Ask The Expert is a weekly column on Littlestomaks.com. The idea is to have a reader-submitted question answered by a nutrition expert or a pediatrician. Feel free to submit your question in the comments section below.
This week, Registered Dietitian Elizabeth Rahavi describes why omega-3 fats are essential for children and how you can include them in your child’s diet.
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Elizabeth B. Rahavi, RD
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Question: Is Omega-3 proven to be helpful for children? Are there any concerns I should be aware of?
Answer:
Fat is an important yet often overlooked nutrient that is needed for an overall healthful diet. In fact, a certain type of omega-3 fat known as linolenic acid is essential for healthy growth and development in children. According to the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans report, released in 2005, children are encouraged to get most of their fats from unsaturated fats, including omega-3 fats. Food sources of omega-3 fats include soybean and canola oil, flaxseed and flaxseed oil, walnuts, and fish such as salmon, trout, and herring. For people who do not like fish, certain eggs, milk and other products have been reformulated to include omega-3s.
While fish is an important part of a healthy diet, and many organization such as the American Heart Association recommend consuming fish at least twice a week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommend that young children avoid certain species of fish such as swordfish, shark, tilefish and king mackerel and limit their consumption of other fish to an average of 12 cooked ounces per week (that’s about two six ounce servings of fish per week). The reason for this recommendation is that, while nearly all fish contain some trace amounts of methylmercury, an environmental contaminant, large fish that are higher up in the food chain such as swordfish, shark, tilefish and king mackerel contain the most. Excess exposure to methylmercury from these species of fish can harm a young child’s developing nervous system. For most people, the risk from mercury by eating fish and shellfish is not a health concern.
What’s next?
One thing that is often over looked in conversations about nutrition is that, indeed it is a science. To help provided consensus on the state of nutrition science, the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services enlist a group of nutrition and food scientists to serve as members of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee. The Committee comes together every five years to develop a report that makes nutrition recommendations for all Americans ages 2 years and older. This Advisory group is currently in deliberations, and we look forward to an upcoming review of the state of science for dietary fats that is scheduled to be released next year.
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Disclaimer – Information provided in Ask The Expert column on Littlestomaks.com is intended to give you general guidance on a question related to toddler nutrition. It is not meant to be treated as medical advice. You are welcome to contact this expert for a detailed consultation on your specific situation to determine what actions, if any, you should take regarding nutrition and health of your toddlers. We do not recommend you to take any action based solely on the information presented in this column. Experts have agreed to provide their professional opinion on toddler nutrition related questions on a voluntary basis and no compensation is offered to them by Littlestomaks.com.
