Episode 29: Protein Requirements in Children

Episode 29: Protein Requirements in Children

I recently shared my thoughts on protein requirements in children on national TV and ABC radio and thought it would be great to share with you too. Understanding the subtleties of this issue is vital for parents who want to ensure their children's health and well-being.

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Highlights:

Introduction (00:00.462)
Protein Requirements in Children (00:30.318)
Protein Importance for Children's Growth and Development (02:50.638)
Providing Children with Nutrient-Rich Foods (05:18.126)
Substituting Dairy Products for Better Protein (07:31.374)
Protein Powder Usage in Children's Nutrition (09:53.454)
Protein Powders and Supplements for Children (12:13.294)
The Importance of Protein and Fiber in Children's Growth (14:31.758)
Nutritional Guidelines for Children (16:55.694)

Show notes

READ TRANSCRIPT

Show Notes

In this episode, we'll explore:

1. The Basics of Protein: Understanding why protein is essential for children's growth and development and how it serves as the building blocks for various bodily functions.

2. Nutrient-Rich Foods: Delving deeper into the nutrients found in protein-rich foods beyond just protein itself, such as vitamin E, B group vitamins, zinc, iron, and magnesium.

3. Challenges with Traditional Diets: Examining the pitfalls of relying on a 'white diet' rich in dairy and carbohydrates, which may lead to deficiencies in iron and fiber.

4. Alternative Protein Sources: Exploring diverse protein sources for children, including meat, legumes, tofu, and eggs, and how to incorporate them into meals and snacks effectively.

5. Navigating Protein Supplements: Discussing the role of protein powders and supplements in children's diets, when they might be beneficial, and how to choose wisely.

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Introduction (00:00.782)
You're listening to the Easy Feed Podcast, episode number 29, protein requirements in children. Hi there, I'm Karina Savage and with over 20 years experience feeding children, including my own, I've learned all the secrets that busy mums need to get their children eating better and actually enjoying healthy foods. So a huge welcome to the Easy Feed Podcast.

Protein Requirements in Children (00:30.318)
Huge welcome back. It's so good to have you. Today I am talking about something that I talked on National TV, ABC radio the other day, and I thought it was a great opportunity to share it with you in my podcast. It was all about protein requirements in children, because I think sometimes parents worry about protein. And the question is, do we need to worry about our children's total protein intake?

Or do we need to dig a little bit deeper or pay a little more attention to perhaps the nutrients that is in protein foods? Because I think that's what we need to be paying our attention to. I know that sounds a little bit cryptic, but stay with me and I will explain all. So if we start off with why children need protein, look, protein is effectively the building blocks of our bodies. If we break down protein,

The smallest, I guess, molecules of protein are called amino acids, and amino acids truly are the building blocks for our bodies. So we need them pretty much in every aspect of growth and development. Protein plays an essential role in many bodily functions, including the recovery and repair of tissues in the muscles, skin, organs, blood, hair, and even nails. And protein, as I said, is made up of amino acids.

There are 20 amino acids that are in protein and the body can produce 11 of them by itself. The body is incredible, isn't it? But there are nine that must come from food and they are called essential amino acids. So our body can't make those ones themselves. So we need to get them from food. Now, not only do foods provide protein, but with those protein rich foods, which I'll talk a bit more about in a sec.

So nutrients such as vitamin E, B group vitamins such as thiamine and niacin and folate, zinc, iron and magnesium. Those minerals are really rich in protein rich foods as well. So not only do we need the amino acids from the protein rich foods, but we also need the nutrients that comes with those protein rich foods.

Protein Importance for Children's Growth and Development (02:50.638)
And these nutrients are also really important for our body. So protein is important for the growth and development of our children. Absolutely. And this is why parents often ask me about whether their child is getting enough protein because we know it's important. We hear sports people, you know, chug down protein powders and protein rich foods after training or after, you know, a match to, you know, build up their muscles. And we think, well, we want our children to grow up to be

strong or if they're active kids we think, well, are they getting enough protein? And so that's a really valuable question and it's a legitimate concern for many parents. And I'm here today to say that in general, most children will definitely meet their protein requirement. Our protein requirements are about one gram per kilogram of body mass. So if a child weighs 35 kilos, then their protein requirements per 24 hours is about 35 grams of protein.

So children will generally easily make this protein intake, especially if they are lovers of dairy, which many kids are. Protein is also found in other foods which we don't necessarily suspect, such as carbohydrates, so you can still get protein from carbohydrate rich foods. An example is one cup of milk gives you about eight grams of protein. Half a cup of porridge gives you five grams of protein.

So you can see that it quickly does add up if kids are having milk, yogurt, cheese, bread, pasta, oats, those types of foods. We tend to meet the protein requirements relatively easily. But the thing that we need to be paying more attention to are nutrients in those protein foods because much of the time our children are consuming protein rich foods that don't have

the iron and the zinc in them because dairy products don't have iron in them. And this is why I think a lot of our younger children are becoming more iron deficient because they're living on what I call a white diet, which is very dairy based, very bread, carbohydrate based. And it's not giving our children the iron that they need. Another nutrient that's often lacking with this way of eating is fibre. And 40 % of young kids don't

Providing Children with Nutrient-Rich Foods (05:18.126)
meet their fiber requirements either, and fiber is crucial for gut health. So we need to make sure that we are giving our children these protein -rich foods that contain iron, that contain fiber, and that way they're going to be meeting their daily nutrient requirements, not for protein, but for those nutrients as well.

