Low carb, keto for children

archersuz said:

Then IMHO you are not qualified to write "As for kids being picky.. who makes the food the kids or....?".

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I am however allowed an opinion.. just as valid as anyone else's. I don't think I have made any claims about being "qualified".
However when looking after other people' kids... they eat what I eat and what is put in front of them or they go without.

archersuz said:

That doesn't seem to be the opinion of GOSH

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Maybe because yet again most research is funded by drugs companies..... (I am also not convinced that a full "hardcore" keto diet is needed in all cases.)

bulkbiker said:

However when looking after other people' kids... they eat what I eat and what is put in front of them or they go without.

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For one meal or a few meals that is ok, but for life????
I have seen a child being starved to death, in this country in an affluent area.

archersuz said:

For one meal or a few meals that is ok, but for life????
I have seen a child being starved to death, in this country in an affluent area.

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Sorry but I don't see the relevance.. I can assure you no-one starves at my table... we had hubby's nephew for 3 weeks last year due to a passport mess up by his dad.. he has now converted the entire family to the delights of cheesy cauliflower mash. He was keto the whole time although I doubt he noticed.

ringi said:

But should diet not be used BEFORE drugs or at least at the same time, not waiting to see if the child does not respond to the drugs.

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Quite often there isn't time to mess about waiting to see if a child will or won't respond to drugs. Drugs save lives.

bulkbiker said:

He was keto the whole time although I doubt he noticed.

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You took my quotes out of context. If a child, and that being a 5 year old child, is a picky eater and won't eat keto food, then you can't not feed them something else.

archersuz said:

Quite often there isn't time to mess about waiting to see if a child will or won't respond to drugs. Drugs save lives.

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They kill quite a few people too though.. just for balance.
As indeed do doctors...

bulkbiker said:

They kill quite a few people too though.. just for balance.
As indeed do doctors...

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Yes I can't dispute that but epileptics need to go on medication first and foremost.
Once they are stabilised then other options can be considered.

archersuz said:

Quite often there isn't time to mess about waiting to see if a child will or won't respond to drugs. Drugs save lives.

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That way I said "or at the same time", as the doctors will reduce the drug dose if the child has no fits, so there is little to gain from not trying both together.

bulkbiker said:

They kill quite a few people too though.. just for balance.
As indeed do doctors...

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As indeed do inappropriate diets and / or a dogma thats dictates diet before drugs in all circumstance, just as dangerous as a dogma that says drugs before diet in all circustances

I think it would be the parents decision if they want to change their childs diet not the grandparent to try and lead them to a diet he thinks might be best for her that is for the parents and the child's medical team to decide and they may think a keto diet is totally unsuitable for a 5 years old.

Hi @IanD It depends on the type of seizures the child is experiencing, as there are a number of different types under the "epilepsy" umbrella.
Diet can be used but the ratio of fat/protein/ carbs are quite specific in order to control or reduce the seizures (e.g. focal seizures)

I would recommend you request a referral to the paediatric nutrition and dietetics department of either your local children's hospital or to a specialist paediatric neurology department.

IanD said:

Were moving to Peterchurch, Hereford, to be near family.

Our 5 yo granddaughter there suffers from epilepsy. I would like to lead her family in the direction of a keto diet, Has anyone experience with keto for children? She is not diabetic, thankfully. She's not a good eater, but she does enjoy cheese. Mum says she can't live on cheese & peanut butter. Poor girl had a fit & slumped face down into her porridge. I eat porridge - made with powdered nuts & topped with double cream.

I have used the low carb high fat diet for 10 years to restore my health after crippling diabetic neuropathy.

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Hi IanD - I read an article a while back about how the keto diet is used to help epilepsy and they had a case study of a young boy who had several fits a day. He had to go on a very strict keto diet, as the deeper in ketosis he was the more stable he became. I will see if i can find the link, if i do i will post it.

Out side of a very serious health condition such as epilepsy it must be difficult to get kids to stick to keto. They inevitably will want to eat with their friends and have the food their friends eat and enjoy crisps and sweets. But i think making good choices at home helps, and explaining the dangers of too much sugar will help them make better choices as they grow up.

Hope all goes will with your granddaughter!

For anyone concerned about youngsters on a low carb diet - the term 'keto' was not around 35 years ago - but I went through my first pregnancy after many years eating low carb foods to control my weight - I just ate unrestricted amounts all through the summer - he was a September baby. I was complemented on my lack of weight gain, he was over 9lb when born, very very strong and active, hardly slept, in the top ten percentile for weight gain a very happy healthy little fellow - blond curls poster child looks. Always tall and slender, happier to eat fruit than sweets, he is about 6 ft 3 or 4 - it is hard to tell from my height, almost a foot shorter. His wife gets pregnant if he grins at her mischievously - they have 4 children now and for the first two she was due to give birth in her finals week, and the week before their planned wedding date - I think that he got threatened with a trip to the vet if another one arrived inconveniently. His diet was not restricted - there was no need and he was growing like a weed, but the basic diet was always low carb foods with moderate amounts of carbs for the others in the family. Yes, his contemporaries always noticed that he did not eat loads of carbs - mostly because he was tucking into ham or chicken with no bread as the main part of his lunches.

I don't know much about epilepsy or keto diets but I do have the experience of having 2 daughters and I remember the difficulty of getting them to eat a "normal" diet when they were young. The idea of trying to get a small child to eat a keto diet sounds almost impossible. I can't be the only parent who was really pleased when their young children ate anything at all, however unsuitable. People, especially those without children say things like "don't give them any choice, they will eat when they are hungry enough", but you would need to be really hard-hearted to put that into practice. Young children like to be the same as their peers and if your child is the only one not allowed birthday cake or jelly at a party or has strange food in their lunchbox for reasons they are too young to understand, they are going to feel like a social pariah.

@Resurgam I don't have an issue with a child who eats low carb, and prefers fruit to sweets, but that is not keto as I understand it.

The problem is feeding children the “norm” we know is harmful, so we should just do it because of psychology - I get this arguement and dilemma. My children eat broccoli, spinach, meat, fish etc as we introduced these foods to their taste buds early on, many don’t do this and wonder why kids turn their noses up at the good stuff. They (my children) were also exposed to the modern rubbish, which I deeply regret as my eldest had to lose 8 kg as a result of our food ignorance around carbs. She now makes low carb decisions and provides direct dietary advice to girls at school and her football club; my best friend has asked if she will help his daughter.

For those who are ignorant of what carbs and sugar are doing to children, I wish them a quick education, I would question any parent who is educated in the 3 macronutrients and happily either sees their child overweight or feeds them garbage.