Nutritional concerns for children with chronic kidney disease (CKD)

Everyone needs energy to grow and be active. Taking in too little energy may lead to decrease activity, poor growth and also decreased resistance to infections or diseases. Energy needs will change depending on the age, height and weight. For kids with CKD, parents should work together with the healthcare professionals to determine their kid’s daily calorie needs. If the child is not growing normally, the healthcare professionals can suggest the suitable ways to increase or add in calories in the child’s diets.

Protein is a necessary nutrient of any diet. It helps in building and maintaining muscle, bone, organs and blood. Some will help to fight disease and heal wounds. Sometimes, doctors or dietitians will suggest patients with CKD to consume moderate or less quantity of protein. However, restricting protein in some patients could cause malnutrition. For children with kidney disease, the objective is to consume sufficient amount of protein for growth but avoid too high protein intake. If the kid is on hemodialysis, the kid’s protein needs will increase, but this will have to base on the type and regularity of dialysis because this process will removes protein from the child’s blood. However, peritoneal dialysis removes even more protein than hemodialysis. Therefore, they will need more protein intake and parents must take note of this and keep their children diet with sufficient protein. Protein sources from animal are eggs, milk, cheese, chicken and fish include more of the essential amino acids our body needs. Moreover, a well-balanced vegetarian meal plan is also applicable.

Sodium is also important for many body functions. Usually, one teaspoon of table salt contains 2,300 milligrams of sodium. Most of the canned foods, processed foods and some frozen foods and some snacks like chips contain a lot of salt. Too high intake of sodium will increase thirst, raise blood pressure and cause water retention that may lead to excess weight gain or fluid buildup in the lungs. In contrast, too little sodium in some patients may cause dehydration and poor weight gain. Healthcare professionals may ask parents to limit or add sodium to their kid’s diet based on their kid’s body needs. Parents should buy “sodium-free” or “low-sodium” food products if their child needs to lessen sodium in their diet. It is recommended that nearly all fresh vegetables and fresh, unprocessed meats are more preferable.

Potassium is found in many fruits and vegetables such as bananas, potatoes, melons and so on. It keeps the heart beating regularly and muscles working right. Healthcare professionals should regularly check on kid’s blood tests to make sure that the potassium level stays in the normal range. If the child’s potassium level rising, parents can try limiting the amount of potassium in their child’s diet. Parents and healthcare experts also have to make sure that the child consume sufficient amount of fluids or water to prevent dehydration, swelling or high blood pressure.

Children with chronic kidney disease (CKD)

Every kid requires good nutrition. If your child has been identified with kidney disease, knowledge about nutrition is very important because the diet of your child can influence the performance of the kidneys. Kidneys help to maintain our health, when blood flows through the kidneys, waste products and extra water are removed from the blood and sent to the bladder as urine. In addition, the kidneys also regulate blood pressure, balance sodium, potassium, calcium, and phosphorus and also control the release of hormones that help bones grow and make red blood cells.

In the early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD), the kidneys continue to function. They just do not function as well as normal kidneys do. As the kidney function decline slowly, a child’s body may get used to it and sometimes parents may not be aware of the changes in the way their child feels or looks. As the kidney disease getting worse till stages 4 and 5, children will have more symptoms of kidney disease. As kidney disease progresses, nutritional needs change as well. When the kidneys do not function properly, healthcare professionals might suggest a change in the kid’s diet to protect the kidneys. Health problems from CKD can be prevented or delayed by eating the right foods as kidney disease can bound a child’s growth.

Parents can work closely with healthcare professionals to ensure that their kid’s growth is normal. The nutritional needs of children may change as they grow. Parents should work with healthcare professionals to make sure that their child obtains the correct quantity of all nutrients that are necessary. From time to time, the healthcare experts may recommend changes in both the quantity and the types of food the child’s diet to ensure that the kids achieve the nutrition requirement. Some knowledge on food choices may help parents to know what changes need to be made to make sure that their kid is healthy. Healthy eating patterns are also important for children with CKD in order to maintain their nutrition requirements.

Other than changes in nutritional needs, children with CKD may also experience feelings such as depression, anger, fear, and denial related to the medical condition. Moreover, CKD can also cause the increase of fatigue, mental status changes, confusion and also poor memory. Furthermore, CKD may also delays in psychomotor development and oral aversion especially children born with CKD. Therefore, parents and the medical team or healthcare professionals must provide emotional support to children when such difficulties occur and also may need to consider changes in the medical and dietary management in order to maximize the growth potential of the child.

Growing Up

Nutrition requirements for children over 2 years old are a little bit different from adults. Nevertheless, the recommendations for children are intended to encourage optimal growth and development and therefore may not be as restraining as for adults. A variety of foods loaded with essential nutrients is necessary for growing bodies.

