Spirulina for Children

E.I.D. PARRY (INDIA) LIMITED Parry Nutraceuticals Division Dare House, 4th Floor, # 234, N.S.C. Bose Road, Parrys Corner, Chennai – 600001, India Tel: + 91-44-2530 6789 / 2530 6818 / 19 / 22, Fax: +91-44- 25306558 E-mail: [email protected] www.parrynutraceuticals.com

Spirulina for Children Much has been written about the health benefits of Spirulina. Of all the humans that can benefit from taking Spirulina, children can benefit the most. Children love Spirulina and it is safe and highly nutritious for them. Children of all ages can eat Spirulina in complete safety and assimilate its nutrients without difficulty. Even malnourished children with diminished capacity for nutrient absorption could assimilate Spirulina and recover from malnutrition. Spirulina can builds up tissue growth, improve vision, strengthens body's immune system there by improves resistance to chronic infections, ability to heal and ability to concentrate in children.

For Children, who are not able to swallow the capsules, the powder can be taken out of the capsules and can be mixed with honey and then can be given. The powder can also be mixed with fruit juice, butte milk, salads and convenient soups. The amount of Spirulina needed depends on metabolism degree to physical exertion, lifestyle, and an individual child's unique body needs. By starting with a small amount - 1 capsule/tablet or ¼ teaspoon - and gradually increasing until the optimal daily amount is found, children can enjoy the benefits of this super nutritious food from babyhood throughout their lives. (Children of all ages, including infants can be given 2gms of Spirulina / day). Spirulina is not a drug, but a natural food supplement, and is not habit forming. Its effects can be sustained by taking it regularly at approx. 2g / day. To see any benefits of Spirulina, it should be taken at least for 6-8 weeks.

An ISO 9001, ISO 14001, HACCP and cGMP certified Production facility


Some Studies on Spirulina in children world wide: The children of Chernobyl suffer radiation poisoning from eating food grown on radioactive soil. Their bone marrow is damaged, rendering them immuno-deficient. Radiation damaged bone marrow can not produce normal red or white blood cells. The children are anaemic and suffer from terrible allergic reactions. Children fed just five grams in tablets each day made dramatic recoveries within six weeks. As little a ten grams a day brings rapid recovery from malnutrition, especially for infants. Spirulina was given to undernourished children in Mexico, and adults with beneficial results. It was more than 10% of their diet and no adverse effects were noted. In Togo, rapid recovery of malnourished infants was reported in a village clinic. Children given 10-15gms per day mixed with millet, water and spices, recovered in several weeks. In India, large scale studies with preschool children showed carotenes in Spirulina helped children recover from symptoms of Vitamin A deficiency. In Romania, tablets were given to patients with nutritional deficiencies in a Bucharest municipal clinic. Patients had suffered weight loss in conjunction with chronic pancreatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, anaemia, diabetes and other symptoms. The patients gained weight and their health improved. In China, Spirulina was prescribed at Nanjing Children’s Hospital as a “baby nourishing formula” with baked barley sprouts. 27 of 30 children aged two to six recovered in a short period from bad appetite, night sweat, diarrhea and constipation. The researchers concluded this is a genuine health food for children. In another study, children deficient in the essential mineral zinc, made more rapid recovery with high zinc Spirulina than a standard zinc supplement.



Indian Studies: Malnourishment: The study among 20 malnourished children in the age group of six years, supplementation of Spirulina at 1g/day for three months showed that there was an increase in serum haemoglobin level and serum protein (1). Change in the academic performance and intelligence level of the children was also seen in the Spirulina supplemented group.

A follow-up study among 146 malnourished children for a period of one year indicated that apart from the increase in serum protein and serum albumin level, most of the clinical symptoms like pale conjunctiva showing higher incidence of anemia, and symptoms like fever, cough, eye and skin infection were reduced after the Spirulina supplementation (2). Improvement of Vitamin- A Status:

Spirulina feeding among 5000 rural pre-school children

with 1g/day reduced the prevalence of Bitot’s spot and prevented the occurrence of severe form of Vitamin A deficiency - Corneal xerosis (3). Spirulina supplementation increased the serum retinol levels and reduced the prevalence of B complex deficiency in the preschool children.

In another study among preschool children of 3-5 years of age, supplementation of Spirulina at 2g/day for a period of 30 days revealed that the bioavailability of carotenes from Spirulina was comparable to other plant sources (4).

Increase in serum betacarotene level from deficient level to a range close to normal individual level was seen in a study among 30 pre-school children with the supplementation of Spirulina at 2g/day for a period of 30days (5).



1. 2.

3. 4.

5.

Fathima Kauser, Salma Parveen. Effect of Spirulina as a Nutritional Supplement on malnourished children. Ind. J. Nutr.Dietet.2001; 38:269-273 Salma Parveen. Spirulina as a nutritional supplement on malnourished children and its impact on their physical and cognitive development. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Madras, December 2002. Seshadri C.V. Large-scale nutritional supplementation with Spirulina alga (LSNS). Monograph Series on Engineering of Photosynthetic Systems, Vol. 36 1991-93 Vure Annapurna, Nisha Shah, Padbidri Bhaskaram, Mahtab Bamji S, Vinodini Reddy. Bioavailability of Spirulina Carotenes in Preschool Children. J. Clin. Biochem, Nutr., 1991; 10:145-151. Sindhu V. Effect of Supplementation of Spirulina on serum betacarotene levels of preschool children. M.Sc Thesis, Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh, January 1999.
