Kids health and nutrition

Today's kids are very finicky with the food. All they want most of the time is junk food like burgers, pizza, chips, cakes, cold-drinks etc. In our time we were not so much fond of such eatables as these were not in very much culture. What we loved to have were milk cakes, toffees, chat, gol gappas, south Indians food etc. But these too were given once a while to you.

As a parent I really worry about the intake my kids consume on daily basis as it's responsible for healthy mental and physical development of children.  Junk food are low on nutrition and contain important unnecessary fats. As per doctor such food lowers the metabolic system and make our child lazy, sluggish and prone to obesity and dental cavities.

Parents know having fruits, green vegetables, grains, dairy products etc are good for health. But for a kid what should be the minimum intake and what are the products whose consumption on daily basis is enough of our kids. This lead me to explore on this and found the following information.

Food Group	Food Items	Serving Size	Nutrition
Grains	Rice Pasta Cereal Bread Rolls Wheat Biscuit Noodles	1 cup 1/2 -1 cup 1/2 -1 cup 1-2 slices 1/2 -1 roll 1 1/2 cup	Carbohydrates
Vegetables	Cooked vegies Cauliflower Medium potato Carrot (sliced) Spinach Broccoli Tomato Salad	Half a cup cooked vegetables or one cup raw, leafy vegetables.	Vitamins and Minerals
Fruits	Dates Berries Apricots Grapes Bananas Peaches Oranges Mangoes Melons Pineapples	Half a cup frozen for raw fruits, or 6 ounce fruit juice, or1/4 cup dried fruits	Vitamins and Minerals
Dairy Products	Milk Yogurt Cheese Custard	250ml 200g 40g 250ml	Milk Proteins
Lean Proteins	Meat Beef Chicken Fish Eggs Dried beans Peas Lentils Peanut butter	100 g (2 slices), cooked 3/4 cup, chopped 1 chicken leg 1 medium fillet 1 3/4 cup canned or cooked beans, lentils or peas 1 tablespoon	Meat Protein
Fats, Sweets and Oils	Low-fat mayonnaise Light salad dressing Soft margarine Vegetable oil (canola, safflower, olive or corn)	1 tablespoon oil or mayonnaise	Fat and Sugar

From the above food items we have to chose any one at least to cover up the respective food group:

• Breads, cereals, legumes and other grain foods
• Vegetables, salads
• Fruits, dry fruits
• Milk, yogurt and cheese
• Meat, fish, poultry, eggs and legumes to ensure an adequate intake of all the essential nutrients

And the diet  chart for kids :

Breakfast  7.00 am - 8.00 am

A glass of any juice / Milk + stuffed Paratha / oats + any fruit

Morning Break 10.00 am - 11.00 am

Some dry fruits + unsweetened fruit smoothie

Lunch 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm

Cheese / curd + salad / jacket potato + rice / chapati + Dal / vegetable

Evening Snacks 4.00 pm - 5.00 pm

semi-skimmed milk + low-fat crisps / biscuit  + one fruit

Dinner 7.00 pm - 8.00 pm

Salad + Whole wheat pasta/chapatti + vegetable +  juice (with fruit and ice cream) / milk

Night Snack 10.00 pm

A peanut butter or cheese slice + skimmed milk

We indians have many other options to replace the food items with the same nutritions like daal chilla, dosa, idli, stuffed rolls, sandwitches, etc. These options avoid monotnous food  items and bring excitment in kids for food varieties.

Last but not the least, water and other fluids are equally important. There amoint of consumtion vary with weather and the avtivities our kids do. Still as a standard our kids must have at leady 1 - 2 liter of fluids.

~~Nidhi