Make Your Kid's Bones Stronger

Make Your Kid's Bones Stronger

Life-shattering bone diseases such as osteoporosis can be avoided when parents take preventive measures right from the start of their child’s life. Are you doing what it takes to help your child develop strong bones for life?

Osteoporosis is a condition in which bones become weak and break easily from a minor fall, or in serious cases from a simple act like sneezing. While osteoporosis is often thought of as an older person’s disease, it can strike at any age.

This condition is particularly worrying in women, who are four times more likely to develop osteoporosis than men.

While millions suffer from this disease, it is known that osteoporosis is preventable, especially if the right measures are taken from as young as infancy. Ensure your child gets the recommended amounts of calcium, vitamin D and exercise today. After all, prevention is better than cure.

Why is Calcium important?

The human body does not produce calcium on its own, while each day our bodies lose calcium through our skin, nails, hair, sweat, urine, and faeces. So when we do not consume enough calcium for our body’s needs, it is taken from our bones to be used for other bodily functions such as enabling the nervous system to send messages and allowing muscles to contract.

Children aged one to three should consume at least 500mg of calcium daily, while four to eight-year-olds need at least 800mg.

Snow Brand SUPER KID-plus provides the amount of calcium needed for your child’s daily intake. Apart from calcium obtained from milk, introduce other calcium-rich food to your child’s diet in stages, such as cheese and yogurt.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium. Severe deficiency can cause rickets in children – a rare bone softening disease that causes bowing of the legs, poor growth, and at times muscle pain. Our skin produces vitamin D from the ultra-violet light (UV rays) in sunlight, however it is difficult to gauge how much, if enough is produced. The recommended daily amount required for children aged three to seven is 400 I.U.

Exercise – Use it or lose it

Bones are living tissues that become stronger and denser when we make them work. It is recommended that children get at least 60 minutes of exercise everyday. It does not have to be done all at once – short 10 to 15-minute spurts of activity works well too. Limit TV, video games and computer time and set a good example by being active yourself.

Tips for stronger bones

To develop stronger bones, make time for weight-bearing exercises like walking, climbing stairs, bicycling or dancing, or even play fun games in the outdoors like catch or Simon Says.

Ensure Calcium and vitamin D are part of your child’s daily diet. Include food like milk, yogurt, spinach and salmon.

Superior nutrition for great kids

Generally, milk formulae formulated by various makers are not of the same quality. Snow Brand SUPPER KID-plus is about the most comprehensive nutrient-enhanced growing-up milk formula in the market today.

It features a balance of nutrients essential for the proper physical and mental development of a growing child such as Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA), Sialic Acid (SA), Oligosaccharide, Choline, Tryptophan, essential vitamins and minerals with a high content of Omega 3 and Omega 6. It also contains Nucleotides for stronger immune function as well as Taurine and Ferum for added nutritional value.

With no added sugar and flavouring, Snow Brand SUPPER KID-plus retains the all-natural taste and goodness of milk that children love.

Source: StarSpecial, the Star, August 27, 2009