The latest of these has found that children should be encouraged to cook, if parents want them to eat more healthily. Teaching children to cook properly, rather than letting them think that ordering takeaways or putting a ready-meal into the microwave, will teach them the skills they need to eat and live healthier as adults.

And whilst watching people cooking on TV (like on CBeebies) is fine but is no substitute for actually getting the children into the kitchen and getting them to learn to cook for themselves.

The research, by City University, London, found that teaching school pupils and adults to cook had a positive effect on their diet – more pupils reported eating more fruit and vegetables following the cooking classes.

Further research, undertaken by the School Food Trust, looked at the effect of school-based cookery clubs (trialled throughout the country) for children aged four to eight years. That study found that the classes increased the children’s ability to recognise healthy food and made them more likely to want to eat it.

At the moment, though, government plans to introduce cooking skills within the National Curriculum for children age 12 to 16 years is on hold. The new National Curriculum is due to come into effect in 2014, and it is hoped that cookery will form part of it at that point.

Until then, you can do a lot for your children’s future and present health by getting them involved in preparing food. Primary school children have cooking as part of the curriculum, but the quality of those lessons is different from school-to-school and many focus on the lesson as a way of teaching science or even literacy.

The School Food Trust commented, via chairman Rob Rees, that, “Fundamentally, being able to cook is a life skill which helps children grow into healthier adults, and that’s why our evidence to the national curriculum review calls for practical cooking to be compulsory for all children.”

Do your bit at home – get younger children baking and helping to prepare fruit and vegetables, and get older children to help with a greater level of preparation of your meals.

As we said last week, it is important to remember that all children are different and all develop at different rates. But as a rule of thumb, to give you an idea of what your child should be able to do at particular ages, we are setting out the main milestones your child will reach between the age of seven months and one year.

Don’t worry if your child’s development doesn’t match these exactly – it is perfectly normal for children to develop in different areas at different times. For example, a child may focus on developing their gross motor skills at the expense of their language or fine motor skills. If you are concerned that your child is not developing as you expect, or if you have a feeling that there is something not quite right then trust your instincts and speak to your health visitor.

So, on average, your child at:

Seven Months: can sit unaided and pull things towards himself. He may start crawling, and may turn babbling noises into sounds akin to speech. He can wave goodbye. He starts to get the idea of ‘object permanence’ – which means that if you hide behind your hands, he will know that you haven’t simply ceased to exist! This can help with anxiety caused when you leave the room – if he knows that you still exist even if he can’t see you then you may be able to pop to pick up the post from the doormat without him thinking you have gone forever.

Eight Months: can say ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ sounds, starts to direct them to the right people. He may be able to stand and move along whilst holding onto furniture (known as ‘cruising’) and begin to crawl. He can pick up small objects with thumb and forefinger and can use his forefinger to point.

Nine Months: He will continue to cruise and make attempts at speaking, though words will probably not be clear yet. He may be able to say ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ to the right person. He should be able to drink from a cup rather than bottle and be able to finger-feed himself.

Ten Months: Can crawl confidently, getting faster! Points or gestures for things he wants, and can stand unsupported for a very short time.

Eleven Months: Can play pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo, stands unsupported for a little longer. Understands the concept of ‘no’. Can say one or two words that can be understood by others. Can bend down to pick things up from standing.

One Year: Can take a few steps, and can say two or three words. Can hold and control a pencil sufficiently to do marks on a page.

Despite knowing that each child will develop differently and have different spurts at different times, it’s hard for us mums not to be ‘competitive’ with other mums and compare our child to others – favourably or otherwise. Even though the age at which a child learns to walk or talk will not normally impact on their long-term successes, it is still a worry for mums who may feel that their child isn’t developing as quickly as others.

There are ‘rule of thumb’ charts that can show you what your baby should be able to do at given ages, but these should not be taken as sacred information. It is entirely possible for a ‘normal’ baby to develop outside the ‘normal’ ranges. But if you feel that your child really isn’t developing as they should and have any concerns, then speak to your health visitor, who may be able to reassure you that all is well, or could make the necessary referrals if she agrees that things are not moving along as expected.

