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Raising smarter kids

How do you raise smart kids? In our increasingly competitive world, parents want to raise kids not only to be healthy in body but also with a competitive mental edge.

While intelligence and cognitive development are the result of a complex interplay between genetics, socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors, better nutrition and adequate consumption of several key nutrients may also help with cognitive development and academic performance.

Early foundations

The impacts on the development of a child's brain starts in the womb when the brain and central nervous system are still developing. Simultants like alcohol or other drugs and inadequate nutrition may negatively affect brain development at this stage.

After birth, a child's brain continues to develop past infancy and balanced nutrition continues to play a key role in your child achieving his or her optimum cognitive abilities.

Smart fats

Research into the contribution of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in brain formation and development has found improvements in attention and problem solving capabilities in children who received omega-3 enriched infant formula compared to those who did not.

Scientists believe that omega-3 PUFAs in breast milk is one of the reasons why children who are breast fed perform better in IQ tests than those who were raised on infant formula. Adequate omega-3 in the diet seems to be especially critical for babies born prematurely.

Some studies have also suggested a link between low omega-3. PUFA levels with certain neuro-developmental disorders like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism.

More studies are needed to test these possible links before any firm conclusions can be drawn, and omega-3 recommended as a treatment.

To boost omega-3 intake, add omega-3 rich foods to the diet on a regular basis. For example walnuts and seafood such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, shrimp and scallops are rich sources of omega-3 PUFAs.

Flax seeds and eggs produced by hens fed on flax seed or fishmeal are also good sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Supplements can also be considered but foods are better sources and excessive intakes of fish oil carry some health risks such as impaired blood clotting.

It is therefore advisable to consult with your family doctor before giving your child omega-3 supplements.

Smart Minerals

Iron also plays an essential role in a child's brain development, and many studies have demonstrated that children whose diets are deficient in iron perform poorly with regard to developmental levels, cognitive abilities and school performance.

This is a widespread problem - iron deficiency is common amongst all age groups (in fact iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the world). It is also a very urgent problem, because the impact of iron deficiency on cognitive development continues into later life, even after iron levels in the body have been raised to normal healthy concentrations.

Meats like beef, chicken and pork are rich in iron, and fish also makes a valuable contribution to iron nutrition. For children who do not eat animal foods, the best sources of iron are whole grains, including oats, brown rice, whole wheat product such as bread and noodles as well as dark, green vegetables such as spinach, peas and beans. Legumes and dried beans are also useful sources.

Iodine is responsible for the production of thyroid hormones, which is turn are essential for the growth and development of the brain. Iodine deficiency is increasingly rare, but can result in severe mental impairment amongst children eating poor quality diets because of extreme poverty.

For the majority of Asia's children adequate levels of iodine are consumed from seafood and seaweed (like kelp and nori), iodised salt, eggs, poultry and dairy products.

Smart eating patterns

There is also a great deal of research evidence that when children eat may be just as important as what they eat and how much they eat. Studies of otherwise well-nourished children show that those who eat breakfast - regardless of what they eat - perform better in school in mathematics, continuous performance tasks and problem-solving, than those who skip breakfast.

Breakfast eating is associated long term with better concentration and attendance. Children who eat breakfast are also more likely to meet their requirements for energy, protein as well as important key nutrients like iron, B vitamins and calcium - which ultimately contribute not only to better cognitive abilities but overall health.

Because the brain is a huge consumer of sugar, children need to eat regular meals throughout the day to fuel not only their growing bodies but their brains as well. Hence it is important to ensure that children eat frequently, by including nutrient-rich snacks as well as regular meals in their daily diet.

Putting good nutrition into action

So how are parents to make use of these findings? First of all, remember that nutrients are most effectively absorbed as food than as supplements.

There is evidence that many nutrients are absorbed better in the presence of other nutrients; for example, vitamins C helps with iron absorption. There may also be positive interactions between nutrients that researchers have not fully examined.

However, for some children with challenging eating habits such as many dislikes, supplements might be helpful, but do check with a qualified health professional first.

Give your baby the right start from infancy by breastfeeding as much as possible in the first six months.The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding for approximately the first six months of life. For those families where this is not possible, high quality infant formulas that do contain the necessary nutrients for your infant's growth and development including omega-3 PUFAs are available.

