At the Save Our Children Wellness Revival, we had the absolute pleasure of hearing from the one and only Dr. Yemi Osinaike. A pediatrician who’s not just passionate about kids’ health, but ready to flip the script on everything we thought we knew about feeding them!
His session? Total mind-blower. He took us on a journey that busted all those “normal” ideas we’ve had about what’s actually good for our little ones.
Shout out to Eziaha for always challenging the norm! It’s no easy feat to rewire what many of us have accepted as “normal,” especially when it comes to something as important as what we feed our children.
So, let’s dive in! We’re kicking off a three-part series that you don’t want to miss, In this series, we’ll be unpacking his take on children’s nutrition—straight from his brilliant and easy-to-digest (pun intended!) talk.
Trust me, by the time we’re done, you’ll be seeing your kitchen pantry (and what’s on your child’s plate) with totally fresh eyes.
Dr. Osinaike, broke things down in 12 slides—short, sweet, and oh-so-enlightening. About the connection between diet and our children’s health. Here’s something that grabbed me right from the start:
“1 out of every 5 deaths globally is related to poor diet.” Yikes!
Yes, you read that right. One out of five! And you know what’s even scarier? This isn’t just about adults. It’s happening with our kids, too.
Dr. Osinaike, like the meticulous clinician he is, has been digging deep into the medical literature, He expected that in the developed world, issues like accidents, smoking, or drug abuse might be the leading causes of death, and guess what?
The data consistently tells the same sad story. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in a high-income country with fast food joints on every corner, or in places where access to quality food is scarce. The impact of poor diet is global.
Here’s where it gets interesting (and a little mind-bending): When you think of malnutrition, what’s the first image that pops into your head? Skinny, starving kids in far-off countries, right?
Well, guess what? Malnutrition isn’t just about being underweight.
There’s another side to the coin: overnutrition. Yup, you read that right. An obese child is just as malnourished as an undernourished, skinny one. Both extremes are unhealthy. So, whether it’s too little food or too much of the wrong food, both are serious issues.
Dr. Osinaike shared a story about a concerned mom who brought her seemingly healthy son to the clinic, worried he wasn’t growing as fast as his cousins. He looked healthy but wasn’t hitting the growth curve everyone else was. This kind of comparison happens all the time!
The poor mom was stressing because, in her mind, Many people would jump to the conclusion that she wasn’t feeding him enough. This common misconception—that bigger is always better—needs a total reboot!
Did you know the average weight for a 3-year-old is around 14kg? Let that sink in for a sec. So, maybe little Timmy’s doing just fine!
The Google Doctor Problem
Here’s another fun fact—one of the first battles Dr. Osinaike faces as a pediatrician isn’t actually with nutrition. It’s with Dr. Google. Parents often consult the internet first, arriving at appointments armed with The overwhelming amount of information that can lead to confusion and misinterpretation of what “healthy” really means.
Dr. Osinaike’s here to set the record straight. He’s seen it all, and trust me, the truth about nutrition is far more complex than your search engine will tell you.
That’s just the first part! You’re definitely going to want to stick around for parts 2 and 3, where Dr. Osinaike takes us deeper into the world of nutrition and insights on raising healthier kids. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it!
Watch the full video here.
