Information on choking in children

Citation

Blades, M. (2012), "Information on choking in children", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 42 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2012.01742aaa.001

Information on choking in children

Article Type: Editorial From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 42, Issue 1

Sadly over the years I have heard of (and indeed experienced) small children choking, which is not only life threatening but also devastating for families. While it is often accepted that items like boiled sweets, gobstoppers and nuts should not be given to young children, in today’s busy lives with the emphasis on healthy eating it is not always realised that grapes, cherry tomatoes, popcorn, thickly spread peanut butter and sausages can also be a risk. Such foods should be cut into smaller pieces and peanut and nut butters given as a thin spread.

When the awful situation of choking does occur then knowing what to do is vital so at a recent meeting I was very interested to see a film, which clearly demonstrates procedures. In “Popcorn” from St John’s Ambulance (which is on You Tube), a girl starts choking in a popcorn advert, surprising a cinema audience. The film shows the importance of first aid and how accidents, like choking, can happen anywhere, at any time. The heroine of the event saves the girl by a really firm slap on her back which clearly demonstrates the force that is needed and what to do if a child chokes.

This edition of Nutrition & Food Science includes a range of papers with a major focus on food and food safety and food science.

The paper on changes in knowledge, attitudes and practices among coronary patients is fascinating as having experienced a life threatening problem one would expect people to adapt their diet to a more prudent one.

Effect of frozen storage on baby corn provides us with information, which shows how freezing does preserve a reasonable proportion of the nutrients while also acting as an invaluable process for preserving baby corn.

Three papers are on various aspects of herbs, which are now increasingly used in a variety of dishes reflective of different international cuisines. Looking around my local supermarket at various ready-made dishes in chilled or frozen forms most contain various herbs.

“Can sanitisers reduce the microbial load of coriander leaves?” shows how sanitisers can be useful in producing safe coriander leaves for use in Indian style dishes rather than simply just washing the leaves in tap water. The nutrient composition of mint powder demonstrates the variety of nutrients – mainly minerals retained in dried mint and that the more gentle shade drying process was the best. “Antioxidant profile in north eastern India: traditional herbs” showed an interesting and invaluable range of antioxidants were found in 11 different plants used as herbs.

The paper on the oxidatative stability of soybean oil covers information on how stable this oil is and its value in cooking various items and that adding extracts of mushrooms can prevent degradation due to heating.

Mabel Blades