Last Friday’s lunch with the parent-child eczema support group at the Singapore National Skin Centre was an informative, relaxed and enjoyable session. We had a mix of people of different ages and 3 kids who came. The children were all very well-behaved and puzzles, toys contributed by a participant kept the children happy and busy!
On the topic of allergy, Dr Mark Tang, head of eczema clinic at NSC shared a few tips:
1. If it is a true allergic reaction, only a little is needed to trigger it and the reaction would be consistent.
2. Allergens can enter the body through environment as well as through the blood (for food).
3. Immune system grows to be more tolerant of certain allergens, thus the term ‘out-growing’ of certain food allergens. Dr Madeline Ho, another doctor on the support group’s advisory panel further shared that certain food allergens are more commonly outgrown than others, for instance children tend to outgrow cow’s milk, eggs but less likely to outgrow peanut allergy.
It was good that Dr Tang had the time to explain many of the participants’ queries/concerns and our nurses (you know who you are, for privacy didn’t state your names) were ever so supportive, not forgetting NSC staff who helped with the logistics and ordering the yummy lunch! Thank you everyone for making my last Friday lunch a lovely time.
This is the 48th of my 2nd cartoon series, ‘LIFE OF AN ECZEMA GIRL’. For more cartoon in this series, check out here. For more talent cartoon, see here!
Children’s backpacks seem to be getting heavier, as the amount of school work increases in a day. A too heavy load or a backpack that is worn incorrectly can cause back pain for our children. This is worsened by increased inactivity as children (and us adults) sit more, and usually with a less than ideal posture. The backpack should not be more than 10% to 15% of the child’s weight.
What happens when a load is too heavy? A child has to COMPENSATE by bending forward or arching which compresses the spine unnaturally. This reminds me of when parents carry too heavy a load – a ‘backpack’ of responsibilities such as childcare, chores, meals, schoolwork, work and caring for aged parents. Something may give way to such a heavy load, be it health, spiritual growth or relationships. Like dealing with a heavy backpack, we can lighten the load and adopt a more sustainable model to manage our responsibilities.
Bible verse:
Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Dear God, I pray for all parents to have a load that we can bear, and a support system to bear the load together. I pray for rest for those of us who need it, and to find that rest in You.
RSVP today for this Friday lunch at Singapore National Skin Centre with Eczema Support Group – parents’ sharing on allergy with Dr Mark Tang. For full post, see here.
Think with me, ‘my child’s skin is not good enough’, ‘the moisturizer is not good enough’; sometimes we start thinking ‘my career is not good enough’, ‘my ___________ is not good enough’. Some Not-Good-Enoughs are ‘good’ to improve, while others can easily lead to a joy-sapping way of life. For eczema, I do think the occasional use of prescription cream, daily use of moisturizer, some decent (though interrupted) sleep is good enough. In life, the benchmark varies widely for everyone.
Sometimes as a Christian, I do guard myself when I start to think that God is not Good Enough. Hush.. how can you say that? God is God! I do think that this is very possible, although taboo to say it out right. It is a very real challenge, in daily living, in our performance-driven, results-oriented, materialistic society to remind ourselves and actually believe and live by the notion that God is good enough for me. He is sufficient, He meets my needs, He is what I want.
Bible verse:
Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Dear God, I pray that I will have the wisdom not to go after things in life that I don’t need. I pray that we will all find contentment and gratitude in life, despite living with eczema. I pray that we will find You to be enough.
This is the 46th of my 2nd cartoon series, ‘LIFE OF AN ECZEMA GIRL’. For more on building confidence for your child, see this series with parenting expert Dr Rosina. For more cartoon in this series, check out here.
Eczema is always a consideration in vacations – where to go (too hot, eczema flare-up? too cold, skin dry up?), what to bring (moisturizer, prescription, antihistamine, antiseptic) and keeping fingers crossed that there will not be an eczema flare-up during vacation. Good thing is many people seem to report better skin on holiday – this could be due to less stress during a holiday break, particularly for adults whose eczema is triggered by stress. For some families, their child’s eczema may be so severe that caring for the skin daily is already a struggle and holiday is not on the cards.
