Resources for Children's Health (01)

The Cause of Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance is cause by a lack of lactase that helps break down milk sugars. The production of the enzyme lactase can be hindered by certain digestive diseases and injuries to the small intestine. In some cases, children can be born with the inability to produce lactase. In children, lactase deficiency develops naturally over time when after about the age of 2 years, the body begins to produce less lactase. Also most people do not experience lactose intolerance or milk allergy symptoms until they are older.

Help Your Child Eat Healthy Foods and Stay Healthy
Healthy eating will not only help your child’s body grow and develop correctly, but you’ll instill lifelong healthy eating tips that will help your child take care of him or herself. This site gives tips on foods your child should eat, as well as sources of calcium, simple snack ideas for kids, helping overweight kids lose weight, and helping your child become more active. A section on how kids eating habits are formed is included.

What You can Do About Lactose Intolerance
There is not a treatment to improve the body’s ability to produce lactase, but symptoms of lactose intolerance and milk allergies can be treated with a proper diet, which can include ingesting lactase enzyme tablets before drinking milk or eating dairy products. This site also includes a section about how people with lactose intolerance can get their calcium and gives the recommended daily dietary allowance of calcium, and gives foods in which to find calcium that will not upset the digestive track of those with lactose intolerance.

Kids and Foods: The Healthy Food Pyramid
Teaching your children about healthy foods is important, and the pyramid helps them see what foods to eat, and how much to eat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture put out this site, which includes fun ways to teach children about the food pyramid. There are games and posters to download, as well as worksheets and coloring pages. Classroom materials are also available so teachers can teach kids about the food pyramid.