What Are the Benefits of Fruits & Vegetables for Kids?
Fruits and vegetables improve children's nutrition, help prevent obesity and may boost school performance.
Fruits and vegetables benefit kids in many ways, including
improved nutrition, decreased obesity risk and better school
performance, but most children don’t get the recommended five or more
servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Only 22 percent of toddlers and
preschoolers and only 16 percent of kids ages 6 to 11 meet the
government's recommendation, according to Ohio State research. One-half
of children’s mealtime plates should be filled with fruits and
vegetables in order to reap the benefits.
Improved Nutrition
Children’s growing bodies require good nutrition, and fruits
and vegetables contain a multitude of vitamins, minerals and other
healthy compounds. Citrus fruits and strawberries are rich in immune
system-boosting vitamin C, carrots are loaded with eye-healthy vitamin A
and spinach is a good source of iron, a mineral that helps prevent
anemia. According to DrGreene.com, apples contain 16 different
polyphenols, which are antioxidants with health-promoting properties.
Eating fruits and vegetables in a rainbow of colors will provide a wide
range of nutrients that help keep kids healthy.
Decreased Obesity
Fruits and vegetables are high in filling fiber, but low in
fat and calories. Encouraging kids to eat fruits and vegetables instead
of sugary snacks and fat-laden fast food can help children avoid
obesity. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
16 percent of kids ages 6 to 19 are overweight, increasing the risk of
Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, respiratory problems
and depression. A USDA study of 3,064 kids ages 5 to 18 linked higher
fruit consumption to healthier body weights.
Digestive Health
High-fiber foods, such as fruits and vegetables, help the
digestive system function properly. Constipation in kids can often be
eased by eating more high-fiber prunes, apricots, plums, peas, beans and
broccoli, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. As fiber
passes through the digestive system, it absorbs water and expands, which
triggers regular bowel movements and relieves constipation.
Better School Performance
Children with healthy diets, including high consumption of
fruits and vegetables, performed better on academic tests than children
who consumed fewer fruits and vegetables in a study published in the
April 2008 issue of the “Journal of School Health.” The study of 5,200
Canadian fifth graders found that the kids with healthy diets were up to
41 percent less likely to fail literacy tests than the other children. A
number of factors influence the academic performance of kids, but
nutrition is an important contributor to better school performance, the
report noted.
Tips
To increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, shop with
your kids and let them prepare vegetable and fruit dishes. A child who
makes the green beans himself may be more likely to eat them, notes an
article by Elizabeth Cohen, CNN senior medical correspondent. Sneak
pureed vegetables into your children’s favorite foods and stock
kid-level shelves in the fridge with baggies of cut-up veggies and
fruits and fruit cups. Shop organic if you can. If cost is a factor,
however, be selective in buying organic, recommends the American Academy
of Pediatrics. The most important thing is for kids to eat fruits and
vegetables – organic or not.
Pomegranate Health Benefits: The Fruit Helps Protect Against Plaque, Hunger, And Certain Cancer
As far as fruits go, pomegranates seem like more trouble than
they’re worth. They have spiny skin, and if not sliced into just so,
they make a mess and leave some of the seeds inside, which is the actual
fruit part, cut and bruised; the surrounding white membrane is too
bitter to eat. Pomegranate juice, too, easily stains hands and fingers.
They’re a kind of berry, so it would be easier to spring for some strawberries instead.
The thing is pomegranates are healthy in their own right. Sure, like strawberries, they’re a rich source of vitamin C and antioxidants,
not to mention fiber and anti-inflammatory properties — but more than
that, studies show eating the fruit and/or drinking pomegranate juice
can help protect against disease, like certain cancers and Alzheimer’s. NPR
reported the West is newly aware of pomegranate’s benefits; the fruit
is native to Iran and as we mentioned before, were often overlooked due
to their meticulous, albeit necessary preparation. Pomegranates can
actually be traced back as early as 3000 B.C., with the fruit being
buried alongside ancient Egyptians, like King Tut, “in hopes of a second
life.” Some scholars go as far as to suggest it was a pomegranate, not
apple that tempted Eve.
Stories aside, the science is clear: This fruit is worth the quick
YouTube search for tutorials on how to cut into it already. Here’s a
bigger picture of what you might get if you do:
More Potassium
Those aforementioned antioxidants protect against dialysis-related
infections, or kidney diseases, as well as cardiovascular complications
(think of high blood pressure). A study
presented during the 2010 annual meeting of the American Society of
Nephrology found the potassium content in pomegranate juice reduces many
of the dialysis-related complications for kidney patients, otherwise
showing a reduced morbidity rate.
Curb Your Hunger
Shape
cited the seeds’ vitamin C accounts for nearly 40 percent of the daily
recommended amount, while they work to lower blood pressure and satiate
hunger due to high levels of fiber. If you don’t want to just spoon-feed
yourself some pomegranate seeds, consider topping your oatmeal, quinoa,
or yogurt with them, Shape suggested; pomegranates also compliment chicken and turkey dishes.
Plaque Protection
Some more good news for pomegranate juice drinkers: It protects against dental plaque microorganisms. Research published in the Ancient Science of Life
found drinking the juice reduces plaque-forming units by 32 percent.
The juice’s antioxidants, called polyphenols, are a primary driver
behind its believed antibacterial activity.
And Cancer Protection
A study
from the University of California, Riverside found components of
pomegranate juice may stop prostate cancer cells from moving, while also
weakening the chemical signals that promote this kind of cancer to
spread in the first place. And in a separate study, Israeli researchers
found pomegranate juice may prevent and destroy breast cancer cells
(though it’s hardly the only cancer-fighting food).
Stable PSA Levels
Prostate cancer patients may also experience lowered levels of a
prostate-specific antigen (PSA) when they drink 8 ounces of pomegranate
juice each day, found this study from the University of California, Los Angeles. The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health reported
PSA is a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland, and while
there aren’t normal or abnormal PSA levels, studies show men with levels
below 4.0 have prostate cancer, whereas men with high levels don’t.
Reduced Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
A specific polyphenol called punicalagin
is believed to be the source of pomegranate’s anti-inflammatory
properties. An animal study showed mice fed pomegranate juice
experienced lower levels of amyloid plaque — the plaque that accumulates
between the brain’s nerve cells, the hallmark sign of Alzheimer’s — and
improved their performance for certain mental tasks.
Some Kind of Wonderful
If you do skip the fruit and go right for the juice, be mindful of
the brand. Last summer, Minute Maid’s pomegranate and blueberry juice
was found
to consist mostly of harvested apple and grape juices. But POM
Wonderful is, in fact, 100 percent pomegranate juice; it is "superior"
to other juices, UCLA researchers said. Their research showed it packs
more antioxidants than grape, blueberry, and orange juices. It even
edges ahead of green teas and wine. Bottoms up.