Ultimately, if a baby has a mum who cares enough to notice that something isn’t quite right and act on it, then in the end they will be okay. My son didn’t speak until the age of four – despite the fact that I had taken him to speech therapists from the age of two, determined that there was something wrong. It took until the age of four, and the employment of a private therapist, to diagnose speech dyspraxia and give him some specific work before he said his first words. He’s five now and doesn’t stop talking!

To give you an idea of what your child should be able to do by certain ages, here are some ideas for the first six months. But do remember that this is what an average child can do – and to have an average there must be children who can do more and children who can do less…

1 month: they can lift their head when lying down; respond to sound/noises; stare at faces. They may also be able to follow objects with their eyes, make coo-ing sounds and even smile and laugh.

2 months: much more noises made, and may now notice their hands, which they will find interesting! They can hold their head up for short amounts of time, perhaps lifting their shoulders up at the same time when on their tummy (a bit like a seal). They may be able to laugh, and perhaps bear their weight on their legs.

3 months: they will show signs that they recognise mummy and daddy. They may be able to blow bubbles, and may respond to your voice in recognition. They will turn to loud sounds, and might be able to bring their hands together.

4 months: they can smile and laugh, and most can bear their weight on their legs when supported. They ‘speak’ (gurgle, coo) in response to your speech. They start to be able to roll over from their tummy to their back and can reach for objects.

5 months: they can see different, bold colours, and find their hands and feet infinitely fascinating. They may recognise their own name, turning in response when called. They may be able to sit with support.

6 months: they can now confidently roll over, imitate sounds (like da-da and ma-ma) and may start to be able to sit without support. They are ready for solid food now and so can be weaned if this has not already been done.

This might, they hope, mean that mums who are fore-warned will be more likely to keep up their breastfeeding for longer, though it is feasible that it might deter many mums in the first place.

The Council says that although babies fed with formula milk from a bottle may seem more content and may sleep more soundly, breast is definitely still best for baby. The Department of Health still recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives.

Many mums (approximately two-thirds of those who try to breastfeed their babies) stop breastfeeding within weeks. Reasons vary, but commonly include complaints that their babies don’t sleep well and frequently wake for feeds at night, and that their babies don’t seem to be ‘satisfied’ when breastfed.

But the Council says that actually, babies who are ‘cranky’ and cry are doing so to communicate their needs (for example, that they are tired) and doing so is nothing to be concerned about. And formula-fed babies cry less not because they are happier and more content, but actually because they are overfed. Think about when you’ve had an enormous meal – when you’re stuffed, it’s hard to make much of a fuss about anything.

Lead researcher, Dr Ken Ong said, “Bottle-fed babies may appear more content, but research suggests that these infants may be over-nourished and gain weight too quickly. Our findings are essentially similar to other stages of life; people often find that eating is comforting.”

A National Childbirth Trust (NCT) representative, Rosie Dodds, said, “Mothers and babies may experience starting to breastfeed as demanding or stressful in this society where bottle-feeding is seen as the norm and breastfeeding is unfamiliar to many new parents. It would be interesting to compare this with countries where almost all babies are breastfed. We often hear from mothers who say that once both they and their baby got the hang of it, breastfeeding was a breeze.”

The scourge of childhood obesity seems to be continuing unabated despite numerous attempts by the government to educate parents and children of the need to eat healthily and exercise regularly. Initiatives like Change4Life and the 5-a-day campaign seem to be falling on deaf ears, at least amongst a large part of society.

The government’s School Food Trust has issued some guidelines on what pre-school children should eat and has published guidance on what to do if your child is a fussy eater, as well as some healthy recipes to inspire healthy eating.

The advice has been issued following the release of a report that found that over a fifth of children are obese or overweight by the time they start school, suggesting that any advice aimed at school-age children may already be coming too late.

The guidelines issued by the School Food Trust are voluntary but offer good, consistent, reliable advice to those who want it, including nurseries and childminders. This follows recommendations from a panel of experts, in 2009, who discovered that many childcare providers had not taken on board nutritional advice that schools had adopted, meaning that many pre-school children were being given too much fat, salt, sugar and simple carbohydrates and too little by way of fruit and vegetables and dietary fibre.