I do think that for parents who are caring for the child, a break is critical to re-charge our battery – even if the break is as short as half an hour of solitude. Jesus often withdrew himself to pray; likewise, I’m reminded that as a Christian parent, my ‘rest’ can be found during prayer time. Let us parents find rest in a day so that we will not be irritable, angry or resentful easily, but rested, peaceful and loving.
Bible verse:
Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
Dear God, I pray for rest for all eczema families, in particular the parents. A quiet time, a coffee break, a weekend getaway or a holiday. Most of all, that we all learn to enjoy the rest in You.
It is June holidays and if you are taking leave to spend more time with your children, you may want to choose 20 June 2014, Friday!
On 20 June, at the Singapore National Skin Centre, the Eczema Support Group will be holding its monthly sharing session and this time, with a doctor on our advisory panel Dr Mark Tang.
The topic for 20 June lunch – All Parents Wanted to Know on Allergy
20 June 2014 (Friday) – Venue, NSC Room 401, 12.30 noon to 1.30pm
1. 12.30 – 12.45 pm Introducing Ourselves – we can do this with our mouths full (lunch provided).
2. 12.45 – 1.30 pm I’d be facilitating the discussion on allergy, covering broadly
Allergy Testing – Does my child need to go for allergy test? Which are the common tests? Are they accurate?
Common Allergens – Which are the common allergens? Is food a common culprit?
Allergy and Skin – What does having a tested positive allergen means for my skin?
Do note though that this is not a consultation session. For those bringing your child, there will be balloons for sculpturing, puzzles and coloring to occupy your children.
Same note: Information shared is not medical advice, please still see a doc. No selling anything or pretending to be a parent of eczema child. Information on my blog is not pre-approved by NSC.
3. What’s for Lunch – Very likely, pizza.
4. YOU MUST RSVP – Our medical social worker who is helping with the Eczema Support Group will be in-charge of confirming your attendance, which isn’t confirmed till she says so! If you’re coming, please email me ([email protected]) your name, mobile and email, number of adults & kids coming, so that I can get her to contact you.
Natalia Stasenko, a registered dietitian, is passionate about pediatric nutrition and shares nutrition tips and coaching on FeedingBytes. Natalia has a Master of Science in Nutrition Education from Columbia University. She co-wrote to books Baby Led Feeding and Real Baby Food with Jenna Helwig.
This was originally a 4 week interview series which had since been combined into one informative post. The series was focused on nutrition for toddlers, in particular dealing with picky eaters or children who cannot eat certain foods.
Baby Starting Solids
It is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to start solids at 6-month old. During the first year, the primary nutrition should still come from milk, preferably breast milk as this is still the best nutrition for infants. Before we get into what to eat, let’s first start with the basic of how much to eat.
How Much To Eat
MarcieMom: Given the small tummies of young children and that solids have a different place in their nutrition at various stages, would you summarize for busy moms and dads
what portion sizes their children should be eating?
Natalia: This is a great question and I get it a lot at my workshops and online classes. Generally speaking, babies start with a very small amount of solids and gradually progress to more solid foods in their diet by the time they turn 12 months. At around 9-10 months many babies go through the “big switch”, as I call it. At this point, more calories and nutrition start coming from solid foods than from formula or breastmilk and many babies want bigger portions of solids and also start snacking on solid food rather than drinking milk or formula for snacks. It is important to remember that any guidance on portion sizes for babies can be interpreted only as an estimation, as babies’ appetites vary greatly.
Baby Portion Sizes
What I provide in this chart is more of a “starter” for portions. Some babies need more and some babies need less food.
Babies should never be pressured to finish a portion of food or be restricted in the amount they are hungry for.
Picky Eaters
MarcieMom: With regard to picky eaters, I’ve attended a talk by Dr Sears who suggested ‘grazing’, eating small-size food portions throughout the day. Since then, I’ve seen increasing number of articles that recommended it.
Would you recommend grazing, and if yes, why and for which groups of children would ‘grazing’ work best?
