0:00

ABC Listen, podcasts,

0:02

radio, news, music

0:05

and more. Here

0:08

at Life Matters, we have been very

0:10

interested in protein lately for good reason.

0:12

We all need it for healthy muscles

0:14

and overall wellbeing. But I

0:17

bet there've been lots of parents listening

0:19

thinking, what about my kids? Their lunchbox

0:21

is entirely white. Bread, pasta,

0:23

rice. Are they getting enough

0:25

protein for an active life and to set them

0:27

up for later life too? Pediatric

0:30

dietitian, Karina Savage, can help clarify

0:32

some of these concerns, I reckon.

0:34

Karina, welcome to Life Matters. Hi,

0:36

Hillary. It's great to be here. Thanks

0:38

for having me. It's a pleasure. Now, we've

0:40

been hearing lately just how important protein is

0:42

for building healthy muscles and bones all throughout

0:44

life. How important is it then

0:46

for kids who are still developing their skeletal

0:48

systems? So children do

0:51

need protein. So if we think about

0:53

protein as building blocks for

0:55

all of our bodies, but especially

0:57

important for children who are growing

0:59

and developing, it's important for their

1:01

bones, their muscles, their skin, their

1:03

blood. So children need to

1:06

get good quality protein so that they

1:08

are growing and developing to their full

1:10

potential. So we've had lots of

1:12

adults texting in over the recent weeks that

1:14

we've been covering protein stories saying, am I

1:16

getting enough? What should I be eating? Are

1:18

parents worried about their kids getting enough protein,

1:20

according to the people who have been coming

1:22

to you? Yeah, look, they

1:24

do. They do worry that their child

1:27

is not getting enough protein. But

1:29

when you look at, when I look

1:31

at what their child is eating, and

1:34

then when you look at what our

1:36

National Nutrition Surveys tell us, it all

1:38

tells us very similar things in terms

1:40

of the majority of our children well

1:42

exceed their protein needs on a daily

1:45

basis, but it's the types of the

1:47

protein foods that is more of the

1:49

issue. And that's certainly what I see

1:51

with my parents who have fussy eaters.

1:54

They worry about protein, but it's not

1:56

so much the grams of

1:58

protein because they're well exceedable. The eating that

2:00

is. Actually that's the quality of the protein.

2:02

That is the concern really. So what's going

2:05

wrong? They they getting too much

2:07

of what kind of protein? Well,

2:09

young children especially love. White seat

2:11

say they love dairy seeds. And

2:13

dairy foods are very rich source of

2:15

pro saints but they don't necessarily can

2:18

see we need since has his irons

2:20

which we d c as. An easy

2:22

in a young children as personally

2:24

twenty percent of a young children

2:27

don't make their on requirements sites.

2:29

It's as angst and have adequate

2:31

protein but not the right variety

2:33

of protein. So it said price

2:36

handset says mates chicken, fish, eggs,

2:38

nuts, seeds. It's those types of

2:40

proteins that pass a struggling with.

2:42

ah and I've certainly had my

2:45

i suppose we might suit and

2:47

with those. States the lunch boxes

2:49

are often lacking in those proteins

2:51

and you can't send nuts to

2:54

school. So it's the the What.that's

2:56

contributing. To this issue too gentle. Love

2:58

the cards and the milk which is

3:00

adequate protein. But not necessarily all the

3:02

nutrients that our children made the I

3:04

imagine that. New know what Ross and

3:06

what bread and things and past or not

3:09

that high in fiber. Either is that a big

3:11

issue? Correct. Side: these

3:13

want died or that the

3:15

Hi Barry High Pop.doesn't meet

3:17

at children's father requirements and

3:19

fiber is so important for

3:21

attitude and got health father's

3:23

seed Our children's. Got microbes and

3:26

keeps their gut microbes. In

3:28

Healthy Balance So we really need to

3:30

be feeding the the good badly. In

3:32

our topic is that in ten seats

3:34

are mean system healthy. about three quarters

3:36

of our immune system is in a

3:38

gastrointestinal tract and say if we're seeing

3:40

the good bugs and keeping us good

3:43

bags happy, it keeps our mean system

3:45

happy and healthy. and and it really

3:47

helps to reduce our risk of getting

3:49

sick. and say a lack of fiber

3:51

can also increase metres and getting sick

3:53

and. Who wants to take days off

3:55

to take their kids to the doctors? Well

3:58

yeah exactly. They don't want them getting. Oh

4:00

Stop it. Also, your etc. Is the

4:03

day out Snickering over is always said and but

4:05

also a be reassured I have decided he that

4:07

even a pediatric dietitians can find it hard to

4:09

get their child to eat a balanced diet. still

4:12

is a bit about what happened with your daughter.