Introduce a wide variety of foods to your child from a young age. While your child may not like all foods they try the first time, giving them variety fosters a positive, adventurous attitude to food, which is fundamental to long-term good nutrition.

Children and adults, whose diet consists of a great diversity of foods have a much better chance of meeting their nutritional requirements and enjoying a healthy diet.

Remember also that good nutrition can include take-out and convenience foods, as well as home cooked foods. The key is to apply the principles of moderation, balance and variety no matter what the source.

Planning ahead

Parents often have difficulty getting children to eat breakfast in the morning. In the rush to get the kids to school and beat the morning traffic, it's easy to skip breakfast. A little advance planning helps to ensure your child gets breakfast and makes it to school on time. Make store-bought breakfast foods work for you. Stock up on whole-grain, lower-sugar ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and ice-cold milk.

If your children are lactose-intolerant, soy milk or yoghurt works great with cereal as well. For additional fibre and vitamins, sprinkle the cereal with fresh, dried or frozen fruits.

Kids don't even have time to sit down for breakfast? Get them oatmeal or granola bars that they can munch on the school bus, washed down with convenient packs of dairy or soy milk.

Whole grains contain a healthy dose of iron as well as complex carbohydrates that will help to fuel your child for longer periods of time. Traditional foods like buns with red-bean filling are also a good option. Be creative!

To keep your child mentally active and alert throughout the day, pack high nutrient snacks like dried fruits, nuts and cereal bars in their school bag. These snacks will also help to keep them away from snacks that they may buy at school which are big on calories but low in macronutrients like iron and omega-3 PUFAs.

Make it work for the long-term

Take care not to be over-zealous in introducing "healthy" foods to children. Chips and candy for example, are fine as an occasional treat as long as they are not eaten frequently.

Keep plenty of fresh and dried fruits, nuts and high-fibre snacks like whole-grain crackers at home for them to munch on the between meals. Remember snacking between meals is actually healthful for the growing child, especially if the snacks provide both calories and other nutrients.

Never force your children to empty their plates. Instead, let them decide how much to eat and when. This may help children to tune into their own internal appetite cues, and avoid any tendencies to excess consumption and undesirable weight gain.

When children are busy with school work and activities, do encourage play and physical activity as a counter-balance. Rest, relaxation and physical activity are as important for brain development as much as a good diet.

Play and relaxation helps children emotionally and psychologically, helping them to learn interpersonal skills not found in books or from study.

Feeding and nurturing a bright child through good nutrition is not achieved by relying on supplements or insisting that children eat 'super' foods they do not like. A more effective, proven strategy is to nurture positive, sensible eating habits that fit into a balanced and fun lifestyle and contribute to lifelong good health.

Food facts Asia

Stress harms the heart

Researchers have long suspected that stress does the body harm, but bulletproof clinical evidence linking stress to heart attacks and other disease has been elusive partly because stress is such a personal and variable thing.

Only recently have such studies started to gather critical mass, and researchers have begun calling on clinicians to include the diagnosis and treatment of stress in the routine care for patients with conditions like AIDS and heart disease.

"Every layman knows that stress is a cause of heart disease," says Dr. Kristina Orth-Gomer, who has been studying stress and cardiology for 25 years, and now works at Stockholm's Karolinksa Institute. But she feels that physicians have been slow to put that knowledge into practice. "Lately, that is beginning to change. The evidence is more convincing now," she says.

Two studies published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the Archives of Internal Medicine lend support to her cause. The JAMA study, led by researchers at the Universit, Laval in Quebec, finds that first-time heart attack patients who returned to chronically stressful jobs were twice as likely to have a second attack as patients whose occupations were relatively stress-free.

The study tracked 972 first-time heart attack survivors, aged 35-59, all of whom went back to work within 18 months of their heart attack for at least 10 hours a week.

In periodic follow-up interviews between 1996 and 2005, those patients who reported chronic job strain "defined as a job that was high in psychological demands but low in feelings of control" were not only at higher risk for a second heart attack, but also had a markedly higher risk of death than their less-stressed peers.

Studies like this may strengthen the link between stress and disease, says Orth-Gomer, whose editorial accompanies the Canadian study in the October 10 issue of the journal, but, she says, it's only a beginning: "The other argument is, of course, what do you do about it?"