Natalia: Toddlers need to eat more frequently than older kids – every 2 to 3 hours. And serving them snacks in a muffin tray is a great idea! I did it for my own kids and always recommend it in my classes. But I think that the word “grazing” is a little confusing here. Grazing suggests eating small portions throughout the day without any mealtime structure. Dr Sears suggests serving the tray mid-morning and mid-afternoon and I think these are great times for a scheduled snack.
Toddler Meal Structure
Some parents may leave the tray out all day in a hope to get a few extra bites into their toddler. This will most likely result in eating out of boredom and/or no appetite for dinner. Structure in meals and snacks help kids of any ages to eat better at meals and stay attuned to their hunger and fullness signals.
Childhood Obesity
MarcieMom: Obesity is a rising problem among kids, actually not just in US but in Singapore as well. I’m thinking that the main meals or snacks which are planned and prepared ahead by parents and caregivers are likely to be ‘correct’. However, some parents (me included!) may slip and offer ice-cream, ice milo, juice (even diluted) and grandparents may offer chocolate-coated snacks (who can resist?!).
What is the practical way to look at and control these ‘extras’?
Natalia: Those delicious extras can be a legitimate part of your child’s diet. In fact, research shows that it is important to serve your child’s favorites from time to time because kids tend to value restricted foods even more. It is up to parents, of course, to decide how many treats their child will get per day or per week.
A good rule of thumb I use with my kids and clients is that anything marketed to children or with added sugar is a treat.
To help kids feel in control around “forbidden foods”, we recommend serving them in unlimited amount from time to time (an example will be a glass of milk and a plate of cookies for snack once a month). If served for dessert, the treats should be smaller (think of a size of an oreo cookie) but they should never be served as a reward for eating dinner. Instead, try to serve a small dessert alongside the meal, to “neutralize” it as much as possible. And do not forget that a bowl of fruit with plain yogurt also makes a great dessert!
BMI Chart for Portion Control?
MarcieMom: A final question on how much to eat – is the BMI-chart for kids accurate or should looking at a kid and assessing whether he/she is all chubby/flabby or look firm and fit be a better gauge? !
Natalia: The most important information we can derive from growth chart is if the child is growing consistently. Some health professionals call it “following the curve”. We aim for comparing the child to himself, not to other children. Some children are consistently on the 90th percentile and completely healthy while others thrive on the 5th percentile. If the child suddenly starts “dropping” or “climbing” percentiles on a growth chart, on the other hand, it may indicate a medical or feeding problem. For the most accurate results, it is also important to pick the right chart. BMI chart is available for kids only 2 years and older and breastfed babies are best assessed on the World Health Organization charts, not the CDC ones.
What to Eat for Toddlers
Photo from Natalie Stasenko
Is the Toddler or the Mom Picking the Food?
Come to think of it, the willingness to open one’s mouth, put food in, chew and swallow can’t be forced. So seen in that light, your toddler is the one choosing the food. The problem steps in when he/she is choosing so much, the term ‘picky eater’ soon becomes how you see your child. Natalia has a special interest with helping parents feed picky eaters, given her own parenting experience, let’s find out more from her!
What are your top 3 must eat foods that are essential for toddlers, on-top of the standard fruits and vegetables, protein source and carbohydrates?
Natalia: I would change the term Must-eat to Must-served. I feel like when parents are under pressure that their child must eat a particular food, children sense it and are more likely to reject it.
The Must-Serve foods to Toddlers are:
Orange and dark green rich fruit and vegetables, due to Vitamin A, important for eye health and immune system
Oily fish such as salmon and tuna, due to DHA, important for retinal and brain development
Red meat, fortified cereal, beans, due to Iron, important for oxygen transportation and storing it in cells. Most common nutrient deficiency in small children is iron deficiency
Which Option to Encourage Healthy Eating on Served Foods?
MarcieMom: Assume that the child is refusing to eat the healthier butternut squash, broccoli and fish. What would you recommend a parent to do? i. Forget about these foods, try new ones ii. Stick to these foods, try new way of cooking iii. Keep cooking these foods and let the child ‘starve’ if not eating iv. Keep cooking these foods and more, just in case
In the option(s) you choose or maybe another option or a combination, how long should a parent try a certain tactic?
