Should children eat animal liver?

This is an automatically translated article.

This article is expertly consulted by Master, Doctor Ngo Thi Oanh - Pediatrician - Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Ha Long International General Hospital.

1. Nutritional composition in animal liver

Liver is one of the types of animal organs that are said to contain many nutrients beneficial to health. If processed and eaten properly, animal liver can provide enough nutrients for the body.
The nutritional components found in animal liver include:
Vitamin A: The vitamin A content in animal liver is very abundant. Vitamin A plays a very important role for children in the growth process, helps children develop normally such as: participates in visual function, helps develop rod cells in the retina, from which children can see objects. in a place with low light; protect corneal epithelium, subcutaneous epithelium, mucosa..,; enhance immunity.. When vitamin A deficiency, children will be slow to grow, malnourished, suffer from night blindness, have dry skin disease, and are susceptible to bacterial infections. So vitamin A is very necessary for children, but do not abuse too much, because excess vitamin A causes liver toxicity. Iron and folic acid: The liver contains trace elements such as iron and folic acid. Children who drink breast milk exclusively, when they come to the weaning stage, if they do not supplement iron properly, they have a very high risk of iron deficiency, because the iron content in breast milk is low. Eating foods rich in iron and folic acid, in which animal liver is an example, helps children not to develop iron-deficiency anemia.

Vitamin D: Most foods contain very little vitamin D, but animal liver contains a lot of vitamin D. Vitamin D helps children maintain and build strong bones, participate in the immune process. .. Lack of vitamin D causes rickets, malnutrition, poor immunity. Other substances: Animal liver also contains beneficial micronutrients for children such as copper, zinc... In addition, animal liver also contains a lot of cholesterol. In addition to the nutritional components, the liver also contains substances that are detrimental to the body because the animal's liver is also the mechanism for detoxification, so there are many toxins that accumulate, when the animal is infected, the toxins of the virus. Bacteria or viruses also accumulate in the liver. So choosing to buy animal liver for children in a reputable place is also very important.

2. Should children eat animal liver?

As mentioned above, in animal liver there are many nutrients needed for the baby. So when children start to eat solid foods, they can eat animal liver.
Some dishes for babies such as:
Chicken liver porridge: Feeding your baby chicken liver by cooking porridge with rice and vegetables is also very good. Help children have a nutritious and delicious porridge, change the dishes every day. Pork liver porridge: There are many ways to cook pig liver porridge, pig liver contains a lot of iron, feeding children with pig liver helps to avoid iron deficiency anemia. In addition, children can eat foie gras, or some other animals. Porridge can be cooked or eaten whole by children who can chew it. However, there are things to pay attention to when feeding children with animal liver.

3. Notes when feeding children with animal liver

Animal liver can provide many essential nutrients, but besides that it also contains the risk of contamination of the body with toxins. Therefore, when feeding children with animal liver, it is necessary to pay attention to the following:
Should eat a variety of foods, even children who like to eat liver should not eat too often. Eating a variety of foods and not eating too often helps to provide enough other nutrients for children and not to be poisoned. Although vitamins A and D are very important and necessary, too much will cause toxicity and affect liver function. Animal organs contain high cholesterol and saturated fat, so it should be used in a balanced way. Adults with cardiovascular diseases and lipid metabolism disorders should not eat. Infected animals, toxins will accumulate in the liver, you should choose to buy animal liver at reputable addresses. To avoid the risk of affecting the health of children. Do not let children eat uncooked food, need to make sure that the food is cooked and boiled. Mothers can completely feed their children animal liver. But the feeding needs to pay attention to the above notes to be able to provide adequate nutrition without causing great harm to the baby's health.
If you are having problems in formulating a diet for your baby or have health problems in the process of feeding your baby solid food, you should go to a medical facility for advice from a specialist.

Besides, parents also need to supplement their children with essential micro-minerals such as zinc, lysine, chromium, selenium, vitamin B1, ... to fully meet the nutritional needs of children. The addition of these essential vitamins also supports digestion, enhances nutrient absorption, improves anorexia, and helps children eat well. Parents can simultaneously apply dietary supplements and functional foods derived from nature for easy absorption. The most important thing is that improving your baby's symptoms often takes a long time. Combining many types of functional foods at the same time or changing many types in a short time can make the baby's digestive system unable to adapt and completely not good. Therefore, parents must be really patient with their children and regularly visit the website vimec.com to update useful baby care information.