What Your Children Eat Affects How Fast They Learn

“My children are both into sports and I really needed a milk that would support their needs,” Danica Sotto-Pingris said at the recent launch of Similac GainSchool.

Danica shared the stage with experts Dr. Jose Rodolfo Dimaano Jr. and Dr. Ria de Guzman, and host Christine Jacob-Sandejas discussing the importance of proper nutrition in kids’ brain development and overall health, particularly their immune system.

Here are the four most important points of their talk:

Dr. Jose Rodolfo Dimaano Jr., Dr. Ria de Guzman, Danica Sotto-Pingris, and host Christine Jacob-Sandejas at the Similac GainSchool launch

1. A healthy child develops better. 

According to Dr. de Guzman, good nutrition is essential especially for the first five years of your child’s life—when billions of neurons and synapses in the brain develop. “When your child is sick, the nutrients are used to fight the illness. If she’s healthy, the nutrients [that] go into her body [are used for the] brain’s development and growth,” she explained.“Essential nutrients such as lutein, natural vitamin E and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) promote faster learning, while HMO (human milk oligosaccharides) helps strengthen immunity.”

2. Frequent illnesses translate into fewer learning opportunities. 

When children are sickly, they miss school and the chance to explore the world around them. “Whatever gains the child may have from being in a good and safe environment and from good genes inherited from the parents will be greatly reduced if there is repeated exposure to illness and poor health,” said Dr. Dimaano.

Mommy Danica shares her experience with Similac GainSchool.

3. A healthy gut means better health and brain development.

“My daughter drinks Similac GainSchool. Before that, we tried other kinds of milk but she would always get tummy issues,” Danica said. HMO helps improve gut health and helps reduce allergic reactions. Dr. Dimaano explained: “HMO helps strengthen the immune system by nourishing the good bacteria in the gut, where 70 percent of the immune system exists. HMO is a prebiotic, which helps keep the gut healthy. Children who take products with HMO and nucleotides have 66 percent less respiratory infections and 63 percent less diarrhea.” 

4. Good nutrition at a young age will give them a better start at life.

“One of the main pillars of pediatric health is cognition, which consists of learning, acquiring knowledge, and performing executive functions,” Dr. de Guzman pointed out.

Danica, who’s also a chef, shared creative ways to incorporate growing-up milk into a child’s diet. ”You can use it to make ice candy with fruits, make it into smoothies, sprinkle on top of ice cream, or even to make pastillas. Just add condensed milk to it and mix,” she said. “I’m really grateful to have Similac GainSchool. I can’t remember the last time my daughter was even sick since she started taking it.”

Similac GainSchool is a growing-up milk that helps strengthen children’s immune system and helps in their overall development. For more information about it and Similac’s other products, visit Similac GainSchool’s website.

Similac GainSchool is a growing-up milk drink for children over 3 years old and is not intended as a breastmilk substitute.