Transcription:
Is Keto Safe for Kids?

Alyne Ellis (Host):  This is Children’s Health Checkup where we answer parents’ most common questions about raising healthy and happy kids. chances are you’ve heard the buzz about the ketogenic diet, but is this diet safe for children and teenagers? I’m Alyne Ellis and here to tell us more is Melissa Fossier, a Registered Dietician at Children’s Health. First off, Melissa, what can you eat on the keto diet?

Melissa Fossier, RD (Guest):  So, the ketogenic diet is a very high fat diet and it restricts a nutrient called carbohydrates. So, what we want to do with the keto diet is eat high fat foods and that would include butter, different types of oils, heavy cream, avocado. This popular diet doesn’t restrict protein foods so it would include food such as high fat meats, bacon, sausage, eggs are included, some nuts and seeds. Usually leafy green vegetables are allowed as well.

Host:  But no fruit.

Melissa:  No fruit. Right. The no list I guess would be our carbohydrate foods which would be breads, rice, cereal, pasta, fruits, any sort of sweets, anything sugary, juice. So, it definitely restricts a lot of different foods that we’re commonly used to eating.

Host:  Once we get on this diet, our bodies go into a state of ketosis and what is that?

Melissa:  Yeah, so carbohydrates break down into something called glucose and that’s the body’s preferred source of energy. With someone following a ketogenic diet, the body may not have enough glucose for energy so what it does is it turns – it uses fat which breaks down into ketones for energy. So, the build up of ketones in the blood is what leads to ketosis. So, basically the body is just shifting energy sources. It is no longer using glucose. It is using ketones. It can be dangerous because ketones are acidic and this diet can be a little bit scary if it’s not monitored, actually pretty dangerous if not monitored by an epileptologist or your primary care doctor, pediatrician, a dietician should be involved too. Just because of some side effects that can occur while following this type of diet.

Host:  So, now you definitely do not recommend this diet for teens and for children and why is that?

Melissa:  There’s lots of reasons I wouldn’t recommend it. First, I guess, just in general, I wouldn’t recommend putting a child on any sort of diet. It doesn’t teach healthy lifestyle habits. It’s something that’s not sustainable long-term. Most diets usually take away a food group in this case the ketogenic diet is taking away carbohydrates like I mentioned. And that’s just not something that we want to do for a very long time if at all. And so, those are just some things but then, when someone is following the ketogenic diet; there are several side effects that can occur such as not receiving enough vitamins and minerals and their growth can be impaired because of that. And then we can get back into the ketones. Those are acidic so we can have electrolyte imbalances in our body. We can become dehydrated. We can have some nausea, vomiting, constipation. There are just different potential adverse side effects with the diet that we really need to be cautious about. And that’s just some of the reasons why I just don’t recommend it for a sort of weightloss diet especially for children and teenagers.

Host:  But with kids in particular and teenagers; there’s another reason too and that is that it sort of messes with their ability to concentrate. Is that correct?

Melissa:  When your body is just shifting into this state of ketosis; it’s just something that’s not I guess you could say normal and so, your body just starts to kind of freak out. It just wonders what’s going on and so you feel lethargic, you feel very tired, you feel irritable and kids are in school and they need to be learning, they need to be concentrating in their studies and whenever you’re not feeling great because of the foods you are missing in your diet; then that can definitely affect how their school performance is or even athletic performance as well.

Host:  So, are there any children or teenagers that you would recommend this diet for?

Melissa:  Yes. There are. And that would be several different conditions. So, one specifically there is certain metabolic conditions that can’t use glucose for energy, so they need the ketogenic diet. They need that fat to be their energy source. And some of those conditions are called pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency, glut1 deficiency. So, kids who have that metabolic condition, they require the ketogenic diet. And then also if there are any kids or teenagers or even adults who have uncontrolled seizures, the diet may be a good option. They may be a good candidate for it but every child, every person needs to come in for lab work. Like we need to make sure that the diet is appropriate for them because of so many potential adverse side effects that can happen while on the diet. So, that’s why anytime a diet may seem like a good idea; you definitely need to be seeing your pediatrician or primary care physician and just checking in with them to seek appropriate medical advice.

Host:  So, you do have though some other advice to give us in terms of kids and teenagers who need to lose weight and what would your list be on how to recommend they go about doing that?

Melissa:  Yeah, honestly, I feel like we’ve kind of all heard it before, right like we know about fruits and vegetables and not eating junk food or fast foods but really it comes down to each family. It’s just so individualized by family because there is so many different factors that can affect whether they are choosing healthier foods or whether they are not. So, really, it’s just I think coming to see a dietician that can work on you one on one and spend time talking to you and your child about what changes can be made specifically for them to decrease the fast foods or to be more active or limit the processed foods that are in the home. How to increase more vegetables in the meals or to get kids to try vegetables. There’s just different ways that I think a dietician could help each child or each family.

Host:  And staying positive and not just focusing on the scale itself.

Melissa:  Definitely, yes. It’s not about the number. It’s not always about the number. We are all different shapes and sizes and that’s something that should be really stressed. You don’t want to create this fixation on the number on the scale. Because that’s not what it’s about.

Host: One more thing, although a child’s primary care physician is the best place to help, Children’s Health has a team of dietitians that can help as well?

Melissa:  Yes, definitely. We have a nutrition clinic at Children’s Health that has several dieticians that can work with families very closely to again, just help with any diet changes that need to be made or that are recommended for your child’s health and not restricting certain foods that our body actually needs.

Host:  Thank you so much Melissa for this valuable information on the keto diet and diets in general. Melissa Fossier is a Registered Dietician at Children’s Health. For more information on this topic please go to www.childrens.com/healthyweight. Thank you for listening to this episode of Children’s Health Checkup. If you found this podcast helpful, please rate and review it and share this episode with your friends and family. And please follow Children’s Health in the social media channels.