>
> Date:    Wed, 17 Sep 1997 11:11:24 -0700
> From:    D T MacAULAY <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: too little fat
>
> My five year old daughter is asthmatic and allergic to milk,eggs and
> most nuts. A nutritionist told me that a child this age should be
> getting thirty percent of her calorie intake from fats. I am certain
> doesn't get close to this amount.  So far she has hated every soy and
> rice beverage we've tried, however I do bake with them.  I also add
> extra canola oil to my waffles and pancakes.  I would appreciate any
> suggestions for healthy fat sources.
>
> Darlene
>

Darlene -

There's already been some good suggestions for your daughter - I think
all of us who are dealing with toddlers and food allergies worry about
this!  I'm vegetarian, so I also try to get non-meat fat sources for
my daughter.  I do give her chicken and fish (she doesn't care for beef, yet),
since she's allergic to most vegetarian protein sources.

My ideas for fat are:
1. olive oil on everything - pasta, potatoes, veggies.
2. Margarine (dairy-free) on things where olive oil doesn't work - graham
   crackers, rice cakes, bread, rice (olive oil tastes too strong to work
   with rice, IMO).
3. Bake all the traditional high-fat foods that we've been avoiding ourselves
   for years.  Look at an old zuchinni bread recipe, for example!  I generally
   use canola or safflower oil for these - and Alyssa loves mini muffins and
   quick breads of all kinds.  Good way to sneak in veggies, too.
4. Salmon is a favorite for Alyssa, and a high-fat & high protein fish.
5. Tofu - if you don't have soy allergy - Alyssa has just started eating this
   again, she was borderline allergic for a couple of years,but seems to
   tolerate it OK now.

The soy & rice milks we get here (in health-nut-city, Boulder Colorado) are all
low-fat, anyway, so they don't add much at all to her diet, except a bit of
protein, and doing the cereal thing with her friends.

This seems to be working well for Alyssa - she's almost 3, and still short for
her age, but her weight has been increasing regularly all summer.  She's healthy
and growing, which is what counts.  I honestly don't obsess about it near as
much as I used to!

Laurie