Growing up is a challenging time for children, either a toddler or a teen. Proper nutrition is essential to help them to grow and develop well. Moreover, good nutrition in the body can help to build up a better immune system to protect children from foreign particles or other common infections and also helps to recover faster. Usually, knowing what and how much nutrients suppose to provide to your children has been overlooked. In order to get your small ones to have good nutrition, it begins with the parents to find out what and how much nutrients your child required.
A balanced diet with nutrient-dense foods help kids grow up healthy. It is very important that for parents to give the right types of food in the right amount at the correct timing to their children. There are 3 main things that parents must take note: first, there is no single food can provide all nutrient needs for the child. Second, eat a variety of foods to meet the child’s daily nutrients requirement because thirdly, different types of food contain and provide different nutrients.
There are 4 main nutrients required for every child: carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the main energy source for the human body. Carbohydrates are needed everyday by the body and the brain to function well by breaking them down into simple sugar called glucose. The sources of carbohydrates include rice, noodles, cereals, potatoes, corns and breads.
Proteins
Proteins help to enhance tissue repairing and replacing when kids have wounds on their hands, feet and knees. Other than that, proteins also help to build muscles. Dietary sources of protein are fish, eggs, meat, nuts, legumes, grains, milk and some dairy products like cheese.
Fats
Fats provide essential fatty acids and also energy. Choose healthy fats such as unsaturated vegetable oil and consume in moderation will help in the growth and development of kids. Some dietary sources of healthy fats are nuts, vegetable oil, olive oil, flaxseed, fish and seafood. In addition, due to our bodies cannot make certain essential fatty acids such as Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, therefore, they must be get from the diet like fish. Lastly, vitamins and minerals are very important as they help to build a strong and healthy immune system that protects children from sickness.
Vitamins and minerals
Vitamins and minerals also need to be consumed in moderation, otherwise, they will cause toxicity to the body and can be life threatening. So, a balanced diet supply of vitamins and minerals are needed to keep kids healthy. Most of the vitamins and minerals can obtain from fruits and vegetables.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Keep your children healthy
Good nutrition during childhood or young age is important because this will be able to strengthen lifetime eating habits that contribute to the child's overall well being and help them in their growth. Diet and nutrition are important for healthy kids to lead a healthy life. In order to make sure your children are practicing a healthy lifestyle, parents play an important role in helping their children in developing healthy eating habits.
It is important for father and mother start making smart food choices at home for getting the children to have a healthy diet. Being a role model for them in choosing healthy food every time when having a meal is vital because they will learn their food smarts from their parents and they will make nutritious food choices when they see their parents choosing foods rich in nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products like cheese, milk and yogurt and also whole grains. Furthermore, parents must train their kids how to choose nutrient-rich food, for instance, a mother can teach her child or kids to spot fruits with bright color, vegetables and foods rich in fiber, whole grains and fortified foods, choose low-fat milk and yogurt, lean meats, poultry without skin, fish, eggs and beans by letting the kids to help around in the kitchen while she is preparing their meal.
Moreover, parents should not label foods into “good” and “bad”. Parents should let their children know that all foods fit into a healthful diet when they are consumed in moderation. Besides that, parents also can link foods to those things a child cares about such as let them know that protein from meats and calcium from dairy products like milk and cheese will provide them strength and healthy bones in their sports performance or antioxidants, vitamins and mineral in fruits and vegetables is beneficial to their appearance like skin and hair. This is important because with this, parents can convey a positive message to their children in order to prevent their children to develop eating disorders as their children grow older.
Parents should not restrict food intake for a child because this will increase the risk of a child of developing eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia when they grow older and this may also retard the growth and development of the child. Furthermore, parents should also fill the kitchen with more nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat flavored and plain milk, yogurt, 100% fruit juice and whole grain snacks. This is because most of the kids need to snack, and a well chosen snack will help to increase their consumption of healthy foods that can provide their body good fuel or energy in their growth and development. Food labels also provide information to help a mother to make good food choices for their kids and themselves too.
There are still many ways of choosing healthy foods for children and also many others ways to train them to eat a healthy diet such as, make meal time family time, this will give the kids more better nutrition and less likely to cause trouble when they become teenagers, do not reward children with foods as this might create weight problems like obesity in their future life, packing healthy and nutritious lunch for your child to bring school also a way for letting them to eat healthy. For those mothers who are breastfeeding a baby, they should also consume a healthy diet to make sure that the mother and the baby both obtain sufficient nutrients that they needed. Foods that a mother eats will affect the growth of her baby when she breastfeed the baby, so, start with good nutrition and healthy diets.
Lastly, apart of diet, physical activities are also important for a kid or child to promote good nutrition. Regular exercise, a balanced diet and healthy eating habits are essential to for a child’s growth and brain development and to keep your children healthy always. Remember, your child’s healthy lifestyle should start at home during their childhood.
It is important for father and mother start making smart food choices at home for getting the children to have a healthy diet. Being a role model for them in choosing healthy food every time when having a meal is vital because they will learn their food smarts from their parents and they will make nutritious food choices when they see their parents choosing foods rich in nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products like cheese, milk and yogurt and also whole grains. Furthermore, parents must train their kids how to choose nutrient-rich food, for instance, a mother can teach her child or kids to spot fruits with bright color, vegetables and foods rich in fiber, whole grains and fortified foods, choose low-fat milk and yogurt, lean meats, poultry without skin, fish, eggs and beans by letting the kids to help around in the kitchen while she is preparing their meal.
Moreover, parents should not label foods into “good” and “bad”. Parents should let their children know that all foods fit into a healthful diet when they are consumed in moderation. Besides that, parents also can link foods to those things a child cares about such as let them know that protein from meats and calcium from dairy products like milk and cheese will provide them strength and healthy bones in their sports performance or antioxidants, vitamins and mineral in fruits and vegetables is beneficial to their appearance like skin and hair. This is important because with this, parents can convey a positive message to their children in order to prevent their children to develop eating disorders as their children grow older.
Parents should not restrict food intake for a child because this will increase the risk of a child of developing eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia when they grow older and this may also retard the growth and development of the child. Furthermore, parents should also fill the kitchen with more nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat flavored and plain milk, yogurt, 100% fruit juice and whole grain snacks. This is because most of the kids need to snack, and a well chosen snack will help to increase their consumption of healthy foods that can provide their body good fuel or energy in their growth and development. Food labels also provide information to help a mother to make good food choices for their kids and themselves too.
There are still many ways of choosing healthy foods for children and also many others ways to train them to eat a healthy diet such as, make meal time family time, this will give the kids more better nutrition and less likely to cause trouble when they become teenagers, do not reward children with foods as this might create weight problems like obesity in their future life, packing healthy and nutritious lunch for your child to bring school also a way for letting them to eat healthy. For those mothers who are breastfeeding a baby, they should also consume a healthy diet to make sure that the mother and the baby both obtain sufficient nutrients that they needed. Foods that a mother eats will affect the growth of her baby when she breastfeed the baby, so, start with good nutrition and healthy diets.
Lastly, apart of diet, physical activities are also important for a kid or child to promote good nutrition. Regular exercise, a balanced diet and healthy eating habits are essential to for a child’s growth and brain development and to keep your children healthy always. Remember, your child’s healthy lifestyle should start at home during their childhood.
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