(It’s already starting to sound laborious to me, lucky for me, my child happen to love superfoods!)
Natalia: I would suggest to keep serving these foods, in the context of family meals, alongside the foods your child has already warmed up to. The biggest mistake parents make is creating pressure at mealtimes in an attempt to get their children to eat particular foods. This does not work. Catering, i.e. giving only the foods that your child likes, also backfires. Non-pressure, pleasant mealtimes, role modeling and plenty of exposure help kids push themselves to learn to like the foods the rest of the family is enjoying. Exposure to less liked foods outside of mealtime through shopping, cooking and taste-testing also works.
New ways of cooking may also help.
For example, many toddlers dislike texture of meat so in the class we will share a recipe of meatballs cooked in broth that are literally melting in the mouth. When it comes to vegetables, even the simplest of them can be prepared in a variety of ways. For example, you can grate a carrot, cut it into matchsticks, make it into ribbons, steam it, roast it or pan fry it with some butter.
We definitely do not suggest starving your child till he eats certain foods. After years of working with children with feeding problems, I know that some of them would rather starve than eat something that is not acceptable to them. Besides, it creates a very negative mealtime dynamics that leads to smaller appetites and ultimately less variety in diet.
Anti-Inflammatory Food Choices
MarcieMom: Various nutritionists have shared on this blog about inflammatory foods. Would you think this is of concern to young children as well?
Which are the top inflammatory foods that you see commonly given to children and should be avoided?
Natalia: While we are still learning more from research what exact benefits anti-inflammatory diet brings to adults and children, it is clear that reducing processed foods and boosting fruits, vegetables, lean protein, oily fish and whole grains is a path to good health for both kids and grown ups. However, research shows that an overall dietary pattern seems to be more important than adding or removing specific foods from diet. I often use 80 to 20 ratio in my talks and classes, where 80 percent of food in kids’ diet are minimally processed from the list above and 20 percent are fun foods including treats. That said, I do not think that hydrogenated fats and artificial colors have a place in children’s diet. Of course, eating a blue lollipop or commercially prepared french fries from time to time is not likely to have a big health effect but if parents have an opportunity to choose candy with natural colors or bake french fries at home in the oven, it is great.
80 percent of food in kids’ diet are minimally processed and 20 percent are fun foods including treats.
MarcieMom: A final question, how would you grade my ‘food grading’ chart that I use to educate my child? Feel free to shift items around!
Natalia: I think it definitely helps to create a balance in the diet, with the focus on more nutritious foods. I think that following a chart like this can help lay down very good foundation for healthy eating habits in the future. However I must say though that as kids are growing up and have more outside influence on their diet from the peers, I had to adjust my feeding strategy to occasionally include “forbidden” foods like soda and cookies.
Research shows that kids who are restricted tend to over indulge when they are given access to foods that are forbidden at home.
Again, serving the foods you want your child to eat all the time is the key to get them learn to enjoy their flavor, which is the best nutrition education parents can provide.
What Not to Eat for Kids
Photo from Natalie Stasenko
What a Child Cannot Eat due to Allergy, Food Sensitivity or Intolerance?
When a parent should suspect there’s a problem with the child after eating the food? When should a parent bring a child in for allergy testing?
Natalia: In case with allergic reactions, the typical symptoms to look out for are hives, swelling of the face and mucous membranes found in the nose, ears, lungs and throat, nasal congestion and sneezing, intestinal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. With smaller kids who cannot talk yet, general discomfort and crying after eating a specific food may also indicate an allergic reaction to food. If your child has any of these symptoms after trying a certain food for the first time, food allergy may be suspected. It is a good idea to call your doctor who will probably refer you to an allergist for a testing.
Food Allergy Testing
Food allergy is often diagnosed by one of the widely available tests: skin prick test and blood test for antibodies, neither of which gives a 100% guarantee of true clinical reactivity. These tests may be helpful to assist in diagnosing food allergy when the patient history indicates that a specific food may be a problem. A double blind placebo controlled food challenge is considered by this and other reports as a diagnostic “gold standard”. This basically means that a person is given the suspected food once and a placebo another time, without knowing what is what. The challenges are provided in gradually increasing doses and neither the patient nor the practitioner knows in which order they follow, thus patient and clinician biases are removed.
