Both children and adults suffer from headaches from time to time, usually when they are sick, such as with a cold or the flu. Migraine headaches, once thought to be a problem only among adults, are now being diagnosed more and more in younger age groups. In fact, up to 5 percent of grade-school-aged children and about 20 percent of adolescents and teens suffer from migraine headaches.

Most migraines have some sort of trigger. There are many different known triggers for migraines, including biological, environmental, and nutritional. Food and food additives are common in the Standard American Diet and can trigger migraine attacks. Some known triggers are:

• processed, canned, or cured meats
• certain types of beans
• aged cheese, buttermilk, cottage cheese, and/or sour cream
• onions
• caffeine
• aspartame
• nuts
• monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• chocolate or cocoa

Completely preventing migraines may not be possible, however, there are many different things you can do to control the frequency and severity of them. These are:

• Encourage a healthy diet.
• Do not skip meals
• Eat healthy snacks
• Limit anxiety or stress
• Keep a food diary to help track what your child ate on the day or days prior to a migraine. Try eliminating the common trigger foods listed above.
• Work to improve your child’s overall mental health.
• Encourage moderate daily exercise.
• Make sure your child is properly hydrated throughout the day.