Keto for Kids: Is It Safe and How to Start - On and Off Keto

The keto diet is utilized in children and adolescents under close medical supervision primarily to assist treat refractory epilepsy and brain cancer. Similar to any diet plan that limits one or more food groups, the keto diet may have particular negative effects. The risk of negative effects increases in kids and adolescents, as their growing bodies are more susceptible.

Medical guidance is necessary when the keto diet plan is used to help deal with epilepsy or cancer in children and adolescents. Without it, the danger of severe negative effects increases, exceeding any possible advantages. Thinking about the restrictive nature of the keto diet, the capacity for adverse results is high in children and teens.

Children are at a stage in their life in which they're growing at an increased rate, as well as establishing their food preferences. Throughout this essential time, sufficient nutrition is essential. Overly limiting Need More Info? of specific food or micronutrient groups, as is made with the keto diet plan, may impact growth and total health.

Provided the high rates of youth weight problems, many children might take advantage of a minimized carbohydrate consumption. However, the keto diet is too restrictive for the typical healthy, growing child (). Given the limiting nature of the keto diet, in addition to its possible effects on growth and food culture, it's not recommended for healthy kids.

Abiding by an extremely restrictive diet can cause unhealthy behaviors and substantially impact their relationship with food. These unhealthy habits might result in eating conditions, which prevail in the adolescent population (, ). Though one study suggests that the keto diet plan might work for weight reduction in teens, numerous other consuming patterns are less restrictive and simpler to follow in the long term, such as whole-foods-based diet plans (,, ).

While the keto diet can assist weight reduction, other eating patterns need less restriction and do not bring the risks related to the keto diet plan (). Unless a keto diet is advised and guided by a physician for medical functions, it's inappropriate for most kids and teenagers. Following a limiting diet plan like keto can lead to unhealthy behaviors surrounding food and might affect growth in children and teens.