The parents of our little patients very often complain that it is not them, but the grandparents, who are to blame for the problems with the hygiene and eating habits of their children. In our country it is traditional that the care for the little ones is shared with the parents of the parents. In Western Europe, the Scandinavian countries or the United States, this obligation is missing from the portfolio of the future Grandma or Grandpa.
The truth is that when we leave our children with our elderly parents, many of the rules concerning food and hygiene that we stick to when raising the little ones, are disregarded and many things are skipped with good intentions and the excuse “She is a child, what could I do, she wants to try this food, so I gave her some" . As a lecturer in many pediatric health forums and the School for future and current parents, I have always said that we need to benefit from our parents’ desire to help and their dedication in raising our children. But strict rules need to be imposed that we all must follow!
Rule No1 - brushing the teeth is done with a brush and toothpaste, every morning and every evening, in accordance with the age of the child. If we send the children to their grandparents, we need to provide them with the appropriate oral hygiene products, and we should not assume that the grandparents would buy such things.
Rule No2 - the child who is on a normal diet, should have 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, without eating between the meals or taking desserts every time!
Rule 3 - Juices, compotes and all other sweet fruit drinks are not reliable sources of vitamins – whole fresh fruits are!
Rule 4 – Food should not be pureed unless it is a cream soup, the child who has teeth is a predator and must bite and chew, not swallow like a duck!
Rule 5 – Using the same utensils as the child, or kissing him/her on the mouth is forbidden! The oral microflora of adults may contain pathogenic bacteria that could be transferred to the mouth of a healthy child and cause serious health problems.
Rule 6 - If the child wants to have something sweet, this needs to be coordinated with his/her age, physical activity and the period of the day. Children should not have access to the "cupboard with the sweets", they are too young to have self-control and self-restraint mechanisms.
Rule 7 - Think before you buy something that the child wants. Children usually ask for the products in bright and shiny packaging that they see advertised on TV, but every plastic packaging their food is wrapped in, is a source of invisible plastic molecules that get accumulated in the small growing organism, and when the child turns 20, it may turn out that 100g of his/her body weight is deposited plastic.
There are many other rules that can be added to the list above, but it all starts with a small step, and when the steps become more confident, it is easy…
Be the good example for your children and your elderly parents, because one day, we will play their role!
Yours truly,
Dr. Tsveti
