Personal training blog

Eggs can make children taller

Just a single egg per day could help children to grow to a heathy height, shows a new medium term study in South America.

Regardless of how they were cooked, the Ecuadorian study showed that daily eggs gave infants a boost and prevented stunting over the critical 1st two years of a child’s life. Under sized children at this two year stage rarely regain normal stature.

According to WHO (World Health Organisation) 155 million children are too short for their age, due to poor nutrition and infections.

The experiment was staged in rural highlands of Ecuador, where scientists gave infants aged between 6 and 9 months old free eggs. Of the 160 children, only half of then received their daily egg while the others were monitored for comparison. Weekly visits were made to the families to ensure that the regime was being maintained and that no allergy problems had arisen.

Although the “egg” group contained more relatively short children compared to the “non egg” group at the beginning of the trial, they experienced 47% less stunting. The leader of the study, Ms Lora Lannotti said:

“We were surprised by just how effective this intervention proved to be.

“And what’s great is it’s very affordable and accessible for populations that are especially vulnerable to hidden hunger or nutritional deficiency.”

She said eggs were great food for young children with small stomachs.

“Eggs contain a combination of nutrients, which we think is important.”

Academics in the UK warned that eggs should not be introduced into the diet of infants before 4 months old, but were also not surprised that the eggs had helped. Professor Mary Fewtrell, head of nutrition at the Royal College of Paediatrics said:

“Egg is a good nutritious complementary food that can be introduced as part of a varied diet once the mother decides to start complementary feeding – never before four months.” The British Nutrition Foundation also approved of eggs for the very young, but added:

“While eggs are a nutritious food to include, it’s very important that young children have a variety of foods in their diets. Not only is this necessary to get all the vitamins and minerals they need, but also to allow them to become familiar with a wide range of tastes and textures. A range of protein-rich foods should be provided when feeding young children, which can include eggs but can also feature beans, pulses, fish, especially oily fish, meat and dairy products.”