4:14

Oh yea, it. Doesn't. Escape

4:16

any of our wow if I

4:18

think about Betty have fifty percent

4:20

of young children are classified as

4:22

fussy eaters and certainly I had

4:24

my own experience and when my

4:26

daughter was little see in a

4:29

cell into that typical fast the

4:31

either profile see very strong willed

4:33

like this is a gorgeous gallon

4:35

seas and place to say Now

4:37

out the other end but he

4:39

certainly had my struggle than are

4:41

really challenge my confidence. Yeah I'd

4:43

already been a pediatric that's his

4:45

and for ten years. Prior to

4:47

having has an nothing that I'd really

4:49

the land in uni with that are

4:51

working for me and I really had

4:54

to create my own plan my method

4:56

which I now seats to. A lot

4:58

of other parents, but it's. It's

5:00

something. That I think really sneaks up

5:02

on you and you feel lucky. Louie the

5:04

Oh power when you've got these three year

5:07

old city at it. I will absolutely refusing

5:09

over healthy babies any to see Bill completely

5:11

stock as to what today but rest assured

5:13

people listening out there that there is light

5:15

at the end of the tamil And yes

5:18

he was low in iron and I had

5:20

to. Really I think take the sit back

5:22

and. Change the way

5:24

that I. Approach things because as a

5:26

parent now I speak very different places.

5:29

Estimates that the Pope or I was

5:31

his. Hair. And and it's something that's

5:33

you can definitely. Work your way through.

5:36

but I think having some clear. Said.

5:38

What is is really beneficial because

5:41

to so much information out. There

5:43

is so confusing. I mean you

5:45

can do everything right, Isn't that

5:47

easily? Very confusing. Perfect. Princess and he

5:50

will an amended the Risk of Us. Need is

5:52

kind of squeeze your. Use of knowledge down into

5:54

a little pointed history. I guess a lot of parents

5:56

are going to be sinkings and will make those who

5:58

said he said this is having a. down and

6:00

they just, should I just

6:02

give them the toast so that they've got some food

6:04

in their tummy and they'll go to sleep? Should I

6:07

give them the rice? How can you gradually expand their

6:09

horizons a little bit when it comes to bland foods?

6:12

Well to start off with the

6:14

key factor is actually understanding why

6:17

they are fussy and I've got

6:19

a three-week fussy at a program

6:21

where week one is all about getting

6:23

to the bottom of why your child

6:25

is fussy because it's a bit like

6:27

you know your car that's broken down.

6:29

If you don't understand why your child

6:32

is fussy you then, sorry, why your

6:34

car is broken down, you can't then put the

6:36

right fix in place and actually get it

6:38

up and back on the road. Same with

6:41

a child if you don't understand why your

6:43

child is fussy it's really hard to create

6:46

the right strategy to fix it.

