Family oral health

At pediatric dentistry visits, we never get tired of repeating that family oral health is key to achieving children without dental pathology. With good eating habits + good oral hygiene, we will build the foundations for healthy mouths.

Families educate our children and teenagers in values, emotional education, health education… Within this health education, food education must also be found.

Family meals have great potential as learning spaces: learning healthy habits, hygiene habits, cultural eating habits, sustainability,…

The eating habits that are acquired in childhood have a direct impact on current and future health, and also on the habits that will be maintained throughout life. Thus, we must ensure that the menus we offer are as healthy, balanced and suitable as possible for the nutritional needs of each stage.

We can achieve this gradually by introducing small changes such as the one listed below:

Natural yogurt instead of sugary.
Wholegrain bread instead of white bread.
Pasta and brown rice instead of pasta and white rice.
Consume extra virgin olive oil.
Avoid fried foods.
Reduce the salt and introduce spices.
Red and processed meat: the new food guides recommend greatly reducing the consumption of this type of meat, reducing it to sporadic rather than habitual consumption.
Fish: diversify the consumption of fish, and include blue fish such as mackerel, sea bream, seitans, sardines, etc.
Legumes: When a first or second course of legumes is offered, it is not necessary to accompany it with another source of carbohydrates or proteins since legumes are already very rich in both nutrients, apart from providing fiber, vitamins and minerals. You can offer first courses of legume stew with vegetables, curries, legume salads…
Discover new sources of carbohydrates: to enrich children’s gastronomic and nutritional culture it is recommended to explore more sources of carbohydrates beyond pasta, bread, potato and rice. You can use other cereals and pseudo-cereals (millet, oats, beans, quinoa, etc.) as well as other tubers (sweet potato, turnip, parsnip, etc.).
For health and sustainability, it is recommended to introduce children to vegetable protein alternatives at least once a week, as it is important that they get used to them and incorporate them as regular foods (tofu, seitan, tempeh, textured soy, homemade legume burgers, falafels,…).