PKD Life - Spring 2022 - 8

ALEXANDRA PAVLOVA/GETTY IMAGES
THE KID ZONE
Age s & Stage s
Nutrition
Know-How
Parents can help their kids
eat-and drink-a healthy,
balanced diet.
By Beth Levine
M aking sure your child consumes a
Get vitamins from food
healthy diet is an important task
for all parents, but especially when your
child has PKD. " With any complex medical
diagnosis, we want to make sure the
children are getting enough of the vitamins
and minerals they need to help build
up the immune system and to ensure
proper growth, " says Merideth Miller,
R.D., C.S.P., L.D., advanced practice nutrition
support dietitian at Cleveland Clinic
Children's. " If they're not eating a variety
of food or if they're following a plan that's
more restricted than we would normally
recommend, they may experience more
growth restriction. "
For Lindsay Roper, of Orem, Utah, the
main concern is that her 5-year-old daughter,
Sadie, stays hydrated. Sadie has ARPKD
and needs to drink 64 ounces of water a day
to prolong her kidney function for as long
as possible. " As you can probably imagine,
getting a 5-year-old to drink takes up a lot
of my time, " says Roper, who also has a
2½-year-old and another child on the way.
Try these tips to help ensure your child is
eating and drinking properly:
rather than supplements
whenever possible. Foods will
give children other important
nutrients such as fi ber, phytochemicals,
and antioxidants that
they might not get from a multivitamin.
" For children who are
picky eaters, I will recommend
the multivitamin but strongly
urge food fi rst, " Miller says.
Don't restrict food unless
a doctor recommends it. " If we
restrict too soon, sometimes it
can lead to food battles and poor
growth, " Miller says.
Make it a game. Roper
never makes drinking water into
a battle of wills. She also never
tries to scare Sadie by telling her
that if she doesn't drink, she may
have to have a kidney transplant
sooner. " I don't want fear to be a
motivator for her. I want her to
feel there are steps that she can
take to be as healthy as she can, "
Roper says.
Instead, Roper tries to make
drinking fun: She has an app on
her phone where Sadie waters
a plant when she has a certain
amount of water. She has also used
sticker charts and a chart where
Sadie writes down what she's
drinking. " She is very proud that
she can do that now, " Roper says.
Try rewards that aren't
sweets. You don't have to totally
restrict sugar unless your doctor
says so, but try not to fall into the
trap of " if you eat this, you can
have a cookie. " Instead, Roper will
buy a new juice fl avor, a new water
bottle or Dixie cups with diff erent
patterns. " We try to mix things up
a little bit, " she says.
Roper has found a surprising
perk for her and her husband if
they get Sadie to properly hydrate.
" When we haven't been as good
about keeping up on her fl uid
goals, she usually is a lot more
tired and grouchy. So, besides the
long-term health benefi ts, there's
some more immediate benefi ts for
us as parents to help keep my child
happy. That's motivating to me
when it gets hard, " she says.
*
8
TO FIND ADDITIONAL SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE, VISIT PKDCURE.ORG/CHAPTER/PARENTS
http://www.PKDCURE.ORG/CHAPTER/PARENTS
PKD Life - Spring 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PKD Life - Spring 2022
