Toddler Nutrition Advice from Dr Scott Cohen – I had the chance to interview Dr. Cohen to learn more about the formative years of baby and toddler nutrition.
Doctor Scott Cohen, author of Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby’s First Year and Beverly Hills Pediatrician is at the forefront of baby and toddler nutrition advice.
OAKLAND COUNTY MOMS FAMILY HEALTH ARTICLES
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – What is DHA, and why do toddlers need it?
Doctor Scott Cohen, Beverly Hills Pediatrician – Well, DHA is an Omega 3 fatty acid… and DHA is really important for brain growth and cognition. And, 85% of a child’s brain growth is in the first three years of life. And, the deposition of this Omega 3 fatty acid in the brain correlates with that rapid growth in the first three years. DHA has been shown to help brain development and cognition, it helps visual acuity, and there’s some newer studies that it actually helps decrease respiratory illnesses, possibly allergies, atopic dermatitis, asthma, and your incidents of your first illness. So, DHA has just a wide variety of benefits and I think it’s really important in the first couple years of life.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – My kids are older now, I wish I’d known this when they were younger. So, what can pediatricians tell parents are the 5 things that every toddler needs in their diet?
Doctor Scott Cohen, Beverly Hills Pediatrician – Well, I think DHA is one of the most important ones and you know it starts off with a baby getting DHA from the mom in utero and then obviously in the first year of life from whether they’re getting breast milk or formula with DHA in it. And, when they start food in toddler years… we know that toddlers are picky eaters. One of the main sources of DHA is fish. And, I don’t know a lot of toddlers who really love eating fish. So, it’s finding complimentary ways to get the DHA. And, one of those ways would be toddler formulas like Enfagrow which has DHA. You know, unfortunately, toddlers are only getting 25% of the recommended amount of DHA. So, we want to find complimentary ways to get this, whether it’s in their diet of food, as far as fish to a lesser degree, eggs, toddler formulas, and some foods also and milks are supplemented with DHA. Other things that are important in a toddler’s diet obviously are calcium for bones, muscles, and teeth, Vitamin D, Iron is so important, protein, and I think just overall philosophy as far as a parent and toddler diet is you know worrying less about volume and more importantly teaching healthy eating habits.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – We know how difficult that can be and to get our kids to eat the foods they need. So, do you have any more suggestions for ways to fill nutrition gaps in a toddler’s diet?
Doctor Scott Cohen, Beverly Hills Pediatrician – You’re right. I look at my girls who love Mac ‘n’ Cheese. I always say if I could make Mac ‘n’ Cheese, pizza, and chicken nuggets healthy, I would be a billionaire. So, it’s finding the complimentary ways to get the vitamins and minerals they need knowing that they tend to like three foods. And, I think one of those great sources is a toddler formula which is sort of like milk with a multivitamin in it. Something like Enfagrow has Vitamin B, C, D, E, Zinc, Iron, Calcium, and DHA which is missing in regular milk products for the most part. And, there’s also some prebiotics in it that help with digestive health so you’re sort of getting milk and a multivitamin and you’re complimenting the other foods in their diet which we know are plus/minus.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – And, they taste really good, too!
Doctor Scott Cohen, Beverly Hills Pediatrician – Right, at least if can we find one thing that they’re going to take and if we can get that one thing that has some extra benefits… hey, bonus, right?
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – Exactly! So, you wrote Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby’s First Year. What are some key takeaways from your book?
Doctor Scott Cohen, Beverly Hills Pediatrician – So, I think all we do the first year of life is eat, sleep and poop. It’s funny that before I wrote the book and before I had kids, I thought I was very good at just giving people information, medical information, quoting studies, and people seemed very happy with that. And, when I had my first child, I realized whenever I did that, parents would stop me and say “Yeah, yeah, yeah…but what do you do at your house?” And, I think that’s the perspective I bring with the book. It’s that here’s my doctor advice – hey, great I recommend sleep training at four months, yes introducing solids this way… but as a parent, did I follow my own advice, did my wife follow my advice, and most importantly, did my kids follow my own advice? And, there’s a lot of different right ways of doing things as the parent. There’s not just one right way. So, I think our kids end up ok. We should look at it… this should be a fun, enjoying experience over the next 18-21 years. And, we want to make it as easy as possible.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – That’s great. I think everyone appreciated that once you had children, you were able to share that experience with them as well, your own perspective, and knowing that you were in the same situation.
Doctor Scott Cohen, Beverly Hills Pediatrician – Right. I think parents love when they hear that their pediatrician messes up everything when they’re at home. I know my wife will easily admit to that. You know, when it comes to safety proofing, or locking my children in the car, hey… now I can tell parents I’ve done it, too. And, thankfully everybody ends up ok.
ABOUT DOCTOR SCOTT COHEN
Dr. Cohen is the co-founder of Beverly Hills Pediatrics, where he currently practices. He was awarded Pediatrician of the Year in 2006 and was the recipient of the Physician Recognition Award in Pediatrics in 2005 and 2008 from Cedars Sinai Medical Center, where he is an attending and active member of the teaching staff. Dr. Cohen was also selected as one of the Best Doctors in America 2007-2012. Dr. Scott Cohen, practicing pediatrician and bestselling author of the book: Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby’s First Year is building awareness about the DHA nutrition gap and offering parents advice on how they can maximize healthy brain development.
For more on toddler nutrition advice, consult your local pediatrician.