Food Elimination
Once the offering food is identified, the doctor will likely recommend to remove it from a diet. Children with food allergies may be at a high risk for nutritional deficiencies if important foods like dairy, eggs, or wheat are not replaced by nutritionally optimal alternatives. For example: calorie, protein and fat contents of cow’s milk are much higher than those in most milk substitutes, including almond and rice milk. A child who drinks rice milk instead of cow’s milk may not be growing properly because he or she will not be getting enough nutrients in the diet. Soy milk, on the other hand, is closer in calories, fat and protein to cow’s milk and could be considered a good alternative.
Figuring out Replacement Foods
MarcieMom: We know that there are certain foods that are the more common food allergens of children, while others are likely to cause intolerance. Given that a food (say fish) has more than one nutrients, how should a parent know what is a suitable replacement food i.e. as long as replacing the main nutrition, say is a protein or replacing the more beneficial nutrients, the omega-3 or finding a food that is as close to fish as possible (but that may trigger the same allergy?).
Natalia: It is a great question and I would like to provide some background information. Food allergy is an adverse reaction to protein in food. So every time the allergen is eaten, the immune system starts fighting it using the whole arsenal of chemicals causing the potentially life-threatening symptoms. Food allergy is often confused with food intolerance, which is caused by lack of digestive enzymes, such as lactase in case with milk intolerance. However, food intolerance does not involve immune system.
Food allergy can be IgE-mediated and/or non-IgE mediated. IgE-mediated basically means that when the allergen is ingested, the body produces Immunoglobulin E antibodies, which attack the allergen causing the release of histamine and other potent mediators that cause the symptoms of a food allergic reaction. Non-IgE mediated reactions primarily affects the gastrointestinal tract lining and causes allergic disorders such as protocolitis and entrocolitis. To complicate matters further, a bunch of adverse food reactions can be both IgE and non-IgE mediated.
Fish Allergy Alternatives
As you see, there are many different ways we can react to certain foods. To answer your questions, in the case with fish allergy it is more likely to the protein the child is reacting to so the health care provider will probably recommend stay away from all fish and seafood and take a DHA supplement instead.
Milk Intolerance Alternatives
In case of milk intolerance, switching to lactose-free milk will help to avoid the symptoms but if your child. has food allergy to milk i.e. reacting to milk protein, all dairy products lactose free or not, should be avoided. In my private practice I worked with many kids with food allergies who needed a safe and balanced diet to meet their nutrient needs after removing the allergens. In most cases I needed to collaborate with their allergists and pediatricians to create a plan that works for a specific family.
Foods NOT for Toddlers
Photo from Natalie Stasenko
What are the top 5 foods that you think under no circumstance a child should be given, or as infrequent as once a month?
Natalia: It is hard to ban certain foods from a child’s diet, especially as they become more independent in obtaining their food when they grow up. To avoid vilifying certain foods, that may only increase their appeal in children’s eyes, I prefer to focus on staying away from certain ingredients and buy or make a better version of children’s favorites most of the time.
My top 5 food additives to avoid are artificial dyes, artificial sweeteners, sodium nitrate, certain preservatives (BHA and BHT) and trans fats.
The good news is that by preparing most of the food at home and reading food labels a family can easily cut on their consumption of these foods.
Cutting Sugar in Kids’ Diet
I also believe in watching sugar in kids’ diets because too many sugary foods not only leave less space in small tummies for more nutritious foods but also create real health risks in the future. American Heart Association recommends only 4-5 teaspoons of added sugar per day for children, while most children get 3-4 times the amount. To calculate the amount of sugar in a serving of food, divide the number of grams of sugar on the label into 4, it will give you the number of teaspoons of sugar the food contains.
Children Supplements
MarcieMom: I’m giving my child supplements – she eats a balanced meal but I think 1. Probiotics, 2. Omega-3 and 3.Multi-vitamins (in doses below 100% of daily requirement) could strengthen her immune system. Is that the right thinking/approach or should I throw these out of the window?
