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The Food Pyramid for kids.
Children’s health and diet has been in the news quite a bit lately. We’ve seen reports about the incredible number of obese kids in this country and that figure continues to rise each year. What goes unreported is that these children are also likely to face a lifetime’s worth of dental problems as well. We at the Stein Dental Group are doing as much we can to alleviate this problem among Stamford’s kids. Fortunately, kids in Stamford, Connecticut have been a little healthier than the national average according to studies. The pediatric dentists at the Stein Dental Group hope that our area stays healthy, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Nonetheless, it’s important to remember what foods are good for children from a health perspective and a dental perspective. Recently, the US government updated the much maligned food pyramid. By focusing on the pyramid, we can see a host of foods that are important for maintaining a proper weight and a healthy mouth. The old food pyramid focused on the number of servings of each type of food. The new food pyramid is weighted towards someone’s age and weight. The Stein Dental Group has been leading the pack in approaching the dental health of kids well before the USDA changed the pyramid. Obviously, someone who is larger will eat more portions than someone who is smaller. The first recommendation made by the new pyramid is in regards to grains. For a 50lb. 5 year old, the government recommends five ounces of grains per day. Whole grains are considered the best of the grains for children, but it’s important for kids to have a diet filled with them; the USDA recommends that half of all grains consumed be whole grains. Other good grains, as recommended by dentists, are maize, wheat, and rice. Grains are considered valuable dental allies because they can stop gum inflammation. In fact, studies show that people that ate three servings of grains per day were 23% less likely to suffer tooth-loosening gum inflammation. Our dentists have long been proponents of promoting healthy eating as it relates to dental health. These ties between diet and dental health are unknown to most people, but prove the twin benefits of a good diet. Although most children don’t like vegetables they are an important part of a diet. As roughage, they do help clean teeth of the natural plaques and buildups that accumulate regularly. Vegetables are also an extremely important part of a healthy diet, so they serve both purposes very well. Stamford, CT kids may not want another person telling them to eat their vegetables, but our commitment to dental and overall health tries to convince them to do so. Most people assume that because fruit is very good for the diet that it is also completely healthy to teeth, but that isn’t always the case. Fruit contains fructose, which is a sugar, and can be harmful to teeth in certain forms. But when drinking fruit juice, smoothies, or eating dried fruit the sugars are released and become potentially more damaging to teeth. Of course, Stamford Connecticut dentists point out that fruits are much preferred to other kinds of processed sugars which are very bad for teeth, but it’s still something worth watching. A lot of people have decided to give up dairy products because of its link to obesity, but in many cases it has proven to be very good for teeth, especially for children. Milk and cheese contain calcium and also make the mouth less acidic, which does wonders for helping teeth. Children’s diets are complex, some foods are very healthy, but aren’t good for teeth. Others are good for teeth, but can cause an imbalance in the diet. As always, moderation is the most important thing to remember when planning a child’s diet.