Now, one of the reasons why our children are at risk of low iron and low fiber is because there is so much available to them nowadays in the world of white processed foods. You only look in that even the healthy food aisle in the supermarket and it's full of these so -called healthy toddler snacks. You know, these puffed this and these, you know, popped that and they, you know, activated this and, you know, look at their nuts and great. That's a different story.

They're a great source of protein and iron and fiber. So that is the type of snack that I'm talking about that we need to be, you know, focusing more on. But you know, if it's just puffed potato sticks and things like that, that's not going to cut it. That's not going to give our children iron and it's not going to give our children protein and it's not going to give our children fiber. Nor is it a good source of protein. So when we talk about protein.

Don't worry so much about the total amount of protein, but let's focus on giving our children good quality protein foods. Because if we don't, then as I said, they can increase their risk of low iron, low zinc and low fibre. So what are the types of foods that we need to be focusing on? Well, if they do eat meat, then you absolutely can include meat products throughout the day.

So you might pop a little bit of roast chicken in their sandwich at lunchtime, or they might have some meat at dinner time. If they eat more of a vegetarian style of eating or fully vegetarian, then absolutely you can still meet dietary protein, iron and fibre requirements through choosing things such as, and probably the fibre we increase because things like legumes, hummus, baked beans, they're all the rich source of fibre. You've got tofu.

Substituting Dairy Products for Better Protein (07:31.374)
You've got eggs, which are a great source of protein. They contain iron, they contain choline, which is great for brain development. So from a protein perspective, I would try to sub out some of the dairy for these better quality protein foods. And by that, I mean they contain the iron because iron is one of those key nutrients at risk. So for example, at breakfast time, look, if they like cereal with milk, then that's fine. Pop some fruit with it.

But a great option would be scrambled eggs or dippy eggs with a side of fruit because the eggs are going to have iron and they're going to be a better source of protein from that perspective than a bowl of yogurt. Okay. If we're talking about protein for snacks, rather than just say rice crackers, do rice crackers and hummus, or I've got a great black bean brownie recipe you might like to try. Or you make

cookies that have got oats and ground flaxseed that's got iron in them. Shea is a great source of iron you can add into cookies as well. Or you might throw some cashews, some raw soft -halved cashews on the plate. Wouldn't do it in a child under two because it is a bit more of a choking risk, but again, this is a great source of protein for your child. It might be that you give them some toast with peanut butter, or it might be that you grab some dried fava beans or chickpeas.

It might be that you make a zucchini slice. So there's plenty of options to sub out dairy products for these types of protein foods that will contribute more iron and often more fibre if we're talking about things like peanut butter or nuts or baked beans. Okay. But you might say to me, Karina, yeah, but I really just want to check that my child is getting enough protein. And I say, fair enough. I totally understand that.

You know, it's always good just to triple check, to tick the box, to put your mind at ease, to make sure that your child is getting enough protein. Okay. One thing that I do often get asked about is protein powders for children and whether they're needed. And really at the end of the day, it comes down to number one, how much they're eating. For example, if they're just having a smoothie at breakfast time and you just want to help them feel a little

Protein Powder Usage in Children's Nutrition (09:53.454)
full life or longer, then absolutely you can add a protein powder into their smoothie. But if your child is growing well, an appropriate weight for height and already has a decent breakfast that they're pretty full form, it's rich in fiber, then you don't need to add a protein powder into their day is not necessary. If your child was underweight and you wanted to help them reach an appropriate weight,

and help bulk them up a little bit, then absolutely you can use a protein powder. Just remember though, protein powders will usually not have the fiber or the iron that is often lacking. And in children's days, the expensive ones will have iron added. And by those ones, I mean something like a neutral organics or a kissed earth.

Those ones are likely to have a bit of iron. But really at the end of the day, you're using a protein powder to boost the overall calories, boost their protein intake. And as I said, it's generally for a child that is underweight or they're really active and you just want to help them feel full all the way through to morning tea time or recess time. A really affordable protein powder is skim milk powder. And skim milk powder is a concentrated source of protein. It's got carbohydrate.

Or you could just use regular milk powder, but a milk powder or a skim milk powder is a concentrated source of protein and you could definitely use this like a protein powder and add it to smoothies. Just be mindful though that dairy inhibits iron absorption. So if you are worried about iron, the more dairy a child's having, the more it's likely that inhibit iron absorption. So it's a good thing to keep

Their dairy is separate to their iron rich foods intake. Now look, this is actually impossible in the scenario of a breakfast cereal that's fortified with iron because often you'll have it with dairy. But with snacks, try to keep them a little separate if possible. But at the end of the day, if children are grazing throughout the day, it's hard to separate out the dairy and the iron rich foods. So do what you can. But I think at the end of the day, make sure that you are still giving them those iron rich foods, even if it is close to dairy.

