Comprehensive Guide to Nourishing Your Child's Constitution Through Diet_hair milos forman
When it comes to children's constitution, many parents have limited knowledge. A child's constitution is determined by both innate factors and postnatal nourishment. It is influenced by various elements such as living conditions, seasonal weather, food, medication, and exercise. Among these factors, nutrition is the most critical.
Even children born with strong constitutions can become weaker due to improper feeding, while those with innate deficiencies can improve their constitution through proper nourishment. Therefore, dietary adjustments based on constitution are necessary. According to Dr. Deng Xuemei, a specialist in traditional Chinese medicine at the Guangdong Maternal and Child Health Hospital, children's constitutions can be classified into five types: healthy, cold, hot, deficient, and damp.
Healthy Type: Children with a healthy constitution have robust bodies, rosy complexions, high spirits, good appetite, regular bowel movements, and can follow a broad, balanced diet.
Cold Type: Children of this type tend to have cold limbs, pale complexions, low activity levels, and reduced appetite. They are prone to diarrhea when consuming raw and cold foods, leading to loose stools. For such children, the dietary principle is to warm and nourish the spleen and stomach. They should consume warming foods such as lamb, pigeon, beef, chicken, walnuts, and longan while avoiding cold items like ice-cold beverages, watermelon, and winter melon.
Hot Type: Children with a hot constitution typically have strong physiques, red faces, a preference for coolness, frequent thirst, irritability, good appetite, and constipation. They are susceptible to throat problems and can develop high fever easily when exposed to external factors. For these children, the dietary focus should be on clearing heat. They should eat sweet, mild, and cooling foods like bitter melon, winter melon, radishes, mung beans, celery, duck meat, pears, and watermelons.
Damp Type: These children often have a craving for fatty and sweet foods, leading to obesity, sluggishness, and loose stools. The primary health principle for them is to invigorate the spleen, eliminate dampness, and transform phlegm. Their diet should include items like sorghum, coix seeds, adzuki beans, kelp, white radishes, crucian carp, winter melon, and oranges while avoiding sweet, greasy, sour, and astringent foods such as pomegranates, honey, dates, glutinous rice, and cold beverages.
Deficient Type: Children with a deficient constitution exhibit pale complexions, lack of energy, reluctance to speak, fatigue, low activity levels, excessive sweating, poor appetite, and loose or soft stools. They are prone to anemia and recurrent respiratory infections. The dietary principle for these children is to tonify both qi and blood. They should consume foods like mutton, chicken, beef, sea cucumbers, shrimp, crab, black fungus, walnuts, and longan while avoiding bitter, cold, and raw foods like bitter melon and mung beans.
Understanding your child's constitution and adjusting their diet accordingly can help promote better health and well-being. It's essential to consult a healthcare professional or nutritionist for personalized dietary recommendations.
