The most important aspect of managing food allergies in children and babies is to be sure that the developing child has each and every nutrient that is essential for its optimum growth and development. Deficiency in a critical nutrient in the early days can have enormous negative consequences that can, in some instances, last a lifetime. The words of a British group of practitioners eloquently express this most important aspect of infant feeding:
“Few other aspects of food supply and metabolism are of greater biological importance than the feeding of mothers during pregnancy and lactation, and of their infants and young children. Nutritional factors during early development not only have short-term effects on growth, body composition and body functions but also exert long-term effects on health, impact of disease and mortality risks in adulthood, as well as development of neural functions and behavior, a phenomenon called “metabolic programming’.”
In the diligent search for and avoidance of the foods that cause the distressing symptoms of allergy in children, no one must forget that every nutrient that is eliminated as a result of its being part of allergenic food must be replaced by an equal amount of the nutrient from an alternative source. Information about the nutrients that may be deficient when some important foods are eliminated and the sources of these nutrients in alternative foods.
The management of an allergic child’s diet is not achieved without some effort. It takes time, knowledge, and skill. However, all these things can be learned; it is truly not a demanding process. Once you have understood the underlying concepts of food allergy terms management, you will be surprised how easy and gratifying it can be to provide a safe, healthy, and enjoyable eating plan for your child and the whole family.
