Summer, 6 million under 18s at the beach in 2 weeks, pediatrician appeals for ‘more fish on the menu’

2023-08-09 15:48:57

“There are around 6 million under 18s who will be at the beach in these two weeks around August 15th, even for just one day. Of these, 3 million are between 2 and 10 years old. The holiday these days can become an opportunity to paving the way for an increase in the consumption of fish by the little ones”. This is the appeal launched to families by the pediatrician Italo Farnetani, who warns against what he has repeatedly defined as a paradox for the Belpaese, so famous for its sea: “In Italy, kids eat too little fish. There is a very low consumption: at most once a week, including tuna in oil. We are far from the optimal intake which would include fish three times a week”, points out to time.news Salute the full professor of the Ludes-United Campus University of Malta.

The data on the movements of families with minors towards seaside resorts in recent days, based on surveys conducted on the Green Flag localities, the banner that indicates the child-friendly beaches chosen by paediatricians, for Farnetani can be the starting point for increasing the fish chapter in the children’s menus. “This opportunity should be exploited for all ages – he warns – even if the range between 2 and 10 years is the one in which the greatest results can be obtained because it is an age in which eating habits are not yet stabilized and the sea can be a great help and starting point to get the fish food accepted in the best possible way”.

The key, continues the expert, “is that the sea is great fun and the passion of children, who like water in every situation, even more when they can immerse themselves freely and almost live in it, enter into symbiosis with an environment of joyful fun, in which the sun also promotes a good mood, for both adults and children.This great love for the sea can go as far as their dishes.If children find some component of the sea at lunch and dinner , the enthusiasm of the morning will be projected into the meal. Up to the age of 5, to involve them, it will be necessary to make the children observe the link between the sea and what, arriving on their tables, becomes nourishment for them”, to make them grow. “From 6 to 10 years of age they will do this on their own and with even more conviction”. (continued)