A Fat Lesson Learned

Not all fats are created equal…

When my son was about 2 years old, I discovered a crucial mistake that I made due to a lack of knowledge in food choices. I was so going ho in eating right: low fat diet. I would remove the skin from my chicken before cooking, trimmed all the fat from my meats, baked everything instead of frying, and on and on. I was also giving my son fat free milk from the time he turned 1 year old because I thought that was the best thing to do. Little did I know I was hurting him rather than helping.

I was interested in starting my own after school care in my home, so I took some classes back in New York which was required to get my certification. One night in a nutrition class, I learned that healthy fats are so, so important in the developing brain of a child. I learned that a fat free diet in a growing brain can lead to behavioral issues.

Healthy fats are essential!

Healthy fats are essential to the proper formation of the brain and nerves (“Fats,” n.d.). They are 3 components of fats. First there is unsaturated fats. These are found in fish and plant-based foods. Unsaturated fats are further broken down into: Monounsaturated, Omega 3 fatty acids, and polyunsaturated. The fats that are considered healthy are Avocado, yogurt, cheese, coconut oil, olive oil which are monounsaturated. Foods such as, salmon, nuts and seeds are polyunsaturated (“Facts about polyunsaturated fats: MedlinePlus medical encyclopedia,” n.d.). Omega fatty acids are foods such as oily fish and salmon (“Fats,” n.d.).

That night was the ah -ha moment for me. My son was not a bad child, but he started to develop anxiety issues when he was in closed spaces. He seemed to function better in large areas where he was not so confined. At the time, I thought very little of what was really going on, and his behavior started to get worse. His sisters thought he was just very spoiled. He would become very fidgety and could not sit still.

That night after my class ended, I went straight to the store and bought regular milk, regular cheese, regular yogurt, and threw out all the fat free products. In a few weeks the change was astounding. He was less agitated and was just being a little boy. My son is now a very intelligent young man and he is doing very well. Thank God for that class. By the way, I never did start that after school program.

References

Benton, J. M. (Ed.). (2017, January). Fats (for parents) – nemours kidshealth. KidsHealth. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/fat.html.
Facts about polyunsaturated fats: MedlinePlus medical encyclopedia. (n.d.).
MedlinePlus-Health Information from the National Library of Medicine.
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000747.htm