One solution: Find practical ways for doctors and nurses to screen and help treat the kinds of stress 'professional and personal' that put their patients at risk. Right now, it isn't part of standardized practice for cardiologists, for instance, to evaluate their patients' feelings about a taxing job or a difficult marriage.

But doctors should be asking these questions, says Orth-Gomer, and its incumbent upon the medical community to make them part of routine care.

Joining her call for intervention is Sheldon Cohen, a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University and author of a commentary, which also appears in the current issue of JAMA and examines the effects of psychological stress on a variety of major diseases.

Cohen's review of past studies finds that stress 'particularly "social stressors" like divorce and the death of a loved one' often triggers clinical depression or worsens it, and causes relapses in people who have recovered.

The report also suggests that stress may quicken the progress of the disease in AIDS patients, and, like the Canadian study, finds that chronic stress exacerbates heart disease.

"There is a fair amount of evidence that the relationship [between stress and disease] exists enough to start asking whether reductions of stress would reduce disease outcomes," says Cohen, adding, "People have not been asking [this] question."

The problem is that many doctors don't have the time to ask. Highly specialized physicians like cardiologists and oncologists are busy, and few of them have time for long, leisurely doctor-patient conversations.

"It's ironic that as we're getting a broader picture of how important stress levels are to physical health, we're simultaneously cramming appointments into shorter and shorter periods of time," says Dr. Daniel Brotman, director of the Hospitalist Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital and author of a review paper on emotional stress and heart health, which was published in the September issue of The Lancet.

Brotman acknowledges the strong link between stress and cardiovascular disease, but he doesn't think it's realistic to ask doctors to screen every patient for stress. "We say to ourselves as physicians, 'Well, there's not a lot I can do about the fact that your wife left you,'" he says. "So much of what we face in our lives is stress that we can't do a whole lot about."

What can be changed, however, is the way doctors listen to their patients' health concerns. If a woman complains of chest pain, for example, but says it only bothers her when she's feeling "worked up" ? but not on the treadmill or climbing a flight of stairs ? her physician should interpret her emotional state as a real, physical risk factor, says Brotman.

"The trigger is emotional, and physicians tend to blow that off," he says. "Traditional Western medicine has really endeavored to think of the body as a machine, and disease as how the machine breaks down. [Doctors can be] reluctant to think of the mind and body as being part of that same machine."

There are a number of ways that stress can recalibrate our physical machinery. For starters, stressed-out people tend to neglect their health in general 'they eat poorly, sleep badly, don't exercise and smoke and drink too much' behaviours that don't exactly promote well-being.

Stress also triggers the body's endocrine systems, prompting the release of hormones that play out in the body in a variety of ways: they might, for instance, irritate lymphatic tissue that in turn alters our immune functions, or they might simply cause the resting heart to beat faster.

"Anybody who has almost been hit by a bus knows how much emotional stress can rev up your cardiovascular system," says Brotman. "But having frequent bouts of fight or flight is not something we're designed to do." That's where chronic stressors become physical threats.

And, still, many patients fail to acknowledge that those threats exist. For some, admitting to stress feels like a sign of weakness; others resign themselves to it, as if it were an unavoidable dimension of life.

So most of us simply carry on with our 15-hour workdays and fraught relationships. In another study published in the October 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers at the University College of London followed a group of about 9,000 civil servants for 12 years and found that people who experienced negative close relationships 'marked by conflict and fighting' had a 34% higher risk of a coronary event than those with low levels of negativity in their closest personal relationships.

The emotions that play out in a bad marriage for instance, the authors write, have a direct, cumulative "wear and tear" on organs and tissues that may leave people at greater risk of illness.

A stressful job or a bad relationship may not send all of us into depression or to the ER "statistically speaking, most of us weather the stresses of life just fine" but for now it's impossible for doctors to predict who will be susceptible and who won't.

So, whether it's a matter of quality of life, or life and death, it's probably good advice for the stressed-out folk among us to take a breather now and again. "With chronic stress, we may not feel it in our cardiovascular systems, but we do feel drained," says Brotman.

"It's hard to imagine going through those periods and not thinking, 'This has got to be bad for me.'"

Time