Here’s What Every Parent Should Know About Choosing The Right Milk Formula
There are specific nutrients that are essential for your child’s mental and emotional growth.
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It can be intimidating to stand in the milk formula aisle for the first time.
Even if you’re not a new parent, the overwhelming options to choose from can make it difficult to determine if you’re making the right choice for your child.
No parent should feel that much stress over feeding their children. Despite the many options available, being informed about the ingredients will help you in selecting the best growing-up milk formula.
What should you look out for?
Protein, carbohydrates, and fat make up 98% of milk formula and almost all brands carry this standard formulation.
But given that the brain acts as a control centre for cognitive and emotional development, and 90% of brain development happens in the first five years of a child’s life, specific nutrients such as DHA and MFGM are essential to support your child’s mental and emotional growth.
DHA is an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid. When children have an adequate amount of DHA, they are better able to retain information, acquire language skills earlier in life, and become more adept at problem-solving, fact-finding, observation, interpretation, reading, and speech.
A child should have 100-150 mg of DHA every day. Although the body produces its own DHA, it’s not enough and even obtaining it through food does not meet the necessary amount required.
Milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) is a natural and complex combination of lipids and proteins that is often lost during the production of milk powders. Research has shown that MFGM is crucial to the production of neurotransmitters in the brain.
Neurotransmitters aid in the connection between brain cells, thereby regulating mental abilities, emotions and mood. A recent clinical study highlights that MFGM supports positive behavioural development in children.
The study found that preschool children who drank milk formula enhanced with MFGM for 4 months had significantly better behavioural and emotional control than those who drank regular milk formula.
Why is this important?
Raising your child’s EQ, or emotional intelligence is just as important as raising their IQ. Because like IQ, EQ has a significant influence on their future performance and accomplishments.
According to research, EQ matters twice as much as IQ and makes up 67% of the skills needed to be excellent leaders.
Strong social-emotional skills are necessary for healthy and fulfilling relationships from childhood through adulthood. This interrelationship ability corresponds to the potential for excellent academic performance, collaborative teamwork, and social contribution.
Understanding one’s own emotions and that of others, controlling one’s behaviour, and creating and maintaining relationships are all crucial parts of emotional development.
Time to make the right choice!
Now that you know DHA and MFGM are essential to support IQ and EQ development, look out for children’s milk formulas that contain them. Brands such as Enfagrow A+ MindPro contain all the necessary nutrients for your child to have a complete and balanced growth during crucial stages of their lives.
So, the next time you’re in the milk formula aisle, don’t be overwhelmed. Now that you know what to look out for, you can pick the one that’s best for your child and be on your way!
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