We understand that getting your children, especially toddlers, to eat by enticing them with their favourite snacks and treats comes with far less resistance than getting them to eat a healthy meal packed with fresh veggies. Unfortunately, this is a battle children shouldn’t be equipped to win as they are too young to foresee the potential health implications later in life.
Healthier children will have more energy, sleep better, get ill less frequently and are likely to be healthier adults. Many of the supposed “preferences” kids have for fried foods, sweets and processed foods come from the diets given to them by their parents. Or simply the convenience of getting fast food.
Restaurants and tuck shops need to take accountability too. As kids, menus tend to only have unhealthy options like chicken nuggets, or pizza, or milkshakes.
Nobody is denying your children the right to an occasional treat, but it should be just that, at occasional luxury, not a stable diet.
Advise on putting together a healthy plate for your little one/s
Grains
There are two types of grains: whole grains and processed grains. Because whole grains include goods that employ the complete grain kernel, they are more nutritious. Oatmeal, whole-wheat flour, and brown rice are examples of whole grain goods. To increase shelf life and texture, refined grains are milled and treated many times. Many significant nutritional properties are lost during the refining of grains, therefore whole grains are usually a preferable choice. Cereal, tortillas, white bread, and white rice are examples of refined grains.
- Barley.
- Brown rice.
- Buckwheat.
- Bulgur (cracked wheat)
- Millet.
- Oatmeal.
- Popcorn.
- Whole-wheat bread, pasta or crackers.
Vegetables
The vegetable category includes any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice. Dark-green vegetables, starchy vegetables, red and orange vegetables, beans and peas, and other vegetables are divided into five subcategories and can be eaten fresh, boiled, dried, tinned, whole, juiced, or mashed. Because certain veggies are denser and more nutrient-dense than others, the portion size for each will vary depending on which class it belongs to. Organic, non-organic, and non-GMO vegetables are among the many subcategories of vegetables.
Fruit
The fruit category includes either fresh fruit or 100% fruit juice. Canned, frozen, dry, pureed, or juiced fruit is all options. Because of the fruit’s high sugar content, it’s best to create a nutritional balance depending on age, activity level, time of day, and gender. Fresh fruit, like vegetables, is divided into organic, non-organic, and non-GMO categories.
Protein & Dairy
Foods that are largely protein sources, such as meat, poultry, beans, peas, eggs, shellfish, and nuts, make up the protein food category. It is recommended that your child’s meat and poultry sources be lean and low fat. The dairy food category includes all fluid milk products and goods manufactured mostly from milk. Milk, yoghurt, and cheese are examples of dairy products. Dairy has been a contentious food group in recent years, and as a result, numerous nutritionally equivalent dairy replacements have been introduced with higher nutritional value. As a result, fortified dairy-alternative products including soy, almond, and cashew milk and nut cheeses are included in this category.
- Meat
- Poultry
- Fish
- Eggs
- Nuts
- Beans
- Dairy-alternative products
How to make sure your child stays healthy
Without assistance, direction, instruction, and a routine, it can be difficult to guarantee that your child makes appropriate eating choices and maintains a healthy weight. As youngsters get older, they begin to establish ideas about what tastes good and what does not. Most of the time, this does not correspond to what is nutritionally optimal for them.
Enlisting your child’s assistance in selecting foods based on nutritional content and explaining how they may benefit developing bodies can be beneficial. Parents are also recommended to use serving sizes and to demonstrate the equivalents to their children. This nutrition education may help youngsters comprehend and execute proper portion sizes as they become older.
Parents may also find it beneficial to pack a lunchbox for their children to take to school. Instead of carrying processed or junk food, choose foods that are high in healthy fats and provide nutritional advantages. This guarantees that a well-balanced and nutritionally appropriate meal is always available.
On most days of the week, children should engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate to strenuous physical exercise. Parents may encourage their children to be more physically active by limiting their time spent watching television and video games. It is critical for parents to actively participate in their children’s life.