Natalia: When it comes to supplements, it helps to remember that it is a very loosely regulated market. FDA controls (somewhat) their safety, not efficacy. In our class we talk about consumer organizations that test and review supplements and I use their input in my work and personal life all the time. I see a lot of multivitamins of supermarket shelves that are mostly sugar and food coloring, missing the nutrients children are most likely to fall short on. So I think it is important to work with a dietitian to choose the supplements your child may truly need.
For example, many toddlers do not get enough iron in their diets and at the same time it is missing from most multivitamins. The good news is that there are specific additive and allergen-free comprehensive multivitamin formulas I recommend to parents of picky toddlers but they are not typically sitting on the eye level in supermarket shelves and some may only be purchased online.
Back to your question: providing your child with multivitamins, probiotics and DHA may be a good strategy to help close the potential nutrient gaps if your child does not eat many fruit and vegetables, eats no fermented foods and oily fish. But we know that nutrients are best absorbed when they come in the whole package, in foods. So I would still focus on exposing children to the nutritious foods that they are still learning to like, which I feel you are already doing wonderfully!
Thank you so much Natalia for being with us and sharing so many nutrition tips!
This is the 45th of my 2nd cartoon series, ‘LIFE OF AN ECZEMA GIRL’. My child in preschool has friends and not in anyway teased for her eczema, but I do wonder about grade school kids with severe eczema. Is your child a target for bully? For more cartoon in this series, check out here.
In my morning jog, I see the sun rise against the lake and I always felt in awe of how sunrise gets the day off to a fresh start. It is almost like on cue – birds come alive and start chirping, even the greenery in the park seems to take on a greener shade! I remembered when I was caring for my child’s eczema – each day is a new day, a day where it may just be possible that her skin would get better.
It’s like the song ‘As We Gather’ with the lyrics below. We can be comforted and blessed that God’s love is steadfast and his mercies have no end. Each day is a new start with fresh hope. I do pray that all of us, including myself, we ‘get’ the nature of God and experience His love.
Bible verse:
Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lyrics of As We Gather, by Mike Faye & Tom Coomes
As we gather my Your Spirit work within us
As we gather may we glorify Your Name
Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship
We’ll be blessed because we came
We’ll be blessed because we came
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning, new every morning
Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord
Great is Thy faithfulness
Steadfast Love from God and mercies are new every morning
For the past two weeks (here and here), we have explored the Top 10 Bads of Soda for our children. Today, we’d be going into whether soda leads to allergic conditions.
There is actually very little written on this, and I’ve scoured both the web and Pubmed. Thus far, the biggest culprit ingredient linked to eczema, asthma and allergies is Sodium benzoate. This has been covered last week where sodium benzoate is a preservative found in soft drinks, and linked to allergy and behavourial issues.
I only found one study on Pubmed, where 62 children from age 12 months to 13 years were observed for whether restriction in their diet led to an improvement in eczema. Among the restricted foods, soda (11.9%) was the highest, followed in decreasing order by food additives (9.2%), walnut (7.0%), peanut (7.0%), and other nuts (5.9%). When foods were grouped, the crustacean group was the most frequently restricted group, followed by processed foods, nuts, milk & dairy products, and meats.
The observation from the study was that atopic dermatitis/eczema improved for those children which had restricted 1 to 3 food groups, and those that avoided more than 3 groups didn’t showed significant improvement. There may therefore be some impact on restricting foods, but it is not clear nor a causal link directly established through this study.
There are many websites though, through personal testimonies, where various individuals found that removing sugar, caffeine, preservatives and artificial sweeteners from their diets helped. In this case, as there is little nutritional benefit of such ingredients for our children, restricting these ingredients from their diet should be a plus (if not for eczema, for healthy living!).
This is the 44th of my 2nd cartoon series, ‘LIFE OF AN ECZEMA GIRL’. For more on Skin Health, see this series with Dr Verallo-Rowell. For more cartoon in this series, check out here.
