As a parent, you often wonder how you can ensure your child has a better life. To make this happen, you can provide your child with many wonderful things. However, did you know that having a strong immune system is the most beneficial thing you can do for your child? Continue reading to learn why your child needs a strong immune system and how nutrition can contribute to this.
Why Is a Strong Immune System Important for Your Child?
Your child’s immune system is a series of cells, tissues and organs that protect them from germs and bacteria1. Think of it as a fort defending your child’s body from invaders2. It fights off diseases and illnesses to keep your child healthy.
As such, it’s important to strengthen your child’s immune system. Less sick days mean more time for your child to be up and about, learning, exploring, and enjoying all that life has to offer. To strengthen your child's immune system, you must ensure that he or she gets enough sleep, exercises, manages stress and eats a healthy diet. Speaking of a healthy diet, is your child eating a balanced diet with all the necessary nutrients?
How Do You Ensure that Your Child is Eating Healthily?
Healthy eating is about balance, variety and moderation. A growing child needs to eat a variety of food from the various food groups: carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, protein and fat. This should be done in moderation, according to your child’s needs. You can refer to Malaysia’s food pyramid to help you prepare how much your child should consume at his or her age.
Furthermore, cultivating a healthy eating habit at a young age will increase your child’s likelihood of preferring healthy eating as an adult. This will have a substantial impact on their health and quality of life in the future3.
One way to support a balanced diet is to supplement your child’s meals with growing up milk. Growing up milk is generally formulated with various nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals to help meet the nutritional needs of young children for their optimal growth and development. Some growing up milk also has prebiotics, probiotics and DHA which are important nutrients for a child’s brain and immunity development.
Parents often ask, “Why is there a need to supplement my child’s regular main meals with growing up milk?” In reality, your child may eat enough, but not obtain the nutrients he or she needs. Globally, a 2015 review by the Early Nutrition Academy found that young children between the ages of 12 and 36 months often lack nutrients such as folate, iron, and DHA in their diets. They are not meeting the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) daily recommendations4.
This hits home as well. Did you know that Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) is becoming more prevalent in Malaysia's younger generation? In fact, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, one in four Malaysian children is anaemic5.
It is therefore crucial to supplement your child's diet with growing up milk if you wish to support a balanced diet for your children.
Malaysian Mums Choose AptaGro™ Growing Up Milk
Considering the importance of growing up milk, it becomes necessary to choose the right milk for your child. Parents, not all growing up milk is created equal. The ingredients in various growing up milk vary, so you need to know what your child needs to have a stronger immune system and a better brain development.
AptaGro™ milk is loved by mums in Malaysia. It has won both the Parent’s Choice Best Growing Up Milk and Best Growing Up Milk for Immunity and Brain Development awards. And for the right reasons. From Europe's leading milk formula manufacturer#, AptaGro™ is backed by the latest scientific research to support children's health and intelligence. AptaGro™ is formulated after more than 40 years of pioneering research. It has an ideal combination of probiotics, prebiotics and other important nutrients such as DHA that support your child’s brain development and immune system.
What exactly are these?
1.Probiotics
Probiotics are live strains of healthy bacteria that have a range of health benefits, especially for gut health, They help your child’s digestion, prevention of infectious diseases and maintaining a healthy gut that is important for the immune system6.
Did you know that your child’s immune system is closely related to the gut? In fact, about 70% of the immune system is in the gut7. Diet and lifestyle directly affect immune cells and gut bacteria in children. If your child eats a healthy, balanced, and diverse diet, their gut will be healthy and their immune system will be strong8.
AptaGro™ contains 1 billion probiotics^*, Bifidobacterium Breve M-16V (BBM-16V). This strain of bacteria has been used safely for over 20 years and granted GRAS (Generally Recognised As Safe) certification. Over 17 clinical studies have been conducted on the strain and confirm that it is well absorbed by the human body. Mums and dads, you can rest assured that your child is getting the good stuff!
2. Prebiotics
Prebiotics are a type of dietary fibre that help healthy bacteria grow in your gut. Parents, as you know, the gut is instrumental in your child’s overall health, wellbeing and brain development. But not all prebiotics are the same. That’s why you’ll want to make sure that your child’s growing up milk contains prebiotics that have been proven to support the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut.
AptaGro™ contains a unique mix of prebiotics GOS/IcFos (9:1). Over 40 clinical studies and 90 publications support this combination of prebiotics that feeds the good bacteria. Once again, you can have the peace of mind that your child is getting the best!
3. Highest DHA+
DHA is important for your child’s visual and cognitive development⁹. AptaGro™ has the highest DHA+ at a concentration of 101mg / 100g of milk powder. Comparatively, this is among the highest levels of growing up milk available in the market.
Start Today for Your Child’s Stronger Immunity and Smarter Future
As parents, we hope you now understand how vital growing up milk is as part of a balanced diet. This will support your child’s growth and development. AptaGro™ growing up milk complements your child’s diet with various nutrients needed for a strong immune system and brain development. It’s nothing like trying it for yourself so visit the AptaGro™ website to request for a free sample pack!
^1 Billion (1x10⁹ cfu) of probiotics from 100g milk powder
*B.Breve M-16V
+AptaGro consists of 101mg/100g DHA, the highest among all cow's milk based growing up milk brands in Malaysia as of July 2022
#Source: Euromonitor International Limited, Dairy Products & Alternatives 2022 ed, Groupe Danone, in the growing up milk formula category (for children aged 13 months onwards) value sales RSP, 2021 data. Nutricia part of Groupe Danone
- https://www.choc.org/health-topics/kids-immune-system/
- https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=all-about-the-immune-system-90-P01665
- https://www.healthhub.sg/live-healthy/578/A%20Healthy%20Food%20Foundation%20-%20for%20Kids%20and%20Teens
- https://apiycna.org/our-positions/role-and-necessity-of-growing-up-milk/
- www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/prevalence-of-anaemia-in-children-under-5-years-(-)
- https://www.childrens.com/health-wellness/should-kids-take-probiotics#:~:text=Probiotics%20may%20help%20with%20digestion,Inflammatory%20bowel%20disease
- https://www.globalwellnesssummit.com/trendium/a-healthy-microbiome-its-70-of-our-immune-system/
- https://cdhf.ca/en/how-nutrition-can-support-gut-health-and-the-immune-system/
- https://blog.bioticsresearch.com/3-reasons-why-dha-is-important-for-kids#:~:text=As%20earlier%20stated%2C%20DHA%20plays,cognitive%20function%20and%20learning%20behavior