The Children’s Minister, Sarah Teather, said of the guidance, “Healthy eating is at the heart of helping every child get the best start in life. Nurseries play a vital role in getting children from all backgrounds to develop good eating habits – but many lack the expert knowledge of what is the best food to serve.”

Childcare providers welcomed the guidance, which they see as a definitive set of answers to what food is appropriate for young children.

The question remains whether parents who do not send their children to nursery or childminders will access the guidance and follow it. It would be interesting to see whether those children who start school overweight or obese come from childcare settings or from home. The majority of children with weight problems come from deprived backgrounds, and do not typically leave the care of their parents until they start school.

It’s well known that the UK is facing an obesity crisis that threatens the future of our NHS service (there are only so many heart attacks and other obesity-related health problems the NHS can afford to deal with) and the very lives of the next couple of generations.  Go to any children’s party, or any school, and it’s easy to see for yourself the scale of the problem.  Where once there might have been one or two overweight children in the school (who were usually the subject of much abuse), now every third child or thereabouts has a weight problem that is severe enough to impact on their health.

National strategies to improve children’s diets, like reducing fat and salt content in school meals and encouraging exercise and eating fresh fruit and vegetables (through the Change4Life or 5-a-day campaigns) help to a degree, but individuals need to take control of their weight.  In the case of children who are obese or overweight, the parents need to take charge.

But what can you do?  Of course, the bare fact is that if your child is overweight then it is because they are consuming more energy than they are burning off.  That might be because they are eating too much, or it might be because they are not exercising enough.  It’s a hard thing to raise with your child, though, and what you do and say rather depends on the age of your child.  Children can be very sensitive about their weight, and about any perceived criticism from their parents. 

You don’t necessarily need to weigh your child to know whether they are overweight or obese.  As weight gradually creeps on over time, it can be hard to notice a child gaining too much weight, so take a step back and look at them with fresh eyes.  Are they large around the waist?  Do they have excess fat around their hips, breasts (particularly boys)?  Do clothes said to be for their age range no longer fit?  Is your child being teased at school about their size?  Any of these factors can tell you if there’s a problem, and are better indicators than looking at a child’s Body Mass Index (since this can vary dramatically as a child goes through growth-spurts.

If your child is overweight, it is better to make a change to your whole family’s lifestyle than to say to the child that you’re putting them on a diet.  Don’t treat your child differently to the rest of the family – don’t give them their own ‘special’ food, they’ll feel scapegoated and resentful.  Instead, make a decision to change the family’s diet for a healthier, low-fat diet and couple it with some more active pursuits at weekends instead of sitting with screen-based entertainment.

If it’s possible, walk them to school.  Take them to a play gym after school.  Limit screen time to half an hour per day (including TV, consoles, mobile phones, laptops etc).  Go for a bike ride or walk, or go swimming if it’s wet out. 

Most schools are careful about what is served to the children, limiting choices like chips to once or twice a week.  If your child has a weight problem then even that may be excessive.  And if your child doesn’t like what’s being offered by the school then they won’t eat it, and will be famished by the time they get home and dive straight for the high-sugar, high-fat snacks for an energy boost.

You can tackle this in two ways.  First, if they really don’t want school dinners then send them with a packed lunch.    Include two portions of fruit/veg that they enjoy, choose healthy fillings for their sandwiches, and a healthy snack bar as a ‘pudding’.  Schools normally require children to take their packed lunch leftovers/wrappers home, so you can see how much they’ve eaten.  Beware, though, that children can be very sneaky when they want and may go to some lengths to dispose of evidence that they haven’t eaten what’s been provided.  The second thing you can do is take a healthy snack with you when you go to pick them up.  Something like a banana, or peanut butter on crackers will give them a boost and tide them over until teatime.

Other small changes you can make if your child is overweight is to switch to semi-skimmed milk from full-fat, and walk up stairs instead of taking the lift.  If your child doesn’t like a particular vegetable, don’t force it, just serve the veg they will eat instead.  Make sure you lead by example, and eat your five-a-day too!

