Your questions answered

If you’ve got a nutritional or family health problem, child alert’s experts Suzannah Olivier and Dr Tim Evans can help

Q Do I need to give my child vitamin supplements and can I overdo it?
Sarah Jones, Hitchen

Dr Tim answers: A well-balanced diet should provide what your child needs. However, not all children are ideal eaters and most children go through fads and phases. If your child is a picky eater, a daily childformulated vitamin and mineral supplement will do no harm, and may do some good. Do not ever be tempted to give your child an adult supplement as this can easily lead to overdosing.

Keep the child-friendly supplements out of reach as they are often formulated to look like sweets and a child can take them when your back is turned and eat too many. Ideally choose a supplement that is not chewable – while these are easiest to administer they are acidic and can contribute to tooth decay. Liquid drops to add to drinks are probably the best option.

Take the possibility of overdose seriously, as one child recently died as a result of swallowing a number of his mother’s iron supplements. The capsules had been left on the kitchen counter in their bubble packs. Supplements should be kept locked away along with medicines.

Q I pureé my baby’s food and then freeze it in ice-cube trays. How long is it safe to freeze his food for?
J Kirkwood, Walsall

Suzannah answers: The following are maximum suggested freezing times for foods kept at 0˚C/32˚F:

• Vegetable purée: one-to-two months
• Fruit purée: one year
• Bean, lentil, pea soups: two months
• Fish, cooked: two months
• Poultry, cooked: three months
• Ham or pork, cooked: one month
• Beef or lamb, cooked: four months

Childalert’s experts Dr Tim Evans has been running a private GP practice in South-West London for the past 11 years. He completed his medical training at Westminster Hospital in 1979 and his career has taken him all round the world. For example, he spent three years in Zimbabwe setting up and running a hospital in the Zambezi Valley. Patients at Tim’s practice can access a range of conventional, as well as complementary specialists – from dermatologists and gynaecologists to psychotherapists and homeopaths. In addition, the practice runs yoga and pilates courses. Suzannah Olivier is the author of nine books, including What Should I Feed My Baby?, Allergy Solutions and Eating for A Perfect Pregnancy. She writes regular features for The Times, Right Start and others, and gives parenting talks on feeding. She also runs a busy and popular website, www.healthyfood4happykids.com

Q My child has been sick a few times when I give her milk, but I am worried that she will be deficient in nourishment. Should I give her milk anyway?
Jenny Spears, Bromley

Dr Tim answers: Milk is a common allergic food, and serious reactions often involve projectile vomiting. There are also a number of children who are sensitive to milk (as opposed to allergic) and reactions can include glue ear, indigestion, constipation, diarrhoea, eczema, psoriasis, sinus problems and regular bouts of upper respiratory tract infections. Your doctor will be able to help.

Cow’s milk should never be introduced before the age of one, before which formula milks should be used if you are not breast feeding. After the age of one, if your child is allergic to milk, strictly speaking he or she does not need milk, although calcium and a good calorie intake is needed. Milk is a rich source of calcium, but other foods can fit the bill.

If serious allergy is the problem, then the chances are that other dairy products, such as cheese and yoghurt, will also not be tolerated. You also need to look out for ingredients such as lactose, buttermilk, lactic acid, casein, caseinate, lactobacillus, lactalbumin, créme fraîche, ghee, quark, kefir and whey in processed, convenience and ethnic foods.

If, on the other hand, your child is intolerant (rather than allergic) to milk then hard cheeses, yoghurts and butter are often tolerated. These days there are many excellent calcium-enriched products, such as soya yoghurts, which children enjoy.

Q What are the most important points for food hygiene in the kitchen?
P Cox, St Albans

Suzannah Olivier answers: There are a number of easy steps you can take to make your kitchen a safer place from the point of view of food hygiene:

• Store raw meat at the bottom of the fridge where liquids can’t drip on to other foods
• Always wash hands with soap (water alone will not do) before handling food, particularly if you have been to the bathroom previously. Ensure that the rest of the family also wash their hands
• Make sure meat and fish is thoroughly cooked to destroy bacteria such as salmonella and parasites. Chilled cooked foods, such as pre-prepared chicken, were recently found to have the highest amounts of listeria and salmonella of all foods – these should be heated until piping hot before serving
• Small children are more susceptible to salmonella poisoning so cook eggs until the yolks are hard
• Never cut any food (including bread, fruit and vegetables) on a board that has had uncooked meat on it previously. Also use separate knives
• Scrub wooden chopping boards scrupulously and let them air dry, and ideally use rigid plastic chopping boards
• Defrost any foods from the freezer completely and then heat until piping hot
• Babies bottles and feeding equipment should be properly sterilised until your baby is six months old

Q My child is now five years old and had chickenpox when he was two and a half. However, he was in contact with children who have chickenpox recently. Can he contract chickenpox again?
Rena Hay, Surrey

Dr Tim answers: I am pleased to say that chickenpox contracted at two years of age gives you lifelong immunity in almost 100% of cases, unless there is some underlying immuno-suppressive condition present, which clearly your child does not have as it would have presented itself by now. So this is all very good news.

Q I think my child may not be hearing properly – could it be Glue Ear?
Alex Phillips, Finchley

Dr Tim answers: Glue Ear is when the Eustachian tube, which is a small tube that runs from the ear to the throat, gets filled with a fluid as a result of an infection. The fluid becomes glue-like when it cannot drain away.

Your child will feel uncomfortable and may have earache and a headache. He/ she may also be slightly deaf in the Glue Ear. It is usually in only one ear, but sometimes appears in both. You should go and see your doctor if you suspect Glue Ear – if it is not treated it can result in loss of hearing, which in turn causes speech and developmental problems.

Q I’m worried about peanut allergies as I hear that so many children have this problem nowadays. What exactly is it and what should I watch out for?
Alex Phillips, Finchley

Dr Tim answers: Peanut allergies, along with other allergies are on the increase. No one is completely sure why this is, but it is likely that at least part of the story is that peanuts are a cheap ingredient used in many processed foods.

This means that children are exposed to peanuts more frequently at an early age and build up allergies. They may even acquire the allergy in the womb as the mother eats products laced with peanuts. Peanuts have substances in them called lectins, which in susceptible people can set off a serious reaction, sometimes leading to death from anaphylaxis (which is closing up of the breathing tubes).

Asthmatic children with food allergies may be most at risk. To reduce the risk of a peanut allergy it is ideal to avoid your child eating peanuts before the age of five. It is on the second exposure that a serious allergic reaction happens (the first exposure “programmes” the reaction). If your child is having an adverse reaction to a food, such as peanuts, then you must seek the help of a doctor immediately who can administer an adrenaline injection to offset the reaction. After peanuts, the most common serious allergies are to sesame (seeds, also found in tahini and hummus), eggs, milk, fish, shellfish and other nuts.

 

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