The Good The Bad the Ugly

I don't know about anyone else but having a child with food allergies and intolerances can be extremely challenging at the best of times. As well as my own child, we see quite a lot of cases like this in our clinic and the parents have become absolute masters at reading food labels. As a parent it can make you feel like the food police, you can feel as though every parent and teacher in the school playground thinks you are a neurotic parent - but they don't have to live with the consequences of them eating the wrong food!

The thing that I find the most difficult is watching out for artficial sweeteners in everything, from cakes to squash and sweets - one of the worst culprits is aspartame. I was shocked to discover that a major coffee house puts this product in their low fat cakes; a product that suggests to you that it is good for you but may in actual fact be causing you more harm than the fat it is replacing to make the product taste palatable. This little artificial sweetener is over two hundred times sweeter than sugar, helping to addict children to sweet foods. Aspartame has also been linked to a whole host of other problems from hyperactivity to headaches (in my childs, case it brings him out in a rash and makes him sick).  

So what is the alternative?  For our family the more natural food the better. This is fine when we are at home however the problems occur when visiting friends or there is a birthday at school and sweets or chocolate are given out as treats. The irony of this is obvious, it can be quite upsetting for a child to have to watch their friends have these sweets and they can't. As a parent it is very hard to keep saying no and can make you feel terrible.

But it is not all negative, generally my little boy is very healthy and very rarely gets ill; and mostly he doesn't miss the food as he hasn't developed the sugar craving.  I do believe things are changing for the better; some food manufactures are making much more effort. More manufactured foods are becoming free from additives and artificial colours. As parents it is important that we keep making the right choices for our children even though sometimes it can be difficult.

If you suspect that you child has a problem with some foods it may be worth a visit to a nutritional therapist who will be able to help identify any problems and also to ensure that the child has a healthy diet and is getting their full range of nutrients.