Try not to link eating with rewards or comfort.  For example, don’t say ‘If you do your homework you can have some chocolate’ or ‘oh dear, have some cake to make it feel better’. 

Finally, don’t force your child to clear their plate.  If you’re going to let them have a dessert, then if they’ve had a good portion of their main course then let them move on if they want.  At least then they won’t have the extra calories from the main course too.  And if your child only ever eats the icing off buns, for goodness’ sake don’t force them to eat the bun before they eat the icing: they won’t stop eating the bun until it’s gone so they can have the icing and won’t learn to stop eating when they’re full.  Your job is to teach them the skill of knowing when they’re hungry, how much they should eat, and when to stop.

Because they grow pretty quickly, and their clothes get dirty pretty quickly (especially if they have reflux), and before you know it you’ve got eight packs of babygrows in the washing machine and you baby’s just wearing a nappy.

You’ll need a lot of the basics, but what are the basics? What can you get by without, and what does your baby really need?

It’s very tempting to buy lots of very cute outfits, but if your budget won’t stretch to that then concentrate on the basics:
- A going-home outfit to put in your hospital bag
- Vests
- Long-sleeve tops
- Soft trousers (much easier to change than tights for girls)
- Babygrows
- Sleepsuits
- Baby swimwear if you plan on introducing your little one to the water (and disposable swim nappies)
- Winter coat/snowsuit
- Hat (for Winter, and one for summer preferably with a flap at the back to cover their neck)
- Gloves/scratch-mits
- Soft booties (don’t buy shoes until your baby can walk – babies get a lot of sensory information from their feet and putting them in shoes is tantamount to tying their hands behind their backs, plus they can restrict growth and become uncomfortable).

You’ll also need a cot, but initially your baby should be in your room for the first six months to reduce the risk of cot-death. If your room won’t fit a cot into it, then buy a crib or Moses basket. Beware that most Moses baskets won’t last until your baby is six months because most babies are too big for them by that age, so a crib is a better investment.

If you’re borrowing a cot/crib, buy a new mattress and make sure it fits properly to avoid the risk of your baby getting stuck down the sides. Get adequate bedding too, but make sure you remember to put your baby toe-to-end of the cot and put any blankets you use tucked under the end of the mattress to avoid them slipping over your baby’s face.

Don’t bother with a changing table – you’ll use it for a week or so and then end up using a changing mat on the floor. Everyone does.

Get a chest of drawers, and unless you want to be trailing up and down stairs twenty times a day, put it in your sitting room so that you can change your baby downstairs.

Buckets that you can use to store dirty nappies in special bags seem like a good idea – but who wants dirty nappies hanging around? Babies don’t often poo in the night, so you’re not likely to need to store dirty nappies until morning – just buy some cheap nappy liners and sling them in the bin outside.

Get a comfy chair for your room or the nursery – especially if you’re breastfeeding. Choose one with arm rests as this is the most comfortable thing when feeding your little one.

Getting a comfy chair reduces the need for a breastfeeding support pillow, which tend to be too bulky and inflexible to get really comfy with anyway.

You’ll need a baby monitor. Get a good one that doesn’t crackle or have a lot of interference. Don’t place a monitor too close to your baby’s cot because there is a very real risk that the wire can be a strangulation hazard.

Get the best laundry system you can afford. Biggest drum on a washing machine; most settings on a dryer (most baby clothes will shrink if placed in a dryer that’s too hot).

Buy as many muslin squares as you can carry. These are useful for putting under your baby’s bottom and back during a change on a cold plastic change mat (which you’ll also need) to keep them warm, and to mop up any spills. They’re also useful for everything at every stage of your baby’s development (I still use mine, and my ‘baby’ is nearly six years old now) – drying slides of dew in the morning; mopping up spills at dinner time; wiping noses; making breastfeeding discrete in public.

If you’re planning on breastfeeding, get some nursing bras fitted when you’re about 7 months pregnant. Get at least three: one for the wash, one to wear and one in the wardrobe. And buy plenty of breast pads.

You’ll also need maternity pads because you won’t believe how much you will bleed after delivering your baby. It’s not something you get told normally.

