“The child is not a small adult because, precisely due to his constitution, he grows and to grow he needs some functions of his organism to function more. For example, he absorbs nutrients much better, but also contaminants, better and much more of an adult”. This was said by Ruggiero Francavilla, full professor in Pediatrics, Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine (Dim) and head of the simple operational unit of Gastroenterology, hepatology and pediatric nutrition of the University Hospital Polyclinic of Bari, Giovanni XXIII pediatric hospital, today during a meeting in the Senate in which nutrition experts and institutions discussed the best feeding model for children aged 0 to 3 years, with the aim of developing national guidelines in the name of ‘Made in Italy’ as soon as possible.
“The child – explains the specialist – has a kidney that does not function 100%, so he is practically unable to expel many contaminants. He also has a liver that does not metabolize well, so it takes longer to eliminate them. In relation to its volume , a child eats and drinks much more than an adult, because the quantities in relation to his weight are certainly greater. This means that, when he eats a food that contains pesticides, these remain in his body, therefore the level of contamination of his body. rises. In the pediatric field, we have windows of vulnerability. We intervene badly in these moments, the child could have long-term problems. We must therefore transform windows of vulnerability into windows of opportunity, acting correctly at this stage of life to ensure future health.”
In this regard, “a study in the Lancet on neurodevelopmental problems, which are occurring due to the slow absorption of substances that should not enter our body – illustrates Francavilla – shows that in the United States, due to pesticides, in 5 years we lose 17 million IQ points. These data make us understand how important it is to know what we feed our children today, no one will see the effects of this contamination starting from pregnancy or in the first years of life, the negative effects may manifest themselves in the following 20-30 years”.
“Organic is certainly a good starting point, but it does not guarantee the quality required for baby food. Baby food, in fact, offers an absolute guarantee, since checks are carried out on both the finished product and the raw material. It is therefore essential promote an Italian supply chain dedicated to children. It has been shown that, by comparing a package of pasta labeled as ‘Italy’ with one indicating ‘EU/non-EU origin’, the probability of finding pesticides is much higher in non-Italian products. The possibility of having a product completely free of contaminants is 60% if the origin is Italian, but drops to 20% if the origin is EU or non-EU” adds Francavilla. “It often happens that mothers tell me that their child eats organic – he says – I must clarify that, unfortunately, organic is a guarantee of the process: no pesticides must be used during production, but nothing prevents that, if next to the organic field there is a field treated with pesticides, these can also contaminate the organic product. No one will check the presence of pesticide residues in the organic product, and this becomes even more problematic when considering natural contaminants, such as heavy metals 1881/2006, establishes that children, up to 3 years old, should have a completely different diet compared to adults, meaning zero pesticides, i.e. below the detection limit of the instruments, 3 times lower mycotoxins than the adult population and absence of heavy metals – explains the professor – However, if a biological field is contaminated by heavy metals, these metals, which remain in the soil for long periods, can also contaminate the final product”.
The same “also applies to mycotoxins, produced by fungi that develop mainly in rainy and humid areas such as Canada – specifies the expert – These mycotoxins can contaminate wheat and are resistant to heat, therefore they remain in the final product. Organic , therefore, it does not protect against all this. It has been shown that organic products reduce the concentration of pesticides by 40%, but for children it is much more useful: they cannot receive pesticides and must consume foods with mycotoxins at much lower levels. A study by Professor Alberto Ritieni tested various products and found that 25% of those intended for normal consumption had mycotoxin values unsuitable for children, and some – he concludes – were even promoted for children’s consumption”.