As showed in food guidance pyramid, parents should provide their child with foods rich in carbohydrate such as grains, fruits and vegetables which is a must to provide vitamins, minerals, fiber, and energy to the body in their diets. Moreover, mother also asked to give their kids sufficient amounts of dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese, lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs and beans in their kids’ diet which will provide nutrients for proper growth and development. Normally, children will grow about 2 inches and increase weight from about 4 to 7 pounds a year. Between the ages of 6 and 12, young people will grow with a standard of 1 to 2 feet and almost double in weight. A decreased in weight-for-height might show a keen under-nutrition whereas a decreased in height-for-age may imply a chronic under-nutrition. Such conditions may be due to malnutrition, eating disorders, underlying chronic disease or infection.

Children definitely have food that they like and dislike, therefore, most nutrition experts suggested that parents should make availability of a wide range of foods and encourage them to taste new foods in small amounts without forcing their kids’ in their diets. In addition, nutrition experts often advise parents not to be firm to their children to finish everything on their plate. This is because children will get advantage by choosing their own portion size, with the given food is healthy and nutritious. Lastly, parents are should never use food as a reward for their child.

As children grow older, when they becoming a teenager or adolescence, their calories and nutrition needs will differ relying on their growth rate, the level of their physical maturation, body composition, and physical activity level. Nevertheless, extra nutrients are needed in their diets for them to hold up their growth. As well to other nutrients, parents should provide them with sufficient quantity of iron and calcium which are very important as their body is experiencing a rigorous growth. From 9 to 18 years old, both males and females are encouraged to take in a calcium-rich diet to make sure that there are enough calcium deposits in the bones and this will aid in reducing the risk of getting osteoporosis in their older years. Calcium intake can be reached by consuming at least 3 cups of fat-free or low-fat milk everyday or the some low-fat yogurt or low-fat cheese. There are also many other sources of calcium available other than milk, such as dark green, leafy vegetables and other calcium-fortified foods and beverages.

How Do You Know Your Baby is ready to Begin Solid Foods?

It is a big step for a baby to start eating solid foods in their diets and parents are so excited to help their baby to experience new flavors and food textures. Experts suggested that parents should wait for their baby at least 6 months old before they can introduce any solid foods to them because before a baby reaches 6 months or older, solid foods are not nutritionally required for their growth and development.

In addition to age, there are some signs that show a baby is ready to begin solid foods:

• When the baby is able to sit with help or support.
• When on its stomach, the baby can push up on arms with straight elbows.
• The baby is interested in food when others eat.
• Loss of tongue-thrust reflex - This will let the baby to drink and ingest liquids more easier because with the tongue-thrust reflex present, baby possibly will just drink in liquid purees or thrust the food back out where it protects the baby against choking.
• Doubling on birth weight.

This gives them the opportunity to get adapted to new tastes and textures and enables parents to identify unpleasant reactions to specific foods in their child’s diet. If a certain food stimulates a reaction such as allergy, diarrhea, bloating or gas, then it should be taken out from the baby’s diet for 1 to 3 months before giving the same food to the child again.

Research suggested that a baby at 1 year old, most of them can stand foods which caused a reaction to them earlier. Bring in many different type of foods and flavors to babies in the first two years of life will enhance their possibility to try new foods. Babies should be always sit up when they are eating or drinking, and placed so that they can see their parent’s face when feeding them. Mealtimes offer significant chances for babies and parents to enjoy eating together and enhance the relationship between the mother and child or father and child or both. Additionally, parents should not feed their babies when they are in a rush. Moreover, appetites of babies’ many change from day to day, and they will let their parents know that when they are full by turning their heads away from the spoon or holding their lips closed. Parents also should not force their babies should to eat after they are full. For children under 2 years old, dietary fats are needed in their diets as it is important for the formation of nerves and brain tissues. Health experts do not advise parents to feed reduced-fat foods to children in their diets during this age. On the other hand, to prevent the developing of nursing bottle dental caries in your baby, parents should never put their babies to bed with a bottle of milk or other liquids.

Infant Nutrition

It has been long known that it is important to establish healthful nutrition practices and habits during childhood year and early adolescence. Diet and physical activities are important for these development years which will later set the stage for life-long habits like the difference between strength of health and illness during later years.

For and infant, the optimal growth, health and behavioral development period will be from birth to 2 years but it is also a peak age for their growth to flatter for example, deficiencies in a certain micronutrient and some common childhood illness like diarrhea. In addition, nutrition insufficiencies occurred during this age will have direct and long-term costs which include delayed motor and metal development and also associated with impairments and academic performance, work capability, reproductive outcomes and overall health during their adolescence and adulthood years. Therefore, sufficient nutrition is needed to achieve for a child’s to have full human potential.

