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It is important that your child gets his or her nutrition early o'n, preferably form Grade 1. This is the most important time for brain development, as they start to learn new things and create new ideas all the time. Brain development revolves around getting the right amount of:

1) Glucose ' Simply put, it is the blood sugar level. Glucose provides energy, and is vital in determining attention span. Lack of glucose can cause your kid to feel sleepy in class. The most important meal is breakfast, and glucose should be a part of every child's breakfast, to ensure that the blood sugar level is maintained through out the day's activities. Kids who usually skip breakfast tend to have a shorter attention span and difficulty remembering their lessons.

2) Vitamin B ' Vitamin B helps to release the energy in glucose. Lack of Vitamin B can cause aggressiveness and depression. There are 12 types of essential Vitamin B, so it may be difficult to get all in a meal. Cereals are a good provider of Vitamin B.

3) Iron ' Helps to transport oxygen in the blood system to each individual cell, including brain cells. Lack of iron results in anemia, which is common in children who don't get a balanced diet. Besides having less attention span, iron-anemic children are less motivated to participate in challenging tasks that stretch their imagination and ability. Having a good selection of red meat, tuna, chicken, or leafy vegetables like legumes and broccoli, can give your kid all the iron he or she needs.

4) Folic Acid ' Important in the formation of red and white blood cells. Lack of folic acid results in your kid feeling tired, irritable and forgetful. Food sources like fresh vegetables and fruits are good sources of folic acid.

5) Zinc ' Important to maintain communication between nerve cells and brain cells. Deficiencies in zinc can cause your kid to have difficulty solving academic problems, something the medical world calls cognitive impairment. Zinc in its natural form can be found in cereals and peanuts.

6) Vitamin A ' An important nutrient for the nervous system of a fetus. Vitamin A is most commonly found in beta carotene, from dark leafy vegetables and orange or yellow fruits.

How to Ensure Your Kid Gets the Right Nutrition

A healthy, balanced diet, consisting of the right amount of cereals, meat, fish, vegetables, fiber-rich fruits, and lots of clean, unprocessed water will provide your child with the magic formula to succeed in school, both academically and in sports. Does that mean that the parents of 'A' students go out shopping each day, cook their own food, and sit down with their kids o'n the breakfast table to ensure that they eat what they're supposed to?

Not necessarily. Parents are discovering the importance of nutritional supplements to balance out their diet, as well as their children's diet. Nutritional supplements provide the answer to the close the gap created by a busy lifestyle and the need for better health. Adults can take multivitamins and mineral supplements out of their own determination for better health. Children, o'n the other hand, especially the younger o'nes, need to be educated, tricked or forced to take nutritional supplements. Any way you do it, it has to be done for the better future of your child.

Kids generally detest swallowing any sort of multivitamin pill, especially if it's like really huge o'nes or if it tastes bad. Understandably for them, taste is more important than the benefit of the pill. Educating your kid is important in the long run, but younger children need to be introduced to supplements in a more subtle way. o'ne good way is by giving them chewable supplements, which disguise the fact that they are supplements by giving a good taste and flavor. Kids are generally more receptive to taking chewables than regular pills.

Another trend today is taking liquid nutritional supplements. Liquid nutritional supplements go o'ne step further than chewables by eliminating the need of pill forms. Liquid nutrition can be diluted and mixed into our drinks, cereals and whatever else you eat during the course of a day. Children today love taking liquid supplements that are mixed into their orange juice or other beverage. Even adults who hate taking pills are attracted to liquid multivitamin supplements. Liquid nutrition is also more readily and easily absorbed by the body.

Start Early to Determine Success

If you really want your kid to grow up smart and popular in school, you have to start early. Mothers should take Vitamin B supplements during their pregnancy months to ensure complete fetal growth. Even though nutritional supplements are generally not recommended to kids below 2 years, ensure that from that age o'n your children are introduced to taking chewable or liquid nutritional supplements.

Grade A students and kids who excel in school generally don't have anything special that your kid does not already have. The o'nly difference is that they have parents who emphasize the benefits of good nutrition. Now that you know their secret, start today by analyzing your kid's eating habits and take action to change their life, and yours.

Copyright 2005 Gobala Krishnan