Thu, Mar-14-02, 08:12
|
 |
Forum Founder
Posts: 37,261
|
|
Plan: LC, GF
Stats: 241/186/140
BF:
Progress: 54%
Location: Eastern ON, Canada
|
|
Low-carbing, in the sense that you're reducing carbohydrate intake below what's recommended by the Food Pyramid, is a good idea for ALL children's good health. If your child is overweight, LC will especially be helpful.
Atkins suggests that his strict program, including Induction level of 20g carbs per day for 2 weeks, is safe. Carb Addicts does have a special program just for kids and teens. And Protein Power also has suggestions for kids as well. In all cases, it's really important to make sure that your child is consuming adequate protein -- Their metabolic needs are way higher than an adult.
The Drs Eades of Protein Power have this to say about kids and low-carbing:
Quote:
Is this program safe for a 12-year-old child?
Yes, with some modifications. And with qualifications, depending on whether the child is of normal weight and looking for a healthy diet or overweight and needing to make a correction. An excessively over weight adolescent or teen should be evaluated by an endocrine specialist to be certain there aren’t any hormonal disturbances or even benign pituitary gland tumors contributing to the weight problem. If there are no contributing problems, the child could begin a modified Phase II program, deriving calories from lean protein, good-quality fat, and about 60-100 grams of carbohydrate per day, mainly from low-starch vegetables and fruit.
Additional calories, if necessary, should come from protein and fat, not carbohydrate. Growing children (and interestingly enough, the elderly) need more protein per pound of lean body weight than adults. Calculate their protein need based on activity and rate their activity level as one activity category higher than their actual level of exercise. Normal weight children need extra protein and good fat, but can tolerate in the neighborhood of 120-150 grams of carbohydrate daily. It should come mainly from low-starch vegetables and fruits, but a modest amount of starch is acceptable. We would still recommend that you limit or avoid sugar in all its forms.
http://eatprotein.com/answers9.html#9g
|
Atkins has some excellent suggestions listed at his official website. Here's the page on Child and Adolescent Health.
Carbohydrate Addicts has a program for kids, you can read about it here.
Hope this is helpful. 
Doreen
|