There are studies supported that exclusive breast-feeding for the first 6 months of life and the continuation of breast feeding together with suitable complementary feeding up to 2 years old or more. Breast feeding is known to be a nutritional diet as well as has immunologic benefits for an infant. Moreover, nowadays the scientific evidence showed that breast feeding may also have a protective effect against childhood obesity. Hence, breast feeding is highly encouraged all over the world. While breast feeding is encouraged, iron-fortified formulas for infants are also acceptable if the mother cannot breast feed her baby.

In addition, complementary feeding is suitable when breast feeding alone is not enough to provide sufficient nutrients in the infant’s diet and when other solids and liquids are required other than breast milk and take it in along with breast milk but the developmental of the readiness for complementary foods varies among infants. There are some experts suggested that parents should introduce the first complementary foods in the baby’s diet between 4 and 6 months of age. According to them, parents should feed their baby with simple, fundamental foods first. For instance, a single-grain and iron-fortified baby cereal will do. Semi-liquid ground rice cereal is normally suggested due to the gluten-free property and seldom related to the allergic response where gluten is a protein that can sometimes cause allergic reactions in infants.

The iron in fortified baby cereal can aids in preventing iron-deficiency anemia which is a common nutritional disorder during infancy. Once infants can handle that, then they can slowly move up to mashed foods. When they reach the age around 7 to 10 months, thinly chopped foods is applicable.

Diabetes snack tips for children

As mentioned earlier, snacking is important for kids or children with diabetes to maintain their blood glucose level other than their diets. But overboard of snacks can be dangerous for kids also. Therefore, following are some healthy snack tips for diabetic child.

1. Limit children snacks to lower calories as possible. Parents must make sure that their kids are really hungry and not just bored or too stressed to crave on chocolates because it is dangerous if snacks become extra meals if children go overboard. And then mother can limit their kid’s snacks to 100-150 calories or less.
   
2. Watch out for low-fat snacks. There are studies indicate that child tend to eat more snacks when they are stated low-fat because they think they are having lower calories. But normally, low-fat snacks will have about 11% lesser calories compared to the full-fats one. Therefore, do not let your kids eat too much on snacks; keep to the amount they needed.
   
3. Have a few whole-grain crackers with peanut butter. Parents should let their children to eat more protein and lesser carbohydrates and the kid’s blood sugar will not raise so much. Moreover, whole grain crackers have more nutrition than other normal crackers.
   
4. Plate your children snacks. Mother can put a small amount or portion on a plate and let her children eat just the snack on the plate. Seal it and put away the snack after putting on to the plate. This is because if parents let their kids to eat straight from the bag, the kids are going to eat more.
   
5. Encourage children to snack more on raw vegetables and fruits. Parents should encourage their children to eat more fruits and vegetables in their diets and meals. But snacks also can be fresh veggies or fruits. Mother can suggest her child to snack on grape tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and cauliflower. Kids also can choose to eat them plain or plunge them into nonfat yogurt or a light salad dressing which can make the raw vegetables taste better.
   
6. Blend a fruit smoothie. Parents can try combining half of a chopped banana, 3⁄4 cup non-fat or low-fat plain yogurt, and small amount of sugar, and blend until smooth.
   
7. Eat apples with the skin. There are studies showed that an apple with the skin have about 3g of fiber. The skin contains healthy soluble fiber that helps to lower cholesterol, avoid heart disease and also antioxidants that fight free radicals and also lower down the risk of diabetes complications.
   

The above are some recommendations of snacks for diabetic children, but it is important also to do exercise in order to maintain the blood glucose and also keep the body healthy for a kid. Therefore, for a diabetic kid to keep healthy, they should balanced diets, eat foods with nutrition and diet low in sugar, healthy snacks and do more physical activities. All these may help them to decrease further diabetes complications in their future lives.

Why Snacking in Important for Diabetic Children?

As we all know, diet & nutrition are important for a healthy lifestyle. But is it possible that when your child have diabetes and still have fun eating? Certainly they can. The reason is, consuming snacks is very crucial of every child’s daily meal plan, especially for those kids with diabetes. Normally, when parents first notice that their child have diabetes, they can’t stop thinking about how to control their kid’s diet and change their kid’s eating habits. But, kids with diabetes still can eat healthfully and still can enjoy snacks. Most of the people are told to stay away from heavy meals and stretch their eating throughout the day, therefore, kids snacking can actually be encouraged.

Nearly all diabetic diets or meal plan will have at least 2 to 3 snacks per day in order to maintain a balanced diet, but, parents must watch on what their kid eat over the whole day and are within the individualized nutritional goals of the child. The main part to uphold an active child’s blood glucose level is to get the balance between the child’s insulin, intake of food and also physical activity. This is because insulin and exercises will help to lower down the blood sugar levels where foods can raise blood sugar levels, particularly carbohydrates.

