Every mother, besides wanting their child to be healthy, wants their child to be intellectual, too. That’s why modern mothers concentrate on “brain nutrition” rather than “regular” nutrition when it comes to the healthy development of their child. There is a wide range of products in the market that, besides claiming to enhance proper weight gain, growth and immunity, promises to boost the brain development as well. You might have noticed such products highlight a word “DHA” and tag it as a critical nutrient for the brain development of your child.
Nowadays, most of the mothers want their children to explore the world of knowledge. They are ready to do anything and everything to make sure he or she is growing in an atmosphere better than they did. However, sometimes they miss an important point here. 90% of the development of the brain is completed when the child is 6 years of age.
You have to give your child maximum exposure and opportunity to experiment with his concepts during this period. During this period, apparently, the child’s brain is like a sponge that takes in everything you feed it.
You might have told a well-balanced diet ensures all the vital nutrients a growing child needs. Here comes a relevant question. If children get all the nutrition from their food, why do some children show behavioral problems as well as focus and concentration issues? This is because along with the nutrients that facilitate the healthy growth, it is important that your little one should have an adequate amount of key nutrients that are vital for the brain development as well.
Read on to understand more about this vital Brain nutrient and its role in your child’s brain development.
What is DHA?
Docosahexaenoic acid aka DHA is an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid found in the brain. When we state DHA encompasses around 15 to 20 percent of structural fatty acid in the brain, you will understand its importance for your growing child.
What does DHA do for the children?
DHA supports normal cognitive function and brain and eye development of the children. What is a cognitive function? Well, it is the child’s ability to pay attention, memorize what he’s learned, and language development in early stages and the ability to solve problems, grasp facts, observation, interpretation, reading and speech in the later stages of his or her childhood.
Therefore, it is import to ensure the development of cognition in the early years and DHA helps with it. Similarly, DHA is essential for infant vision development as the retina is rich in DHA.
Why is it important to provide DHA for children?
- The body of the child cannot produce adequate DHA: During pregnancy and the initial years of the child’s life, DHA, which is stored in the brain and retina of the eye and plays an important role in neural and vision development of the child. Breast milk also is a good source of DHA. However, kids ages 2 to 12 require an adequate amount of DHA for the proper development of the brain, eye vision, and nervous system. As the body doesn’t produce enough DHA to satisfy the increasing demand they need to get it through the food.
- Before the child turn 5 his/her brain will grow up to 90% of its adult size: The first five years of a child’s life are very crucial. Most of the important milestones belong here. Therefore, it is very important to make sure your child gets the right amount of DHA during these years. The experts recommend taking a total of 100-150 mg of DHA every day. Do you know your child’s typical diet, provide only 38.7 mg of DHA every day?
DHA and brain development
DHA is an important element that helps in the brain development. It is the main structural fatty acid in the central nervous system. Do you know DHA accounts for almost one-half of the total fat in the brain cell membranes?
The brain is divided into lobes and each lobe has particular functions. The frontal and prefrontal lobes (which are responsible for cognitive and socio-emotional development) are most influenced by DHA. Optimal levels of DHA, particularly in the frontal and prefrontal areas of the brain, are very important, especially during the early years when the brain is rapidly growing and developing.
To understand better continue reading to understand how the brain develops in toddlers.
A baby is born with the entire brain cell he or she needed. However, during the birth, these cells aren’t connected. Connections take place in due course. The connection of the cells plays a very important role in deciding the brain power of the child. The more active connections are (which is influenced by several factors) better will be the learning, cognition, and memory of the child. Have you noticed developing a habit of solving jigsaw puzzles during summer vacations helped increase your child’s logical reasoning? This is because more active connections are made while solving brain games like crosswords and jigsaws.
DHA plays a key role in forming the active connection between the brain cells and the proper development of your child’s brain. The child depends on the food for the DHA requirement as their body cannot produce the enough DHA.
What are the foods that supply an adequate amount of DHA?
There is lots of food that is loaded with DHA. Fish, fish oil, algae are rich sources of DHA. However, to get adequate quantity of DHA, the child should eat a certain quantity of these items on a regular basis. This is not at all practical. Because, unfortunately, when it comes to food, most of the children are picky and apparently, they hate to have the same food every day. Sadly enough, commonly consumed foods like milk, rice, vegetables and chicken have negligible or low levels of DHA. Here comes the significance of a tasty, DHA fortified milk like Enfagrow A+.
Benefits of DHA for children
To simply put, like bone needs calcium, the brain needs DHA. It is the key building block of brain and eyesight development. Here are some benefits of DHA for children.
- DHA plays an important role in brain development and reducing cognitive decline.
- Play an important role in managing behavior and mood of the child.
- Optimal DHA level enhances better adjustment to changes in the environment, better concentrating power, and better memory skills
How much DHA does a child need?
A child should have 100-150 mg of DHA every day. Did you know Enfagrow A+ with DHA Plus has an expert-recommended level of DHA, as compared to leading children’s nutrition brands in India?
Different age groups of children have different requirements. New Enfagrow A+ Step 3, which is scientifically designed for 1 to 3 age group now comes with MFGM Complex, a new breakthrough in pediatric nutrition, and it also has 40% higher DHA.
Enfagrow A+ Step 4 is scientifically designed to satisfy the need of children 2 to 10 years.
DHA helps to treat ADHD
Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder is an issue related to the neural development. It is characterized by hyperactivity, have issues paying attention, and unable to control the impulses. It is found that the level of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids in the blood profile of the children with ADHD is very low when compared to the normal children. According to a new study (source: https://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(12)00002-0/fulltext) increasing the level of DHA (by providing supplements) in RBC is highly beneficial in bringing down or improving the symptoms of ADHD to some extent.
Now, as you know the role of DHA in the child’s brain development, you know the importance of including food or fortified milk formula in your child’s diet. When it comes to the health of the child, finding a nutrition partner is not that easy, especially, when the market has a lot of brands that claim to meet all the nutritional requirement of your baby. What if you can get the world’s number one nutrition brand right at your doorstep? Yes, here is a good news for mothers. Enfagrow A+, the world’s number one nutrition brand which ensures brain development, immunity and overall physical growth & health of your child is now available in India. Enfagrow A+ comes in two favorite flavors of children- Chocolate and vanilla.
All parents feel proud and immense pleasure when their little one caught them by surprise by acting way beyond what is expected out of their age. A DHA fortified milk formula, which is too yummy to turn down by any child, like Enfagrow A+, provides your child with adequate DHA and brain-building nutrients during those crucial early years of growth of your little one. If you believe it is good for your child and you have enough faith in it, you should try it.
