Walnuts support healthy growth for kids
Busy little people spend their days playing and learning, so they need foods that support their activity and growth. Walnuts provide essential nutrients that promote children’s development. Studies show that children who eat nuts regularly tend to maintain healthier BMIs and body weights. Teaching kids to make healthier food choices early helps them build lifelong healthy eating habits. Here are our tips for including walnuts in your children’s meals and snacks—from babies to teenagers.”
Introducing nuts to infants:
Parents may find introducing foods to children at an early age, especially those that can trigger food allergies, daunting. Experts once recommended avoiding allergy-causing foods for infants due to choking risks. However, recent studies show that introducing common allergens in an age-appropriate form by 12 months can actually benefit children in the long term.
The Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) recommends that all babies be introduced to common allergy-causing foods by 12 months. Delaying this introduction may increase the risk of developing food allergies later in life.
When introducing potential allergens, it’s important to offer only one new food at a time. This makes it easier to identify which foods may cause an allergic reaction. If a reaction occurs, stop giving that food and seek medical advice immediately.
Advice for parents often recommends avoiding feeding nuts to children under five years old because of the risk of choking. While choking risk is important to avoid, this can be easily done by incorporating nuts as a butter or paste, or by finely chopping or grinding the nuts up. This way small children still get all the nutritional benefits of nuts from a young age.
Some ideas for feeding walnuts to babies and toddlers include:
- Stirring ground walnuts (which you can easily make in a food processor) or walnut flour into yoghurt or fruit/vegetable puree (pear and pumpkin work well). You can also use the ground nuts to thicken a puree that’s too runny.
- Spreading nut butter on toast.
- Using walnut flour in baking.
- Using walnut oil in place of other oils in baking, dips, etc.
Fuelling busy school children
It can be difficult to keep hungry children satisfied, and especially to make sure they’re eating healthy snacks. So in a time where there is so much unhealthy convenience food available to us, walnuts can be a powerful ally to help crave hunger and keep children eating healthily. Walnuts contain a wide variety of nutrients, are loaded with antioxidants and are full of protein and healthy fats to keep kids feeling full for longer.
While nuts have numerous health benefits, there is always the risk of allergies, especially in schools. Many schools and childcare centres aim to be ‘nut free’, despite this approach not being supported by ASCIA or state government health departments. Instead its recommended for schools to have a ‘allergy aware’ approach, which focuses on implementing a range of appropriate risk minimisation strategies.
Even if your children aren’t allowed to take nuts to school, its highly important to still introduce them to nuts as part of their regular diet at home. You can set your child up for a great day of learning by incorporating walnuts into their breakfast. Here are some ideas:
- Add walnuts to muesli or granola
- Sprinkle ground walnuts on cereal, yoghurt or porridge
- Make a breakfast smoothie with your fruit of choice, yoghurt, milk, oats and walnuts
Walnuts are also a great pick-me-up for kids needing fuel for after-school sport, or just to recharge their batteries after a big day of learning. We love:
- Muesli bars or biscuits with walnut pieces, like our chunky date and walnut biscuits
- Smoothies with any fruit (fresh or frozen), yoghurt, milk, and walnuts (kids will love this chocolate-flavoured walnut smoothie)
- Cake with ground walnuts or walnut flour to replace some of the regular flour.
Fuelling adolescents and young adults
As their bodies are still growing, it’s important that adolescents eat enough good quality food to meet their energy and nutrition needs. Healthy eating habits during adolescence can help to reduce the risk of issues such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as decreasing the likelihood of becoming overweight or obese.
Walnuts are nutrient-dense and considered a key component of many recommended dietary patterns. They are the perfect food for teenagers, as they are easy to snack on, and have a range of health benefits. These include:
- Daily walnut consumption can improve sustained attention, fluid intelligence, and ADHD symptoms.
- Daily walnut consumption may alleviate the negative effects of academic stress.
- Walnut consumption may improve sleep in the long term.
As a nutrient-dense and easily accessible food, walnuts provide essential nutrients that support both physical and mental well-being during the critical period of growth. By promoting healthy eating habits, particularly the inclusion of walnuts, teenagers can improve their overall health and academic performance, while also building a strong foundation for future wellness.
Setting up healthy eating habits for life
Parents have an opportunity – and a responsibility – to teach children healthy eating habits that will stay with them throughout the course of their life. While helping children make healthy food choices can be challenging, incorporating nuts into their diet offers a wealth of nutritional benefits that support their overall health and development.
Early introduction of potential allergens, such as nuts, in an age-appropriate manner can help reduce the risk of allergies and promote lifelong healthy eating habits. Despite concerns around nut allergies, it’s essential to teach children about the benefits of nuts and how to enjoy them safely.
With the right strategies in place, such as offering nuts in various forms and educating children on the importance of a balanced diet, parents can empower their children to make healthier choices that will benefit them for years to come.