Children’s nutritionist Marina Chaparro explained the dangers of improper feeding to children.
She saw a child with ketoacidosis, a sign of hunger from an almond milk diet.
Diluting infant formula can cause lethargy and life-threatening seizures, doctors say.
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Pediatric nutritionist Marina Chaparro discovered an infant who was hospitalized with symptoms such as weight loss and vomiting when she was working at a children’s hospital in Miami about five years ago.
The child had ketoacidosis. This is a potentially fatal condition that occurs when the body begins to break down fatty acids for energy, releasing ketones and making the blood dangerously acidic.
Initially, Chaparro and her fellow doctors who worked in pediatric endocrinology thought the child had type 1 diabetes, a common cause of ketoacidosis.
However, after numerous tests, medical professionals discovered that the child’s condition was not caused by diabetes, but by starvation. gave him almond milk, based on unhealthy advice from
Chaparro, who now cares for the bilingual baby and her family’s nutrition, said the story has stuck in her mind for years. Because this story illustrates the dangers of medical misinformation that are becoming more and more prevalent in recent years.
Nut milk is not a safe substitute for infant formula
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, nut milks can be incorporated into most infant diets, but they do not provide the nutrients needed to replace breast milk or formula in infants under the age of one. It’s not a milk replacer that doesn’t contain.
“Infant formulas are really hard to recreate and very hard to maintain the balance that nutritional scientists have been working on for years,” Chaparro said at a webinar hosted by the California Strawberry Commission. “Not to mention the risks of cross-contamination and contamination” when creating your own formulas.
The baby’s mother “did everything she could,” added Chaparro, and she thought it was good for her baby, probably because the almond milk worked for her.
Chaparro said the baby was fine and was discharged from the hospital after a few days of formula feeding.
But the experience made Chaparro “realize how deeply ingrained these dietary messages are in our culture, and how we listen to them and sometimes broadcast them to our children and families. “This is where I think, ‘This could be really dangerous.'”
Doctors say diluting the mixture is also dangerous.
Other parents recently turned to online homemade formula recipes due to last year’s formula shortages.
His East Texas emergency room doctor, Dr. Owais Durrani, previously told Insider of the aftermath he witnessed firsthand, including lethargy and convulsions.
In some cases, parents dilute the formula to extend its shelf life, but this can offset the electrolyte balance and lead to sodium depletion in the infant, he says. Blood volume decreases, blood pressure drops, and circulating oxygen levels can drop, which can be life-threatening.
“Formulas are actually just as tightly regulated as prescription medications to make sure your baby’s kidneys, liver and electrolytes are developing, and everything else is very well balanced. he said..he.
“They aren’t as resilient as adults who are in the sun for 12 hours and become dehydrated. For the most part, we’re still fine, but that’s not the case with children,” Durrani added. Every electrolyte, every ingredient, every mineral in the formula is very important.”
If faced with a shortage, Durrani advised parents to switch to other brands available if possible, or ask their pediatrician or local hospital for a sample of the formula.
“We are here to help. We are not going to refuse a hungry child in the emergency room. We will make sure there is some plan when this child is released,” Durrani said. “But don’t use other options as they can lead to life-threatening problems.”