Essential Nutrients for Mother and Child Tag Team

A mother who is healthy herself, will be able to help support her child’s growing bodies to get the most out of nutrients from food to thrive. Adequate nourishment, whether it is with food or alternative nutrition (e.g. Similac Gain IQ HMO Liquid (Ready to Drink) for children) for the child, it is also essential for the mother (e.g. Similac MUM for mothers) for similar reasons.⁶ These will help support mother’s bones, muscles, heart, and gut to make her strong and resilient to better provide for her child. A mother who is healthy modeling healthy habits will help her child’s growing bodies get the most out of nutrients to thrive.^{1, 4}

Portion Control is Important both Mother and Child

It is always important to not eat more nor force someone to eat more than they can. Portions all depend on a child’s age, body size (not weight), and physical activity level. A pregnant or breastfeeding mother needs about 300 to 500 additional calories to support her health and the health of her child.⁴ A child needs about 1,000 to 1,400 calories a day.¹ Albeit in different portion sizes, each meal should consist of ¼ vegetables, ¼ fruits, ¼ grains, ¼ proteins, and 1 cup of dairy.^,2,

Milk is the Duo’s Friend

Calcium is needed at 500 milligrams⁵ for children and 1,000 milligrams⁴ for mothers per day, while Vitamin D is needed at 600 IU (International Units)^{1, 4} the same amount for each. These two nutrients build strong bones for the child, while it prevents the risk of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis for the mother. This makes not only other calcium rich foods important, but makes milk an important meal time item. To get the minimum Calcium and Vitamin D needs per day, 2 cups of fortified cow milk is recommended.^{3, 5}

Iron holds the fort for both

Children need about 7 milligrams of iron per day, while a mother may need 3 times that to aid in their body’s production of red blood cells. Red blood cells are important for circulation, oxygen distribution, and preventing anemia. For both, common signs of iron deficiency are fatigue & irritability that could lead to behavioral issues for both.^{1, 4} Iron daily requirements can be easily met if the daily diet consists of plenty of lean meats or fish (1 oz ≅ 1 mg iron), legumes and leafy green vegetables (½ cup ≅ 0.5 to 4 mg iron).⁵

Even if you feel your nutritional vigilance is not quite enough yet, Similac MUM can help. It is a scientifically formulated to support the nutritional needs for pregnant and breastfeeding mums without causing excessive weight gain.⁷ Included in its formulation of 27 essential vitamins and minerals, Similac MUM has a unique combination of prebiotics scFOS for bowel regularity, Zinc, Vitamin C, D (to support calcium absorption), E, and Selenium to support the immune system and bone health. Sometimes children cannot consume enough food to get the required amount of nutrients. For this Similac Gain IQ HMO Liquid (Ready to Drink) can help. It has a unique blend of HMO and nucleotides that support your child’s natural body immune system.^{8, 9} With additional 10 key brain nutrients (AA, Omega 3 & 6, Taurine, Choline, Iron, Iodine, Folic Acid, Vitamin B1 and B12) to support brain growth.¹⁰ The unique Eye Q Plus in Similac Gain IQ HMO Liquid contains a unique combination of DHA, Lutein and Natural Vitamin E which support vision and brain development.^{10, 11}

To experience the full range of Similac nutrition, please visit Similac Myanmar today to sign up for samples.¹²