According to some experts, foods will need to change as the kids with diabetes grow and they have to become more physically active. Snacks may be necessary in preventing blood sugar from dropping too low between meals. But these should not be snack foods high in sugar and fat, like candy or chips. Furthermore there are studies from doctors and nutritionists indicate that snacks for children with diabetes should originate from: grains, dairy, fruits, and vegetables. Additionally, they recommend using the Food Pyramid for Kids as a reliable guide to understanding food groups and portion sizes.

Foods can become healthy snacks with only a few modifications. A piece of fresh fruit, carrot and celery sticks are always a good idea, low-fat sugar-free yogurt, low-fat popcorn are examples of low fat snacks. In addition, parents can add a few spurts of butter-flavored spray and a add garlic or onion powder on popcorn make a tasty snack that can help to avoid high concentrations of fat and sodium. Parents can also include bran muffins, graham crackers, cereal and milk in their children’s diet or make it as snack.

Usually, kids with diabetes have the tendency to over snack for fear of low blood sugar levels. Therefore, if parents are not alert of this kind of situation, it may cause problems as they try to respond to the child's elevated blood sugar levels. That is why it is so important that their meal plans and diets need to be well-monitored by adults. This also can make sure that the children nutrition status is achieved and not over or malnutrition because of diabetes.

What You can Do with Your Diabetic Child?

Each child’s has different needs for their nutrition requirements. Diabetic children require eating the same nutritious food that other family members are having. They do not need to go on ‘diet’, diabetic child can eat everything but in moderation, which includes foods with sugar and special diabetic and dietetic foods are not required. However, parents need to watch the time their kids eat such as their meal or snacks. Moreover, parents also need to watch how much their kids eat, for example, the portion size should be the same everyday, and also watch the balance of what their kids eat for each meal which is not too much on one type of food only in their diets.

When parents preparing their children’s meal, they probably will need to work with the dietitian to plan the meals and snacks initially. According to some experts, most of the recommended plan is called ‘carbohydrate counting’ which is keeping track of the sugars and starchy foods where they will affect the most on blood sugar. Parents also have to equal the amount of the carbohydrate in their child’s diet to the amount of insulin of the child takes. Parents should also train their child to have balanced food intake with their insulin levels, get enough calories for their normal growth and also make their meals or diet satisfying and enjoyable.

The meals and snacks recommended shall base on the principles of the diabetes food pyramid which they need about 50% of calories come from complex carbohydrates such as breads, rice, starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn and beans. Parents should provide more fresh vegetables and fruits for their kids in their diets. On the other hand, protein can be obtain from lean meats like chicken, fish and eggs, dairy foods should be nonfat or low-fat and also minimized added fats and sugars. Below is the diabetes food pyramid. Parents should follow this food pyramid when preparing their diabetic child’s diets and snacks.

How You can Help in encouraging healthy eating among Young people?

Everyone in the world can help to make a difference in young child’s life by helping them to learn the correct way and adopt healthy eating habits. Here are some steps everyone can take, such as be a role model by eating a balanced diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, find out what schools are doing to encourage healthy eating, encourage schools to offer and encourage students to take part in School Breakfast Program, join a school health or nutrition advisory council and guide nutrition strategy and have a talk in schools to tell the students and the school administrators or school board about the importance of healthy diets among young people or kids.

As what parents or guardian can do is, provide their kids with healthy snacks for school parties and special events, try to help school staffs to arrange activities where students can test healthy foods, parents at home can suggest children a variety of healthy foods, keep healthy snacks on hand and also make mealtime an enjoyable experience, mother also can let their children involve in meal preparing and selecting their foods and parents or guardian can talk more about nutrition information to their kids during free time.

As a student, you can help school and family to plan the menus for each meal, take elective courses about health, nutrition, cooking and physical education, and encourage your peers and family to eat healthy foods and be physically active. Moreover, students also can make healthy food choices in the canteen, ask for healthy snacks and read nutrition or food labels to select low fat snacks.

On the other hand, what a teacher can help in encouraging children to eat healthy diets is to avoid using food to reward children, ask for healthy snacks during class parties, take part in nutrition training class and share some experience with other teachers. In addition, teachers also can search and use resources for nutrition education and also involve families and community organizations in nutrition education activities.

Lastly, school food service staffs and school administrators can provide meals or diets that are delicious and meet the nutrition requirements of the children, involve students and families in school menus planning, held activities with classroom and physical education for teachers and other staffs and also can request parents to lunch and provide them information about the nutrition value of the meal. Other than that, schools also must provide students sufficient time to eat in a relaxed and safe dining area, make sure that healthy foods and snacks are supplied in school during events, ban the sale of high fat, high sugar diets and snacks during mealtime and also assess school nutrition programs.