It is easy to make a vow but hard to keep it. Chronic diseases are on the rise, not just eczema or allergic conditions in kids, but chronic conditions like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Caring for someone, young or elderly, who always have a health condition is not easy. Being with someone who can’t walk, needs constant care and help with daily activity can be draining. In marriage vow, it is made ‘in sickness and in health’; in the bible, it is stated ‘honor your father and mother’. These are easy to do in good days and difficult in trying times.
Jesus cares for the people who are sick and dying.
In John 11, Jesus wept during the mourning of Lazarus’ death. Jesus did not weep because Lazarus was dead, as He later revived him. However, it is interpreted as Jesus wept because He was moved by compassion, by the mourning of Mary, Martha and others. Suffering and trials are present in our fallen world, and not expected to be easy, Christian or non-Christian. However, being a believer meant that our journey on earth is not alone.
Bible verse:
Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Dear God, I pray for strength for those of us who are caring for family members who have health conditions. I pray that your compassion and love will touch and sustain us.
Soda is really bad, opt for plain water for our children!
Last week, we started the Soda and Child series and today, we would continue exploring the other ingredients of soda.
#3 Phosphoric Acid – Phosphorous deplete calcium in the body which is essential for the child’s growth, putting teenage girls at risk of osteoporosis. There are some studies that show that drinking soda is related to drinking less of milk, but this is not very significant.
#4 Acids –The acids in soda contribute to an unnatural acid environment within the stomach and can lead to inflammation of the stomach and duodenal lining. The acids also erode the enamel on the teeth and thus up the risk for tooth decay (plus sugar also cause cavities)
#5 Caffeine –Some soda contains caffeine which stimulates adrenal glands. Colas, diet colas and many soda contain caffeine. Energy drinks which are getting more popular among children and teens also contain caffeine. Drinking too much caffeine, as adults can attest to, make us tremble, lose sleep, stomach upset, increased blood pressure and irregular heartbeat.
#6 Sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate –these are preservatives present in diet sodas which have been linked with allergic conditions and possible irritant to the skin, eyes and mucous membranes. Studies on rats indicate increase in anxiety and motor impairment after benzoate consumption.
#7 Aspartame – Used in diet soda as a sugar substitute, there are many studies linking aspartame to brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilepsy (from Mercola site). Interestingly, Dr Mercola pointed out that “when aspartame is stored for long periods of time or kept in warm areas it changes to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens”.
#8 More on Artificial Sweetener – Below is an interesting extract from a post written by Mark Hyman, MD at Huff Post:
Artificial sweeteners are hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular sugar, activating our genetically-programmed preference for sweet taste more than any other substance.
They trick your metabolism into thinking sugar is on its way. This causes your body to pump out insulin, the fat storage hormone, which lays down more belly fat.
It also confuses and slows your metabolism down, so you burn fewer calories every day.
It makes you hungrier and crave even more sugar and starchy carbs like bread and pasta.
In animal studies, the rats that consumed artificial sweeteners ate more, their metabolism slowed, and they put on 14 percent more body fat in just two weeks — even eating fewer calories.
In population studies, there was a 200 percent increased risk of obesity in diet soda drinkers.
#9 MSGMonosodium Glutamate – MSG is found within the citric acid and has been linked to brain diseases like Alzheimer’s,learning disorders and psychiatric conditions.
#10 Diuretics –Sodas are diuretics which is dehydrating and affects digestion.
These top 10 Bads of Soda, even though studies may not have been conclusive causal links, are enough to stop me, my child and my family from consuming. Is there any impact on allergic conditions? Find out next week.
This is the 43rd of my 2nd cartoon series, ‘LIFE OF AN ECZEMA GIRL’. For more on chlorhexidine, check out link. Also, read sharing on use of cosmetics. For more cartoon in this series, check out here.
It occurred to me that our life has lots of waiting moments in a day – waiting for train, waiting for doctor’s appointment, waiting for restaurant service. I suppose most of these waitings have an end – the train will come, our number will be called and our food will be served. However, waiting for our child’s eczema to have an end can be difficult. I’m blessed that my daughter’s eczema improved markedly after an oral steroid course and within subsequent next few appointments. I know of many more families who continue to struggle with controlling the eczema, despite making their best efforts.