6:48

So for example if we work

6:50

out that a child is fussy because

6:52

they are quite sensory so they

6:54

don't, they're super tasteless or

6:57

they don't like the way foods are mixed

7:00

on their plate or they don't like certain

7:02

textures of food but then

7:04

as a mum you've seen this you

7:06

know cool hack on Instagram that, or

7:09

social media I should say, anywhere that he's

7:12

got you know you're cutting food

7:15

into cool little shapes and you know

7:17

making food really fun that's the wrong

7:19

fix for your child's underlying cause of

7:21

their fussy eating so we need to

7:23

first of all understand why they're fussy

7:25

and then create the right fix for

7:27

that underlying cause and I think that's

7:29

where sometimes we go astray is we've

7:31

sort of got these top three things

7:33

just keep throwing veggies on their plate

7:36

you know don't make a fuss but

7:38

it doesn't always work for parents because

7:40

it's not necessarily addressing that root underlying

7:42

cause of their child's fussy eating so

7:44

I think that's really the first point but

7:47

definitely trying to eat

7:49

together have really positive, it was

7:52

actually lovely listening to your interview

7:54

before because I'm all about encouraging

7:56

parents to eat together, role model

7:58

healthy eating behaviours Then children

8:01

saying that. Has enjoying

8:03

seats plants so. Many positive

8:05

saying that will eventually grow as the

8:07

times I'm is just wonderful. See to

8:09

hear that before that's exactly what I

8:11

spit of is coming from exploiting the

8:13

zebra an angle the there's lots of

8:15

we can do but I think it's

8:18

time and seneca what's causing it in

8:20

the first place I was driving it

8:22

will get and I mean if you

8:24

if you do have a kid who

8:26

for whatever reason is saying I would

8:28

just like t things in the base

8:30

color palette when I'm easy swaps Kareena

8:32

when I guess when we think about

8:34

they died across a day or across

8:36

a wage that you can nudge it's

8:39

as as he said you know proteins

8:41

that these united towards more fiber reach

8:43

and a nutrient dense our options. Yeah.

8:45

So I always encourage pants seats

8:47

with that want tot with those

8:49

sort of say seats that that's

8:51

hot has always had an ad

8:53

little taller extras on the sides

8:56

because that repeat expose of some

8:58

mail yesterday and frost stuff like

9:00

eating with your parents saying you

9:02

pass a bill is merely adding

9:04

tough and that's really what we

9:06

wanted do with Apathy Edith we

9:08

won't see add those little extras

9:10

in all the time to to

9:12

build familiarity interests that certainly adding

9:14

it's yummy save. Again, these could

9:16

be baked goods vii you're talking

9:18

before bet that has except added

9:21

nutrients that we audience and things

9:23

like flaxseed. We added things like

9:25

chia seeds because they see that

9:27

high and five ass but the

9:29

added in said space d sort

9:31

of kids snacks that can really

9:33

bring valuable five or so. I

9:35

like to tell parents to make

9:37

the most of snacks because soldier

9:40

and can. Basically.

9:42

get fifty percent has any tricks

9:44

and young children from snacks i

9:46

snacks need to be really a

9:48

valued and and not death throwing

9:50

some cheese and crackers at them

9:52

because snack time can really contribute

9:54

significantly to your tubs day so

9:56

if they're not eating studies at

9:58

the dinner table doesn't matter So if

10:00

you can get veggies in twice to other

10:02

parts of the day, it really takes the

10:05

pressure off dinnertime. So I do encourage parents

10:07

to focus on making snacks

10:09

count. Think about it

10:11

as a nutritionally balanced week rather than

10:13

a nutritionally balanced day because again then

10:15

is that it takes the pressure off

10:18

because we're not robots and they're not

10:20

robots and we don't eat the same

10:22

thing every day. So

10:24

trying to make snacks

10:26

count, sneaking extra

10:28

things into our baked goods and

10:31

whatnot. And I don't mind hiding

10:33

vegetables and whatnot but

10:35

I also think it's really valuable that our

10:37

children see the food as well. So that's

10:39

where you just want to pop a little

10:42

bit of those healthy foods next to their

10:44

white foods just to try to stretch them

10:46

over time. Yep and enjoy those

10:49

foods yourself. Karina, it's

10:51

been fascinating talking to you and thank

10:53

you for sharing your struggles as well

10:55

as your professional insights with us on

10:57

Life Matters. Oh my pleasure.

10:59

Thanks for having me. Pediatric dietitian

11:01

Karina Savage. So that's

11:03

how it works with kids but

11:05

for babies there can be some

11:07

quite specific challenges around protein. Dr

11:09

Miao Bing Zheng is a researcher

11:11

and dietitian at the Institute of

11:14

Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin

11:16

University. Miao Bing, welcome to Life

11:18

Matters. Hi, thank you for having

11:20

me. It's a pleasure. Now I'm fascinated, you

11:22

were looking into obesity in kids and you

11:24

found an unusual trend when it came to

11:26

protein and babies. Tell us what you found.

11:28

Yeah, that's right. We often think that

11:30

high protein diet is beneficial for weight

11:32

loss as it promotes entirety. However

11:35

when it comes to babies, that's not the

11:37

case. So we did two studies and both

11:39

found that babies consuming a

11:41

high protein diet, they put on

11:43

weight faster in infancy and they

11:45

had higher obesity risk in childhood.