Easy, Tasty and Healthy snacks for Kids

Snacking is a major pastime for most of the kids. Children not only obtain their nutrients from their diets, snacking also can help children to control hunger and get some energy and nutrients throughout the whole day, but children must snack on healthy foods. Hence, healthy snacks are the key for good nutrition and to help your kids to do well throughout their school day.

Below are some healthy snacks recommended for kids (just a suggestion, need not to follow exactly):

1. Peel a banana, dip it in the yogurt. And then roll it in crushed cereals and freeze it.
2. Mix small pieces of apples with lemon juice and blend until very smooth, then stir the mixture with sugar and cinnamon. Then kids can enjoy the awesome applesauce.
3. Mix dried fruits and nuts with a ready-to-eat cereal in a sandwich for an on-the-go snack.
4. Spread a scoop of frozen yogurt onto 2 graham crackers and add in a slice of banana to become a tasty sandwich.
5. Pour some yogurt into a paper cup and fill it. Put a small piece of plastic wrap on top of each cup and then poke a hole in the plastic wrap with a popsicle stick straight up to the center of the cup. After that, put the cup into the freezer until the yogurt frozen solid. Then your kids can enjoy the yogurt pop.
6. Parents also can top up low-fat yogurt with crunchy granola and sprinkle with blueberries or some other fruits as a snack for the kids.
7. Mother also can let their kids to do it themselves like as them to spread peanut butter onto an apple slice or a whole meal cracker.
8. Blend low-fat milk, frozen berries or fruits and a banana for a while to make a delicious smoothie.
9. Prepare mini sandwich with tuna or egg salad on a dinner roll.
10. Parents can also make some freeze with fruits such as peach for their kids. Just pour the milk into the ice cube tray to freeze it. Then pop the milk cubes out and add in peaches and small amount of sugar into the blender and blend until the mixture become very smooth. And then the peach freeze is ready. The freeze also can be made by using other fruits.
11. Moreover, fill a waffle cone with cut-up fruits and top with low-fat yogurt also can be a healthy snack for a kid.
12. Mother also can make mini pizza by toasting a whole grain bread and then drizzle with pizza sauce and some sausages and sprinkled with low-fat mozzarella cheese.
    

Parents must remember that, a child’s nutrition requirement cannot be achieve just by snacking. A proper, nutritious and balanced diet is important for a child’s growth, therefore, young kids need to eat a proper and balanced diet to obtain sufficient nutrients they required daily.

Baby’s Perfect Food

In the beginning, infants drink only breast milk or formula, but later, they begin to eat some foods. Therefore, during the selection of infant foods to meet their nutrition requirements and a relaxed environment supports an infant’s health and well-being.

Breast milk has the perfect blend of nutrients in the accurate amounts to meet baby’s every single nutritional needs. Moreover, breast milk is more easily and completely digested than formula milk, so breastfed infants normally need to eat more frequently compared to formula-fed infants. Hence, breastfeeding is encouraged in many other countries including Malaysia. According to experts, feed baby with nothing else which is no other food or water, only breast milk for the first six months of life.

Breast milk’s nutrient composition will change to meet baby’s growing needs. In baby’s first few days of life, mothers’ breasts secrete colostrums which is a thick yellowish substance rich in carbohydrates, proteins and antibodies. As time goes by, the amount of fat will increase the make the baby full and stop sucking. There are research shows that infants or babies who are breastfed by the mother wholly for 6 months have less illness in the first 12 months of life. This is because breast milk contains nutrients and substances that can protect baby from infectious diseases, such as diarrhea, cold or flu, and middle ear infections.

There are many disease-fighting substances in breast milk, for instance, bifidus factor which can help to promote growth of “good” bacteria in the intestines of an infant and thus preventing the growth of harmful bacteria. Lactoferrin helps in binding the iron in the mother’s breast milk so that it is not accessible to harmful bacteria. Lactoperoxidase can kill harmful bacteria, anti-staphylococcus factor inhibits the growth of harmful Staphylococcus bacteria, phagocyte cells will ingest or kill bacteria, lymphocytes and macrophage cells will secrete antibodies which provide immunity to certain diseases, lysozyme helps in preventing infection, interferon inhibits growth of viruses and epidermal growth factor which helps in keeping the lining of baby’s intestines intact as a barrier to stop harmful substances to enter the bloodstream.

There are also other nutrients contained in mothers’ breast milk such as vitamins are sufficient to support a baby’s or child’s growth. However, breast milk has very low level of vitamin D and deficiency in this vitamin will harm bone mineralization. Therefore, parents should let their baby expose to sunlight once in a while. In addition, breast milk also contains calcium which is important for infant bone growth. Breast milk contains small amounts of iron but the iron has a high bioavailability and due to the zinc-binding protein, zinc also has a high bioavailability in breast milk. Breast milk is low in sodium which is good for baby’s immature kidneys.

