Toddler immunity: How to get their nutrition on track for health and happiness
Carla Bignasca and Julie Snook speak with accredited practising paediatric dietitian, Marianne Tomlin in a new podcast from Bounty Parents and Aptamil Toddler.
As any parent of a toddler knows, it’s almost impossible to keep them away from germs and bugs. Colds and the occasional virus are simply a fact of life, particularly for small children who encounter bacteria and other organisms as they grow and play each day.
Fortunately there is much we can do to help our little ones as they battle the endless array of germs on offer in toddler life, and it’s all to do with building a healthy immune system.
On a new episode of Bounty Parents and Aptamil Toddler parenting podcast, Every Parent Has a Story to Tell, celebrity mums Carla Bignasca and Julie Snook are joined by accredited practising paediatric dietitian, Marianne Tomlin. Here, they uncover the essentials of nourishing your little ones and the importance of building a robust immunity.
Why is immunity so important in the toddler years?
The world of toddler immunity and nutrition can be a challenging one. It’s time when they may push back against the good foods you try to get in their mouth, while putting questionable choices of their own in there.
Marianne addresses the big questions like: Is it okay for your little one to drink the bathwater? And is there such thing as the five second rule while eating things dropped on the floor? Do those things help build gut bio?
When it comes to the toddler years, Marianne explains that the immune system is working “quite busily”.
Speaking with Carla and Julie, Marianne explains, “Our immunity has a really important role in our body. It recognises and defends against infections so that we can either avoid being ill or if we are exposed to a bacteria or virus, that our immune system mounts an attack to kill that infection, so we can recover quickly.
“And we know that toddlers particularly are exposed to a range of infections, including when they fall over and they might graze their knee, or particularly if they’re at childcare, they might catch a bug from children because they’re surrounded by lots of different children.”
How does nutrition support immunity?
Nutrition plays such an important role on overall health, particularly as your child grows and develops.
However, having good nutrition doesn’t mean that your child will never get ill. According to Marianne “you’re not going to be able to avoid them being ill, that’s going to happen”.
What good nutrition will do is support their immune system, so that when those bugs and germs do make contact, your child has the best chance of fighting them off and recovering well.
“Offering a range of family foods including colourful fresh fruits and vegetables is really important because that will give them key antioxidants which can support the immune system,” says Marianne.
“We want to be giving the children iron rich foods such as leafy greens, red meat, chicken and beans because again, that has a really important role in immunity. We want to be giving them zinc containing foods. So that’s meat and chicken again, as well as fish and and seafood and cereals.”
If you are concerned that your child may not be meeting their nutritional needs through their regular diet, Marianne urges you to consult a healthcare professional for advice on how to “optimise those areas in their diet”.
How does outdoor play support immunity?
Vitamin D plays a huge role in supporting immunity, but Marianne says “we’re not very good at absorbing it from food”.
The main way to absorb Vitamin D is “ through the action of the sun on skin”. Marianne’s recommendation is “lots of sun safe fun outside time throughout the year”.
Another way that outside play supports a child’s immunity is by letting them get dirty. As an allergy specialist, Marianne says that “we want children to get dirty and we want them to explore the outside”.
Marianne says that a desire to keep children clean and sanitary, preventing them from “getting dirty, licking stones and exploring what a slug is” is not beneficial when it comes to building an immune system that can tolerate germs.
“Allowing a child to get dirty, to explore those textures as well is really important, not just from an immunity point of view, but also when it comes to allergies, “ explains Marianne.
“When we have a child who’s comfortable with a range of textures – say dry sand and wet sand, sticky soil, hard stones – those children are more likely to actually eat a range of food as well.”
How can parents maintain good toddler nutrition when out and about?
Supporting the nutrition of a busy toddler on the go is important whether you are at home or out and about. Nobody wants a hangry toddler!
When it comes to toddler snacks, Marianne suggests always having something nutritional on hand.
As a paediatric dietitian her recommendations are:
- Sliced fruit
- Dried cereal: “a lot of cereals are very helpful because they’re [often] iron fortified and sometimes calcium and zinc fortified as well”
- A small nutritious drink. “I emphasise ‘small’, because if they have a lot of a high calorie drink, that’s going to fill them up.”
Marianne says to focus on offering a variety of different foods regularly.
“Make food interesting for your toddler because then they’re going to have a really healthy relationship with food, and their immunity will come after that. Because if they’re enjoying food and they’re eating well, they’re going to be well”.
Listen to Every Parent Has a Story to Tell’s full episode, Building toddler immunity with Carla Bignasca, Julie Snook and accredited practising paediatric dietitian, Marianne Tomlin.
This episode of Every Parent Has a Story to Tell is brought to you by Bounty Parents and Aptamil Toddler. Every Parent Has a Story to Tell is a new podcast series that aims to get intel and experience for parents of all walks of life. We’ll cover all the important issues highs, lows and everything in between with some well-known and everyday Aussie mums and dads hosted by media personalities and real life moms, Julie Snook and Carla Bignasca, who will share, learn and discover from our unique but shared journeys. So what’s your story? Every parent has one.
Every Parent Has a Story to Tell podcast episodes:
- Building toddler immunity, with accredited practising paediatric dietitian Marianne Tomlin
- Cracking the co-parenting code, with real-life mums Elise and Alicia
- Making modern parenting work, with Kevin and Bob (Gogglebox)
- Jana Pittman’s gloriously unconventional family
- Tempting fussy eaters, with accredited practising paediatric dietitian Marianne Tomlin
This is not intended to replace medical advice. Always consult your healthcare professional.
Brought to you by Aptamil Toddler