11:48

The link is largely driven by animal source

11:50

protein but not plant source protein. Okay,

11:53

so when we say animal source protein, do we mean

11:56

milk feeding times or when they're on

11:58

solids? Yes. Are

12:00

we talking about the protein? Frown

12:02

on meat and dairy sources. Salei

12:05

Sully I'm talking about to aims to search

12:07

for two years of life. Okay and so

12:09

when he said you know there's a link

12:11

between how much weight the children put on

12:13

early in life, A lot of people think

12:15

that that's great when bones a chubby and

12:18

in our toddlers have those little fat rolls

12:20

a really healthy for them in what kind

12:22

of excess weight putting on were you thinking

12:24

of. Here. So what

12:26

we trying to save? putting on weight

12:29

too fast means. And they

12:31

grew much faster than what they should

12:33

be. So in technical tense we'll be

12:35

say that as rapid weight gain me

12:37

incense which means up when crossing one

12:39

a more central line seen the away.

12:41

Gross tasks like for example moink

12:44

from. A fifty percent hi to

12:46

a sixteen seats percentile? in a gross chance

12:48

yet so that would be something that you

12:50

to pay your you maternal town health news.

12:53

This would be able to spot for you. that's

12:55

I rise. Building I guess it'll be people

12:57

listening who are going to be buried now that

12:59

they're sitting there trying to much protein. One of

13:01

the guidelines and and what would that look like

13:03

You know in a healthy. Child dies.

13:07

He. Has so leave a comment on

13:10

breastfeeding. Easy chance of is he

13:12

cannot breastfeed trying to each his

13:14

infant. Formula with the law.

13:16

Protein content cause our finding

13:18

actually found the access protein

13:20

slightly. Tommy Fall infant Formula

13:22

on many of you might

13:24

not aware infant formula. Actually

13:26

has a high protein content than.

13:29

The human breast milk. And

13:31

some and from thirty. Six

13:33

months on baby should have to have

13:35

a meal a style i that breast

13:37

milk or in some formula. Around

13:40

eight, six months babies and

13:42

to start having some solid

13:45

suits.i am reach. Okay

13:48

it because a lot of people these

13:51

days are seeing ads for things like

13:53

toddler milk. And during okay will perhaps we

13:55

should be feeding milk beyond. Six months? What's

13:57

your view on that? So

14:00

if you cannot best seats

14:02

we suggest you continue. To

14:04

have infant formula toddler formula.

14:08

And but apart from that and.

14:11

The say these should be and

14:14

consumes more foods Eater. In the

14:16

states like I mentioned earlier I

14:18

reach first the such as an

14:20

iron he reached an infant and

14:22

infancy real to write, meet policy

14:25

and cease to meet their a

14:27

my requirements and we also is

14:29

and. Suggests. Parents to introduce

14:31

some planned sources as well

14:33

like such as tofu, cooked

14:35

beans, peas, And lentils or

14:37

not battalion seasonal allergy. You

14:40

through hearing from Kareena Savage before how it's

14:42

a problem and people weren't getting enough iron

14:45

but also of fiber in his childhood and

14:47

that that is has massive issue So if

14:49

we thrive that that that context that most

14:51

kids are getting enough protein and quite a

14:54

few getting too much protein boards the right

14:56

amount of protein look like on a plate

14:58

for example if we add thinking about how

15:01

much to tamp down in front of our

15:03

kids mapping. Yes, So

15:05

in Australia we has been

15:08

since eating guidelines on so

15:10

for example on h seven

15:12

to twelve months and sold.

15:15

Babies. Should still in cars to

15:17

consume breast milk lanes and formula

15:19

about six hundred mail to meet

15:22

their Chelsea requirements. And then

15:24

we also recommend parents to sit them

15:26

a couple. Spoons from various food

15:28

groups like fruit, vegetables and

15:31

grains foods. And ease. And cereal or

15:33

so the. The puree meets

15:35

postseason toll for eggs. Yep!

15:38

It's really useful way to think about it

15:40

in intensive, those kind of clumps of food

15:42

rather than grams. I think Sir Mota parents

15:44

me having a fascinating to he is. it's

15:46

year we we're have some assumptions about the

15:49

amount of protein in our babies died that

15:51

are clearly wrong on a on a population

15:53

wide level. Thank you for sharing your research

15:55

with us today. And. Keith

15:57

Doctor Mail being Zhang is a

15:59

researcher. Dietitian at the Institute of

16:01

Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University

16:04

and send kids just getting too much

16:06

protein through. told the milk and formula

16:08

be on six months. interesting we had

16:11

earlier to from Korean a savage. he's

16:13

a pediatric dietitian walking a series some

16:15

of the best way to get protein

16:17

and therefore more iron and father into.

16:20

A children's. Die A B

16:22

C Listen podcasts, radios,

16:24

news music, and more.