In order to make sure that your baby meets the nutrition requirements, a mother’s diet is very crucial. Mother should control her diets with healthy eating habits and foods. For example, eat balanced meals or diet according to the Food Guide Pyramid, drink plenty of water throughout the day, eat variety of nutrient- rich foods such as calcium, iron, zinc, folate and vitamins. This is because a mother’s diet can influence the nutrients contents in the breast milk that will be giving to the child. Mother with a healthy diet will provides healthy breast milk to the child or baby.

Vegetarian Nutrition for School Age Child

As mentioned earlier, childhood nutrition has a major influence on their health and development all the way through their whole life. A child’s eating patterns and their taste preferences will be formed by their family eating habits by school age. School age child range from age 5 to 12, and now they have the ability to practice some food choices over what they eat and can decide on their own whether they want or do not want to eat meat. This also might be influenced by their peer groups.

There are many reasons that cause adult nutritional disease such as heart disease and such disease usually begins during childhood year. As a result, adult healthy eating advice or diets on cutting down fats and take in more fiber is applicable to school age children. There are reports showed that, vegetarians suffer less of those modern nutritional disease mainly heart disease, cancer and also high blood pressure in their later life compared to those non-vegetarian kids. The growth of vegetarian children continues well and somehow is better than those non-vegetarians. During the school years before adolescence symbolize a time of ongoing, steady growth and nutritional risks are lower at this time than during the pre-school years and later during the adolescent year.

Parent need to encourage their kids to eat more on fresh fruits and vegetables which is a rich source of essential vitamins and minerals in their diets. It is not a good idea to force a child to eat what they do not like, or else food may become a battle ground. “Junk foods” usually provide a lot of calories but with few or no nutrients like fried, fatty, foods with high sugar level foods for example chips, sweets and chocolates. Parents should make sure that their child is eating a varied diet with foods from each of the vegetarian food groups and less junk food. This is because with diet like this, the children nutrition will meet the requirements from the diet and they are getting enough energy.

A school meal probably will provide one third of a kid's daily requirement of protein, energy and some vitamins and minerals. Nowadays, schools are under no responsibility to provide nutritionally balanced meals, although many do as a result of campaigns for healthier school meals. Moreover, the vegetarian meal for children also limited in schools nowadays. At this age, parents should provide enough protein, energy, iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin D and fiber to their kids in their diets. This is because protein is important for growth; good sources of protein are milk, cheese, eggs, yoghurt, soy milk, tofu, beans, cereals or grains. Children diet should contain some concentrated energy foods such as cheese. High carbohydrate foods are also a good source of energy like bread, rice and potatoes. Iron important for growing children and is necessary for healthy blood. Iron-rich foods that are suitable for children include beans, egg yolks, wholegrain cereals and green leafy vegetables. Try to avoid cereals that are very high in fiber taking in with high iron foods as these may slow down the absorption of iron. Vitamin C helps in the absorption of iron from plant foods. Besides, calcium is important for children for healthy teeth and bones growth. Good sources of calcium are cow's milk, yoghurt, fortified soy milk, cheese, green vegetables, whole meal bread, beans and tofu. Vegetarian children can usually obtain enough of vitamin B12 from dairy products and eggs. Vegan children and those who eat little dairy products will have to take in this vitamin from fortified foods such as some soy milks or breakfast cereals. Furthermore, vitamin D is important for the absorption of calcium. It can be found in dairy products, eggs and fortified foods like margarine and some breakfast cereals, and can be obtain from the action of sunlight on the skin. Vegan children might need a vitamin D supplement, as this vitamin only can be found wholly from animals foods. Parents should not provide children with too high fiber diet as this can interfere the absorptions of some minerals such as zinc, iron and calcium.

Vegetarian Nutrition for Pre-school Child (II)

The evaluation of a child's growth should be made over a period of time due to the growth rate at this age often very unstable and might together with sudden increases in height and weight. Therefore, childhood nutrition is important at pre-school age and parents should pay more attention on their kids at this age.

Milk
It is recommended that, parents should not give children under 2 to consume semi-skimmed milk and should not give their children who are under 5 to consume skimmed milk due to the lack of the fat soluble vitamins such as vitamins A and D. this is because young children require energy from fats too. Parents can use fortified soy milks which contain calcium, vitamin B12 and vitamin D as an alternative to cow's milk for their kids together in their diets.

Sugar and teeth
Naturally, children like sugar and sweet foods because of the sweet taste. Sugary foods will supply calories or energy but they have little or no nutritional value and they are also are a primary cause for tooth decay among children. Therefore, parents should limit the intake of sweet and foods high in sugar level in their kids’ diet. However, a small quantity of sugary foods such as healthy desserts like yoghurt and soy puddings is all right and it is better compared by using artificial sweeteners. Parents should discourage the development of a sweet tooth among children.

