An Egg A Day Could Help Children Grow Taller
A new study in Ecuador conducted in a six-month period has just concluded that an egg a day could help undernourished children grow to a healthy height. Not needing to be cooked to perfection, whether they are boiled, whisked, or fried, eggs give the same nutritional value to young children.
Stunting is irreversible and any parent wants to avoid it for their child. Eggs could help, but pediatrics are seeing it as a "cheap way" to stop growth stunt. Regardless the main cause of stunting is poor nutrition which is the case for 155 million children around the world under the age of five, whom are too short for their age.
In Ecuador, one of the studies conducted was a field experiment with children aged six to nine months being fed free eggs to see if this could help with the growth problems. The issue comes from mostly low to middle income countries that cannot afford to give their kids the proper nutrition.
More than 150 children were fed an egg a day in the experiment to see the effects. Others were monitored. Researchers visited the families every week and found that stunting was 46% less common in the first group.
Although the experiment is coming along successful, a balanced diet is still crucial in young children.
The British Nutrition Foundation have stated "While eggs are a nutritious food to include, it's very important that young children have a variety of foods in their diets. Not only is this necessary to get all the vitamins and minerals they need, but also to allow them to become familiar with a wide range of tastes and textures."
Good or not, eggs have always had a balanced mix to them, and now it seems to be doing more good than harm to children. However, a balanced diet is highly recommended during chilhood and different nutritional foods should be consumed each day according to WHO.