Brits Confused about Toddler Health: Survey Reveals Misconceptions Among Parents
A new survey shows that parents are more confused than ever about toddler health, and that a significant amount of education among parents is still needed to combat confusion surrounding dairy allergies and intolerances. Around 70 per cent of the world’s population do not produce enough lactase, and therefore has some degree of lactose intolerance. Furthermore, it is estimated that around 5% of the UK population, which equates to around 10 million people, cannot digest lactose properly.
Most worryingly, over half of parents surveyed were confused about the differences between a dairy allergy and a dairy intolerance. It is crucial to understand the difference: Dietician, Kate Arthur from Alpro soya, explains, “A dairy intolerance is far more common than a food allergy, it does not involve the immune system and is generally not life threatening. Lactose intolerance for example may occur temporarily after a stomach infection, particularly in young children. Dairy allergies can be longer term and require compete exclusion of dairy products; furthermore, the consequences with an allergy can often be severe and even result in fatalities”. In both cases, Alpro Junior 1+ is a milk alternative parents can consider feeding their toddler daily. It contains high quality plant protein and the essential nutrients calcium, iron and vitamin D.
However, almost half of mothers surveyed (46%) did not know how often they could feed soya milk to their toddler and over a fifth of parents did not know what the alternative to dairy milk is for toddlers. The survey also revealed that almost half of mums (46% ) don’t know what their toddler’s recommended daily allowance of calcium should be. And almost a third of mums don’t know what foods contain good sources of vitamin D for their child.
Other Survey Findings: Around half of mums (45%) are not sure whether a toddler can ever outgrow a cows’ milk allergy or intolerance; when in fact many children can out-grow their allergy or intolerance by the age of 3 years. Furthermore, 75% of mums felt that there isn’t enough information about how to live a dairy-free lifestyle. 44% of parents believe that you can feed your toddler rice milk and 26% oat milk. However, Oat, rice, almond milks have an inadequate amount of protein, fat and calories for young children and are therefore generally not recommended. 7 out of 10 mums would choose Alpro soya for their family, compared to other leading soya brands. Lastly, one in seven mums said that their child has a dairy-free diet either as a result of an allergy or simply because they prefer to limit their dairy intake for other reasons.
Arthur concludes, “This last finding is perhaps an indication that parents are not just feeding their children soya milk alternatives due to allergy concerns but that soya milk is developing a much broader appeal in daily diets among families.”need to know to help their child develop well, stay healthy and be ready for school. Families in the Foundation Years provides an encyclopaedia of trustworthy and reliable information for new parents with links to parent support groups; post natal see
www.alpro.co.uk and
www.allergyuk.org
New Tiny Nasal Spray Launched to help Children Overcome Annual Hayfever Misery
A TINY nasal spray which works faster than other treatments is set to help children from the age of five tackle their hayfever misery. Rhinolast Allergy, which is now available for the first time over the counter as a 5ml nasal spray, starts working faster than many other anti-allergic therapies, relieving symptoms just 10-15 minutes after application. In contrast, other treatments often start to act only after two or three hours. Unlike other treatments, Rhinolast Allergy is also effective even after the symptoms have appeared, avoiding the need to plan ahead of an expected allergen exposure. Other benefits to using Rhinolast Allergy include good tolerability, ease of use, long duration of action (Rhinolast Allergy is active for up to 12 hours) and reliability.
Rhinitis is often regarded as a trivial problem but studies have shown that it severely affects children’s quality of life. It disturbs sleep, impairs daytime concentration and the ability to carry out tasks, causes children to miss school, and has been shown to affect pupil’s school exam results. Children who suffer rhinitis are also at an increased risk of develop- ing asthma. Inflammation at one end of the airway (the nose) often spreads to the other end (the lungs). Asthmatics who also suffer rhinitis have less severe asthma and fewer hospital admissions if their rhinitis is treated effectively.
Rhinolast Allergy targets the symptoms of red, swollen and itchy eyes, runny nose and sneezing within minutes and can be used by children for up to four weeks without a doctor’s intervention. It is a non-steroid treatment and is suitable for children from as young as five years old. It contains the active ingredient azelastine which is more than just a simple anti-histamine. It is the only anti- histamine with a triple mode of action, thus treating the disease and not just the symptoms.
Rhinolast Allergy costs £3.99 and is available from independent pharmacies and from
www.chemist.net.
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