Protein Powders and Supplements for Children (12:13.294)
But that's just a little note about dairy because it can inhibit iron absorption. So I guess the bottom line with protein powders and supplements is if your child is eating pretty well, is growing pretty well, then there's no need to spend money on a protein powder. But if they're on the lean side, or if you do want to get them a protein powder with added vitamins and spend the money on that, then that's fine.

and you can add those things into something like a smoothie. Okay, at this point, you might be thinking to yourself, yes, but I just want to double check that my child is getting their daily protein requirements because you might be thinking, yeah, they live on toast and pasta and maybe some dairy. And so if that's worrying you, then let's go through a little example.

So say a five -year -old child weighs, on average, if you look at the growth child, so average 50 % total is about 18 kilos. So let's even say they're 20 kilos, 20 kilogram child. So that means their daily protein requirements are 20 grams, right? 20 grams of protein. Now, if you look at what they are consuming, let's just add up a few separate foods. If in that day, that 24 hour period, they have

one cup of milk over that whole day. So maybe half a cup of milk at breakfast time or half a cup of milk during the day, or even if you subbed out some of that milk for yogurt, but one cup would be eight grams of protein already. One egg would be six grams of protein and one slice of cheese would be six grams of protein. So if you just simply add it up, one cup of milk, one egg and one slice of cheese already, we are at 20 grams of protein.

And that's their daily requirement. And that's not including any protein that they get from pasta, carbohydrates, any other meats, nuts, baked beans, hummus, or any other foods like sweet potatoes got protein. So that's not including any of those other foods. And already they've met their daily needs. And that's with one cup of milk, one egg, and one slice of cheese. So if they had ham or extra cheese or any other protein rich foods or even carbohydrates.

The Importance of Protein and Fiber in Children's Growth (14:31.758)
that do contain protein, they're already over their 20 grams. So you can see how children easily meet their daily protein requirements for growth, but it's those nutrients such as iron, fibre that are sometimes lacking. Because if you look at that cup of milk, the one egg and one slice of cheese, the only thing that contains iron in those three is the egg and there's no fibre in...

any of those either. So you can see how that white diet tends to lead itself towards, you know, lower iron and fiber intake, which is what our national surveys tell us. So it fits really well and it fits certainly with what I see in clinic and with the mums that I speak to in my membership. We're all singing the same song that our children love, the white diet. And it's like, right, how do we rectify this? How do, how, how can we be smarter about our snacks and about our main meals?

so that our children are getting more of those nutrients and fiber. And the fiber is so important to the gut health because it's those fiber rich foods. The fiber is basically what we know as a prebiotic. It feeds the gut bugs in our gut and it keeps the gut bugs healthy. And we need those gut bugs to be well fed so that they stay healthy because that means that there is a great balance of good and bad bugs in our gut.

And do you know what is mainly present and mainly in our gut is our immune system. So we need a really healthy gut environment so that our immune system is working to its full capacity so that when bugs and viruses enter into our gut, it doesn't get into our circulation. Our immune system basically sends them on a merry way and we poo out the bugs. We don't want our gut to be leaky. We don't want.

those bugs to enter into our system. And dietary fiber is the best way to keep that all working really, really well. So that's why we need protein rich foods that contain fiber. So nuts, seeds, baked beans, trimo black bean brownie, hummus, they're all really good protein rich foods that also contain fiber. And as I said, iron is that other nutrient that we need to think about. So that's where you've got things like eggs and other meats and fish and chicken.

Nutritional Guidelines for Children (16:55.694)
And also the soy products like tofu as well, hummus, they also provide iron. And when we go down that more vegetarian way of eating, we do want to make sure that we are putting vitamin C rich foods with those foods, those protein and iron rich foods to maximize the iron absorption because it really improves the iron absorption like three or four fold when you put vitamin C rich foods with it. And look, I've got this information. It's all available to you in my membership. You can check out my membership info.

by heading to nourishwithkarina .com forward slash membership. And yeah, look, the membership is just designed to be a feeding 101 for parents who want to make sure they're nourishing their children well and literally you can join for a month and then leave if it's not for you. But it's a great way for me to help you daily really, because we can act in a baseball group often daily. It's fun. But anyway, back to protein. I hope this has been a really good little 101 on protein and

hopefully putting your mind at ease in relation to the fact that your child is likely meeting their protein needs for growth and development, but it's the quality of the protein that we need to be focusing on. So every main meal and snack, just have to think about the protein type that your child is eating because that's really what you need to be focusing more on rather than the overall quantity.

So if you've got any other questions on protein requirements for children or anything related to this episode today, then please send me an email, send me a message on Instagram. I would love to hear from you. Also, please leave me a review. So just hit the star button, leave me a rating because I would love to get this podcast out to more and more parents. And the best way to do that is if you can leave me a review. So if you've liked this podcast, if you're getting value from the easy feed.

then please leave me a review. I hope you and your family are really well and I can't wait to chat to you soon. Bye for now.