Salt
Moreover, parents should also limit the salt intake in their children’s diet because young kids’ kidneys are not mature enough to tolerate with large amounts of salts. The most common foods consist quite high amount of added salt are cheese, manufactured soup, packet mee or meals. Part of a healthy diet for a child is to avoid too many salty snacks, for instance, crisps, chips and other snacks.

Nuts
Young children must avoid whole nuts and seeds until they are 5 years old as nuts can seeds might easily choke on them. Parents can provide grounded nuts or puree and fine seeds which are also nutritious, such as smooth peanut butter and ground almonds.

Fitting in to Children Diets/Menus
Vegetables: 2 servings, if possible include chopped raw vegetables and dark green leafy vegetables each day.
Dairy product or Soya: 3 servings, including milk, cheese, hard-boiled free range eggs, yoghurt, fortified soya milk, tofu.
Fruits: 1-3 servings, preferably fresh fruits everyday, but dried fruit also alright for every few days.
Grains/cereals: 4-5 servings, including wholegrain bread, rice, breakfast cereals and potatoes but try to avoid those too high fiber foods.
Nuts and Seeds: 1-2 servings, for example, peanut butters, lentils, mashed beans, grinded or fine nuts and seeds and purees.

A serving will vary from half slice of bread to few tablespoons of vegetables. Moreover, parents must prepare meals in variety of different types of food from the 5 food groups to ensure good nutrition of their kids which is to obtain the required amount of nutrients each day. Everything has to prepare in moderation which is not too much or too little for their children to prevent their kids to develop obesity or malnutrition. The servings above are just a recommendation and need not to follow strictly for each meal. Parents can modify the diets according to their children’s nutrition needs and their serving size.

Vegetarianism for Pre-school Child (I)

Vegetarianism is a well-known choice for many individuals and families. But parents might question if their kids can safely follow a vegetarian diet and still get all necessary nutrients. This is because childhood nutrition has a very obvious influence on their health and growth. As children grow, they need more nutrients than adults. Therefore, a good and healthy diet can provide good nutrition to protect the child against everyday illness and make sure their development of strong healthy bones and teeth, muscles and tissues. Most dietary and medical experts agree and there are also researches showed that a well-planned vegetarian diet can actually be a very healthy way to eat and provide all the nutrients needed for a child’s growth.

Pre-school child ranges from age 1 to 5, their nearly totally dependent on others for their food whether they are vegetarian or not. Most of the children will follow the eating habits of their parents or their guardians and some pre-school children are naturally sensitive to foods made from animals or they refuse meats even if their parents are not vegetarian. It is important for children to have a balanced diet especially during pre-school years which is their time of rapid growth and development.

Parents should offered their children a variety of foods which they can enjoy eating and parents should not force them to eat anything they resist. Eating and food should not be permitted to become a matter as children can be very picky at this age. Foods children like and dislike can be influence by what is offered in these early years, hence, parents should train their children to have a good eating habit from young. The importance should be on healthy and sensible family eating habits and foods with high sugar and salt level should be avoided.

In addition, high fiber, low fat diets which are recommended for adults are not suitable for children at this age. This is due to children are growing very rapidly and they need a lot of energy in relation to their small size in this age. Whereas, a diet with too high in fiber or too low in fats cannot provide enough energy or nutrients needs for the child. Meals containing food with high nutrient and energy are essential. Besides, nutritious snacks between meals may help to ensure that they have enough food and nutrition. Parents should offer sandwiches, fruits, scones, bread or home-made biscuits instead of those high sugar snacks such as sweets, cakes, soft drinks and crisps.

If a child is prone to be overweight, parents can try to add in vegetable oil to foods such as beans. Parents also can include nut and seed purees such as smooth peanut butter, cheese, yoghurt, soy products, such as tofu and veggie-burgers. Children can be particular to find some foods which are too strong in taste so, when mothers are preparing their kids’ meal, they should try to include a wide variety of foods. Furthermore, consumption of fresh, frozen or juiced fruit and green leafy vegetables should be encouraged too.

The Five Food Groups and servings

To make sure good nutrition for your kids to stay healthy and grow healthy, they will need to have a large variety of foods. There are five food groups that every child supposes to take in such as grain, vegetables, fruits, milk or dairy products and also meat groups. The grain group includes whole-meal bread, rice, cereals, pasta and others. Whole grain meal will provide sufficient fiber and other nutrients to children. Vegetables include al kinds of vegetables like dark leafy vegetables, legumes, starchy and other vegetables. Fruit group involves all kind of fruits. From fruits and vegetables, kids and obtain sufficient vitamins and minerals from there too. Milk and milk product includes low-fat or fat free milk, yogurt, cheese and others also a good calcium and other nutrition source. Lean meat is a good source of protein.

