Child Care and Ayurveda -1

Ayurveda and Child’s Health – Pt. 1

Pediatrics is one of the main eight branches of Ayurveda – it is the foundation of good health. Vedas state, “The One God has entered into the mind, born at first, he plays within the child.”

It would do well for you to consider a child’s health and wellbeing. Ayurveda and Child’s Health go hand in hand. Ayurveda has a lot to say about children.

Propensity of diseases comes from the lack of care and understanding of a child’s (between 2 years and 5 years) constitution. We always try to impose an appropriate pattern on the children, particularly where their diet is concerned, as per our whim.

A small example – Suppose I love eating pasta. Now, I have made pasta for lunch. Because everyone in the family will have pasta, I try to make my child of two eat it too or I try to impose it on her/him ignoring the fact whether it will do her/his health good or bad; without knowing whether she/he actually wants to eat it not. Why am I doing so? Because either I don’t want to cook or prepare a separate dish for the child or I feel it is proper for the child to have pasta at the age of 2. Here, I don’t pay any attention about the child’s diet thinking, “I used to eat this when I was a child of two. Nothing has happened to me. I enjoyed it and I am healthy. So my child will also enjoy eating it. If not, I will force her/him with few spoons of it.”

We must know that the diet for adults may or may not (in most of the cases ‘may not’) suit the children. By trying to impose on children what we want, we make it difficult for them to discover themselves and discover what their actual needs are.

Childhood is the formative stage and is considered to be ‘the most important’ in Ayurveda. Childhood is predominated by Kapha, the water dosha. Why is it so? Because being a formative element, water is responsible for development and growth. Production of new tissues means production of mucus, accumulation of phlegm and poor digestion. This is why children suffer more from diseases like pneumonia, bronchitis, tonsillitis and other lungs-related diseases.

No matter what the dosha combination is in any child, Kapha is always at a high level. Therefore, Ayurveda treats all children between 2 and 5 as ‘KAPHA’ children.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR A CHILD’S (BETWEEN 2 YEARS AND 5 YEARS) DIET

Bland diet, bereft of too much sweet, sour, salt and spices, is idle for children between 2 years and 5 years. They should be given complex carbohydrates and whole grains to calm their mind and bring harmony within them. It is true that ‘building’ food increases Kapha but this does not mean that we start giving them a diet that decreases mucus. Though ‘building’ foods are helpful to them, they do not give the children the required nutrition for proper growth.

(1) Sugar – Ayurveda states that every human requires sugar up to a certain extent for proper and adequate growth, and energy. By sugar, I don’t mean the white sugar, but jaggery. It is a well known fact that white sugar, for its over-refined quality, slowly removes the minerals from the body. Therefore, according to Ayurveda, the best of cane sugar is ‘jaggery’ or ‘gur’ that is very rich in vitamins and minerals. Other natural sugars that fall under the ‘good forms of sugar’ category are molasses, barley malt, rice malt, unrefined sugar and maple syrup.

As a medicine or sweetener, honey should be used in small quantities as it is the ‘concentrated sugar’. In tonics and expectorants, it is excellent as it combines with other herbs. Honey over-stimulates the pancreas if it is used in cooking.

Even sugar contained in fruits or its juices cause fermentation and gas in the body. Then, it is better not to consume any sugary food.

Where children between 2 and 5 are concerned, Ayurveda states that they can be given raw sugar, in little amounts, but with milk or whole grains.

As you can see Ayurveda has something important to say about the diet of a youngster. Ayurveda and Child’s Health goes a lot further than we’ve seen so far. Although most of us know too much sugar in one’s diet or daily meals are bad for us, Ayurveda tells us more and elaborates on it so we know why.

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