There is much waiting in a Christian’s journey too. I do wait for prayers to be answered which sometimes can be frustrating and perplexing. There is however a waiting that is joyous, seeing my God, Jesus in heaven. I don’t know what heaven is going to be like – but I imagine it to be a place of joy without struggles and tension. More importantly, it will be pure bliss to be so close to Jesus.
Bible verse:
Psalm 39:7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.
Dear God, I thank You that You provided heaven for us. While I’m waiting here on earth, help me to wait in joy and to love You and others. Help our children with eczema to recover and not be waiting in vain for better skin.
Join the Eczema Support Group to Singapore Discovery Centre
To start off the June holidays, members of the Eczema Support Group are invited for an outing to the Singapore Discovery Centre. Nurse Cindy from the National Skin Centre will be our leader for the outing and you can always talk to her during the outing to discover Singapore!
The meeting time and point is 9.30am, 31 May 2014 (Sat morning) at the Singapore Discovery Centre ticket booth. It is a simple outing to do something together as a group and expected to end by 12.30pm. If interested to go for this outing, do leave a comment and social worker Debbie will get back to you on your RSVP.
Update: Due to low response for the event, this outing is cancelled. Look out for June’s lunch sharing information on this blog!
More on what’s available at the Singapore Discovery Centre here.
For the past few years, there is much awareness on the ‘danger’of soda –even celebrities are more mindful of endorsing soda brands (google Beyonce, Scarlett Johansson and Taylor Swift)! Sugar, which is a key ingredient in soda drinks, is inflammatory and well-known nutritionists like Rania Betayneh and Toby Amidor had offered tips on inflammation in this blog.
Every time I see someone close to me buying a sugared drink (or for that matter, when I buy a sugared drink myself!), I always joke about ‘Here’s the inflammatory drink!’. Lately an acquaintance who loves soda had recently been diagnosed with a terminal chronic condition which led me to start looking at soda again. If it’s REALLY (Truly Bluely as my 5-year old daughter would say) BAD for health, we as parents would not want our child to consume soda. So, let’s review the effects on general health in this 3-week soda and our kid series, with the last post with a focused on possible effect on allergic conditions.
Top 10 ‘Bads’ of Soda
#1 Sugar – Sugar is empty calories and linked to obesity, which in turn is linked to a whole host of chronic diseases. It is also linked to increased risk of pre-diabetes (something to watch out for even for adults), metabolic disorders and heart disease which have symptoms like big waistline, high blood pressure and low HDL/good cholesterol.
More recently, sweetened drink has been linked to behavioral issues in children, with issues like aggression, depression and attention difficulties. As to which ingredient causes it, it is not clear but caffeine, acids, HFCS and sugar had been hypothesized to be behind the behavioral issues.
But can all the health problems be blamed on sugar?
The case made by soft drink companies/associations is that soft drinks should not be picked on for the rise in obesity and it is true to some extent – the additional 100-200 calories from a can of soda may not contribute to material weight gain, what is contributing is that because it doesn’t make your child feel full, thus there is a tendency to not reduce overall calories intake. The additional (empty) calories from soda can become truly weight-gaining unless one makes a conscious effort to exercise.
#2 High Frutose Corn Syrup –The HFCS in soda doesn’t make the child full and thus, misled the child to consume more of the drink. This has been covered in Dr Sears L.E.A.N series here, with the Dr Sears LEAN team’s tip below:
Drinking soda should be discouraged. Many juice drinks and all sodas are high in calories, provide no nutrients, and are usually sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which you should always avoid. Click here to learn more about why you should avoid HFCS: http://www.drsearslean.com/2011/10/the-high-fructose-corn-syrup-debate/
Next week, we will be going through the other ingredients in soda drinks and learn the other possible effects on health of our children!
Last Friday’s lunch with the parent-child eczema support group at the Singapore National Skin Centre was an informative, relaxed and enjoyable session. We had a mix of people of different ages and 3 kids who came. The children were all very well-behaved and puzzles, toys contributed by a participant kept the children happy and busy!