The quantity of foods that children eat is less important. This is because a child's appetite may decrease and become choosier when their growth rate slows down. Parents do not need to worry about their kids as long as they are gaining weight and have regular physical activities. They still need a variety of foods, but the serving sizes can be lesser. For example, grain group serving may include 1 slice of bread, ½ cup of rice, ½ cup of cooked cereals and 1 ounce of ready to eat cereals. A kid is recommended to take in 6 servings per day from this group. As for vegetable group, the servings include ½ cup of chopped or raw vegetables, or 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables. Children should eat at least 3 servings from here. Next, fruit group servings include 1 piece of fruit or melon wedge or ¾ cup of 100% fruit juice and at least 2 servings must be taken from this group. Milk group servings include 1 cup of milk or yogurt or 2 ounces of cheese and kids should have 2 servings from here. Lastly, meat group servings include 2 to 3 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry or fish, ½ cup of cooked dry beans. 2 serving are recommended from this group.

The intake of fats, oil and sweet should be not more than 30% of your children diet. The type of fat that your kids eat is also important. Saturated fats in foods such as meats, dairy products, coconut, palm and palm kernal oil, all these foods can raise cholesterol level compared to unsaturated fats, such as what found in olive, peanut, and canola oils, or polyunsaturated fats in flaxseed, sunflower, corn and soy beans oil. Parents should limit the intake of saturated fats to not more than 10% of daily diet of their children. In addition, sugars provide a huge amount of calories, with little or no nutritional value. For example, white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, honey and molasses and foods such as candy, soft drinks, jams, and jellies and most of the children like that. All these should be limited because it will cause harm to children’s body if they take in too much. Everything should be taken in moderation.

Breakfast to kick start the day

Do you know that breakfast is the most important diet of the day? A good breakfast with good nutrition offers the nutrients and energy that are needed to jumpstart their day, especially kids, toddler and adolescents. Breakfast remains kids on target for achieving their nutrient needs and for being ready to learn.

There are research shows that nutritious diet from the Five Food Groups gives children about a quarter of their daily nutrient needs and mostly kids who take breakfast can meet the needs. Moreover, children who skipped breakfast are less probable to meet up for the nutrients that they have missed at breakfast later in the day. In addition, it is easier for kids to concentrate on learning, think clearly and have a better behavior when they eat breakfast every morning. There are also other studies shows that a child who eat a good breakfast will perform better in school compared to those children who do not take breakfast and have a better attendance and decreased in hyperactivity.

Therefore, a good, healthy breakfast should start at home. A mother should prepare a diet which contains milk, fruits and cereals or grain product such as oatmeal for their child. This may help their kids to meet their nutrition in a day. It is good to make breakfast a habit in the house. In order to do that, parents should be a role model to their kids by having breakfast with their kids together, prepare diets with high nutrients and put it in a highly visible and convenient place for kids to take. If kids do not get a chance to eat at home, parents should encourage kids to eat at school in the morning.

Remember: Eating a healthy breakfast does not need to take a lot of time.

Importance of Calcium during childhood

Calcium is a mineral that is mostly found in a child's bones. It is documented in some research that, a very low calcium intake may cause development of rickets in infants and also children. Moreover, lack of calcium in the bones can also lead to lower bone mass and contribute in increasing the risk of some fractures in children and toddlers. At every age, from infancy to adolescence, calcium is one nutrient that kids simply cannot skip same to adults and also older individuals.

Throughout the development from infant to children and adolescents, human body uses mineral calcium to build strong bones and teeth and bone calcium tends to decrease in young adulthood and rapid bone loss occurs when we getting older, especially women, therefore, it is a major cause of osteoporosis as we grow older. Hence, a diet with calcium-rich foods to meet daily requirements is needed for the development of strong bones. It is also an important way to prevent the development of osteoporosis in adults. As long as parents provide their kids with diets that contain high calcium foods and they get enough calcium and physical activity during childhood and the teen years, they can begin their adult lives with the stronger bones. In order to have better calcium absorption for kids, all children, from infants to adolescents should get enough supply of vitamin D daily. Some of the food sources for vitamin D are salmon, tuna and sardine fish, cord liver oil, egg and vitamin D fortified foods. Vitamin D also can get from sunlight and also supplements.

Milk is the food that is high in calcium. It is also essential to know that there are other foods that are also a good supply of calcium, such as other dairy products like cheese and yogurt, vegetables, calcium fortified orange juice, and also other calcium fortified foods. In addition, dark green, leafy vegetables, tofu, sardines, and salmon, are also good nutrition sources of calcium. Moreover, kids who are allergy to milk, they can obtain calcium from soy milk and orange juice which is good nutrition sources of calcium too. On the other hand, parents should also prepare foods, meals or a diet with calcium-rich foods such as cheese sandwich, grains, meals with vegetables and beans, tofu and nuts.

The Main Nutrients

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.

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.