Buying organic foods for your kids will probably lower their exposure to drug-resistant bacteria as well as pesticides, but whether spending the extra money provides significant benefits is less clear.

The American Academy of Pediatrics published a guidance for parents through its peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics this week. The authors stressed that the most important contributor to good health during childhood, and throughout life, is to eat a wide variety of foods, whether they be conventional or organic.

Most of us know what we should be eating – a wide variety of fruit and veggies, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and a varied source of proteins foods. It is no different for children. What about organic food? Would switching just to organic produce be worth the extra expense?

As background information, the authors explained that the organic foods market has grown from $3.5 billion in 1996 to $28 billion in 2010 in the USA. Shoppers can today find organic produce in specialty shops and normal supermarkets. Several claims are made by organic food producers and marketers, only some of which are standardized and regulated.

Most lay people believe that organic foods are more nutritious than conventionally grown produce. However, there is no clear scientific research to support this belief. Most studies have shown no significant difference in vitamin, mineral or carbohydrate content.

Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine reported in Annals of Internal Medicine in September 2012 that overall, organic foods are not nutritionally better than conventional foods. They added that organic foods are not safer regarding bacterial contamination either.

To offer guidance to parents, primary care physicians and pediatricians, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatricians) carried out an extensive analysis of scientific evidence regarding organic foods, including fruit, vegetables, dairy products and meat.

The authors explained that organic and conventional foods have approximately the same levels of:

Organic foods have much lower levels of:

  • Pesticides – this may be important for children, because many pesticides accumulate in the human body. If one starts accumulating them early on, there is a greater chance of reaching excess levels during a lifetime.

  • Drug-resistant bacteria – for a food to be called organic, the farmer is not allowed to provide his livestock with non-therapeutic antibiotics. In other words, you can use antibiotics to treat animal sickness, but not as a preventive measure. Scientists from the University of Maryland School of Public Health reported in Environmental Health Perspectives (August 10, 2011 edition) that poultry farms that go organic have significantly fewer antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Most environmentalists agree that organic farming has a smaller environmental impact than conventional farming. These guidelines did not attempt to suggest what benefits this might have for children’s health.

In order to know whether organic foods provide long-term health, we will have to wait and see – not enough time has passed for us to be sure. Experts say there is currently no compelling evidence which shows that organic foods are better in the long-term than conventional produce. However, nobody has carried out and concluded any large, long-term studies.

No studies have shown any detrimental or disease-promoting effects from organic foods, either.

Co-lead author, Janet Silverstein, MD, FAAP, a member of the AAP Committee on Nutrition, said:

“What’s most important is that children eat a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat-free dairy products, whether those are conventional or organic foods. This type of diet has proven health benefits. Many families have a limited food budget, and we do not want families to choose to consume smaller amounts of more expensive organic foods and thus reduce their overall intake of healthy foods like produce.”

The AAP report, “Organic Foods: Health and Environmental Advantages and Disadvantages” was released on Monday, October 22nd at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans.

The AAP says the guidelines outline the research that has been carried out on organic food, including compelling evidence of lower pesticide exposure and less contamination of livestock with drug-resistant bacteria.

Co-author, said Joel Forman, MD, FAAP, a member of the AAP Council on Environmental Health, said:

“At this point, we simply do not have the scientific evidence to know whether the difference in pesticide levels will impact a person’s health over a lifetime, though we do know that children – especially young children whose brains are developing – are uniquely vulnerable to chemical exposures.”

Families can be selective when choosing organic produce if cost is a factor, Dr. Forman explained. There are a number of conventionally grown fruit and vegetables today which are cultivated and picked in relatively low pesticide environments.

Milk – no benefits, as yet, have been detected from buying organic milk. The authors say milk must be pasteurized in order to minimize the risk of making children ill. Drinking raw milk raises the risk of becoming infected with E. coli, Brucella, Compylobacter, and Salmonella.

As mentioned earlier, buying meat from organic farms exposes children to much lower levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect people. Large studies should be conducted to determine whether hormonal exposure from eating meat and drinking milk has any detrimental effect on children’s health.

Dr. Forman said “Pediatricians want families to have the information they need to make wise food choices. We hope that additional research will improve our understanding of these issues, including large studies that measure environmental exposures and neurodevelopment.”

According to AAP:

“Organic farming uses an approach to growing crops and raising livestock that avoids synthetic chemicals, hormones, antibiotic agents, genetic engineering, and irradiation.”

Written by Christian Nordqvist