking in children occurs due to the ingestion of nuts, since they still do not have well-formed teeth and are used to eating certain types of foods and textures and they may your body is not prepared to assimilate them. On the other hand, it can cause damage to the child’s lungs, since the oil that nuts give off when we consume them is harmful in some cases.
– Overweight : Although nuts are very energetic foods, they also have a high fat content, so if our child is overweight we should eliminate them from his diet immediately.
HOW CAN I INTRODUCE NUTS INTO A CHILD’S DIET?
If what torments you when giving nuts to a child is that he chokes, there is an infallible alternative so that this does not happen. Crushing the nuts , for example in a vegetable puree or in a yogurt, is the best way to prevent our child from choking. Your body will be rewarded with the benefits that these bring to the body and you will see how the child enjoys their meals more, since they give them a very rich flavor for them.
Taking into account, on the other hand, the risk of allergies caused by nuts, it is best to gradually add this food to their diet and observe how the little one reacts to this food. In the event that it does not present any skin allergy or feels suffocated, we will gradually increase the dose of this.
Finally, in the case of being overweight we should eliminate or greatly reduce the consumption of nuts, since it is a very caloric food and rich in omega 3 and 6 fats that will cause the child’s overweight to become worse . In the event that our child is not overweight, nuts should be included in his diet in a moderate way, since there are other foods that can also provide these properties, although in most cases they will not be so well received by them.
Remember, the ideal is to wait until at least 4 years of age to give children nuts, since it is a very energetic food that can give them a lot of energy, but at the same time it is quite dangerous.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.