Get a baby bath but it doesn’t have to be expensive; and your baby just needs warm water in the early days (using anything else increases the chances of dry skin and eczema). Choose towels with hoods, but try to find rectangular ones rather than square ones, as they will last until your baby is much bigger.

Invest in a good thermometer, because a good part of your child’s babyhood will be taken up by ailments and colds – and by a never-ending worry that your baby has a temperature.

Decide whether you want to do disposable or re-usable cloth nappies and stock up (typically your baby will use about six per day for the first few weeks, so stock up in the weeks before you deliver by buying a pack or two a week – but don’t just get newborn sizes because if you have a large baby, they won’t fit for long!).

The best cream for keeping babies’ bottoms dry and soft is one containing zinc. Don’t go for sudacrem as it is antiseptic and drying – use it only if your baby develops nappy-rash (although metanium is better for that anyway).

Other big-ticket items you’ll need will be a car seat and a pram. Best advice I can offer is to choose a pram that a) you can lift and b) lets your baby face you, because they develop much quicker intellectually and emotionally with a lot of eye contact. Choose a car seat that you can carry (if you can’t lift it comfortably when you’re pregnant then don’t get it). Don’t keep your baby in a car seat if you can avoid it, it’s far better for them if you transport them in a sling or in their pram, so don’t bother with a travel system (because as soon as your baby is about two months old, they’re too heavy to carry around in the car seat anyway).

Finally, you’ll have tons to carry round with you, whether you breast or bottle feed. So lighten the load by getting some of those empty travel toiletry containers and decanting creams into them rather than cart around big pots. You’ll thank me for it.

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is, as we have seen in previous weeks, a neuro-biological disorder that leads to impulsive, poorly-controlled behaviour and inability to concentrate amongst other symptoms (such as anxiety and depression, inability to sleep). We have examined the medicines available to treat the condition and the behaviour therapies that should be used to compliment the drug therapies.

Some parents of children with ADHD also swear by ‘ADHD Diets’ that they say reduce the symptoms and lead to calmer children. Some even prefer to change their child’s diets than give them prescribed medication because, unlike with meds, the diet does not take away the ‘essence’ of the child.

There are two ways that diets of children with ADHD can differ from those of children without ADHD: either their overall diet is changed (by withdrawing certain foodstuffs that seem to trigger certain behaviours, or adding foods that seem to help), or they are given supplements (certain vitamins and minerals to control symptoms). To identify foods that trigger symptoms, it is usual for the child to be given allergy tests, or to undergo an ‘elimination’ diet (withdrawing one food at a time, usually starting with ‘high risk’ foods like gluten and lactose, to see if symptoms improve without their presence in the overall diet).

Currently, NICE (the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence) advises that ‘Healthcare professionals should stress the value of a balanced diet, good nutrition and regular exercise for children, young people and adults with ADHD’.

Dieticians also believe that foods that are good for the brain are generally good for ADHD. Generally speaking, the brain is improved by: high protein diets (pulses, eggs, meat, nuts – these improve concentration); fewer simple carbohydrates (sugary foods, white flour products, white rice, potatoes without the skin); more complex carbohydrates (fruit – though not citric fruit – and veg, which might help sleep) and more omega-3 fatty acids (oily fish, some nuts and oils).

There is a great deal of debate about whether certain foods or additives may cause hyperactivity. Anecdotal evidence from many parents would suggest, for example, that chocolate makes children go slightly haywire for a short period (though many experts say that this is merely a self-fulfilling prophecy and that since parents expect ‘craziness’ after giving their children chocolate then that is what they observe, even if there isn’t really any measurable difference in the child’s behaviour).

Although there’s no proof that any given flavouring or colouring causes ADHD behaviours, experts are generally agreed that withdrawing unnatural foodstuffs from a child’s diet can’t hurt. However, this alone won’t necessarily help, and NICE says, ‘the elimination of artificial colouring and additives from the diet is not recommended as generally applicable treatment for children and young people with ADHD’.

Since medications for ADHD are largely stimulants, could natural stimulants help? Caffeine, for instance, is a stimulant. However, whilst some studies have shown that caffeine can help some children with ADHD, the side-effects of consuming caffeine outweigh the possible benefits.

