Source of energy
For developing kids, fats are an important source of energy. In the first six months of life about 50% of the daily energy intake is derived from fat (this is the composition of breast milk). After that, the amount of energy from fat should reduce to 30-35% by the age of five years. You may also think that all fats are equal. Wrong again; there are good and bad fats, also for kids.
Kids need good fats
The bad fats - saturated and trans fats - tend to come from animal products like meat, dairy, eggs, butter and products like cakes and pastries.
Examples of good fats are polyunsaturated fatty acids (of the omega-6 and omega-3 type) and monounsaturated fatty acids. They can be found in vegetable oils – such as rapeseed, olive, sunflower (and products made from these oils such as margarine), walnut and almond – and fish, particularly oily fish.
Never too young to start
The good fats are absolutely essential to help children develop and grow. Fats are an important component of our brains and all other body cells. More than half of our brain's dry weight is fat, with arachidonic acid (omega-6 fatty acid) and docosahexaenoic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) forming around 35%. Fats are also one of the building blocks of our cell membranes, and the more unsaturated the fat, the more flexible the cell membrane, important for the cell's functioning.
Good fats are important also to prevent an increase of blood cholesterol with age. Indeed, studies in children have shown that by replacing bad fats with good fats in the diet (LDL) blood cholesterol levels were reduced. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that around two-thirds of the fats we consume should be these good fats. But half of our diet consists of bad fats. So how can we get more of the good ones? Simply by replacing bad fats by good fats.
Replacing bad with good
Soft margarines like Flora are important sources of good fats and are great products to replace butter, which is rich in bad fats. They are a good source of linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, essential fatty acids that our bodies can't produce and which therefore need to be provided by our diet. Flora is also a source of fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E, which cannot be said for butter. Check the food label of your margarine to see how much they contribute to your and your children's vitamin intake.
Fat fact
Children grow at an incredible rate, doubling their size within four years, and tripling it by their tenth birthday – while their brains are 90% of their adult size by the age of five. Essential fatty acids are important building blocks for healthy growth and development – are you and your family getting enough?