If you are considering changing your child’s diet, you should always discuss it with your GP, who can refer you to a dietician. Beware of ‘nutritionists’ – people who carry this title do not have to have any qualifications. In the words of Dara O’Briain, ‘dietician’ is to ‘nutritionist’ as ‘dentist’ is to ‘toothyologist’…

Treatment is normally a combination of drug therapy and behaviour-management techniques. There are many parents, though, who do not relish the thought that their child’s behaviour is being controlled by drugs. Often, they complain that their child is no longer ‘their’ child, that taking the drugs has controlled the symptoms of ADHD but has also taken away something of their child’s very essence.

Such parents prefer to rely solely on behaviour-management techniques and treatments, which are summarised below – these are also the same therapies available alongside drug treatments.

The basic aim of behavioural treatments for ADHD is to adjust the environment to suit the child, rather than trying to make the child fit into the environment. The aim of this is to improve the child’s social development and interactions with other children and adults. Techniques that are known to help include simple things like setting clear boundaries and encouraging structure and routines.

Social Skills Training (which is also available for children on the Autistic Spectrum) is a way of changing how the child thinks about social situations, so that they will also alter their behaviour in those situations. It’s a form of CBT (cognitive-behavioural therapy) and is aimed at improving social relationships and other social skills like saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘hello’ in appropriate situations.

The type of behaviour-management training rather depends on the age of the child and their stage of development. These are broken down into three levels:

1. Up to the age of five years:Providing consistency, routine and warning the child of any change to their routines, however minor, to give them chance to mentally prepare for that. They need to be given clear instructions on what is expected of them, and rewards that work for that child. Every child is different, so whilst a star chart may work wonders for one, it might have no effect at all on another, who may prefer food treats as rewards, or perhaps even verbal praise. Any reward has to be immediate, associated with the behaviour, and as strong as it can be. Engage in structured activities with your child, getting down to their level and playing with them with your full attention.
2. Age six to twelve years:Make sure that instructions and explanations for events and expectations are given in a clear way. Break down the instructions into manageable chunks, as the child may have difficulties in memorising or organising information. For example, don’t say ‘You can go out to play after dinner,’ since the child may only process the ‘go out to play’ part and leave without having their dinner first. Instead, say ‘Have your dinner, then you can go out to play.’ Keep up the reward system that works for that child, and be sensitive when disciplining them in front of other children as they can find that very hard to deal with. Liaise closely with the child’s school to ensure that the school is aware of the condition and how to support it, and listen to any advice they may have to offer.
3. Teenagers:Allow them to participate in setting boundaries and in choosing their rewards. This will improve self-esteem. They are going through normal hormonal changes as well as dealing with their condition, so try to understand how difficult they must be finding things at the moment.

Vitamin E is essential in our daily battle against free radicals and oxidants. Vitamin E is a collective name for a certain group of fat soluble compounds whose special properties are as anti-oxidants. Their technical titles are tocopherols and tocotrienols, each bearing four categories, the Alpha category being most applicable to humans and other animals.

Deficiencies in infant children can lead to the neurological dysfunction such as spino-cerebellar ataxia or better known ailments such as anaemia, eye disorders, reduced cognitive function, loss of reflexes, or muscle weakness. Pregnant women should avoid all such deficiencies and it’s important to have a good source of vitamin E for a Childs healthy development.

In older kids, Vitamin E can treat acne and psoriasis. It’s a vitamin which is prevalent in the beauty industry due to its links with healthy skin and cell protection. www.hollandandbarret.com/ sells a multitude of Vitamin E products in the form of oils, capsules and creams.

Good food sources for Vitamin E include wheat germ oil, sunflower oil, and nuts and nut oils. Sources of the vitamin needn’t be so obscure as to exclude people – avocado, asparagus, broccoli, kiwi fruit, pumpkin, lettuce and mangoes all content Vitamin E. As kids can be finicky eaters, peanut butter can be a good alternative source.

For all queries regarding Vitamins and their benefits, a visit to www.hollandandbarret.com/ can be highly educational. They have a host of products promoting a healthy lifestyle and an informative approach as to which supplements may be suited to you.