Proper and balanced nutrition of children is the basis for proper development and often an underestimated investment for the entire adult life. Healthy nutrition for a child does not have to be a challenge for parents – it is enough to remember a few rules so that your little one will happily eat the dish you have prepared. A child’s menu – what to remember?
Diet for a child – menu and a few important rules
A child’s menu is based on two pillars – it should be tasty and diverse. When composing meals, you need to take into account a few elements that are not too different from the basics of a proper adult menu. First of all, children eat with their eyes. It is just as important what you serve as and how you present and prepare it. The same sandwich can be simple and traditional, as well as cheerful and a bit crazy. Experiment with vegetables. Prepare vegetable toast with a smile from tomato sauce, arrange tomato slices or peppers so that they resemble a happy face. Such a meal tastes so much better! Are you worried that your child doesn’t want to eat vegetables and fruits? Or maybe your toddler is fussy during meals and doesn’t want to try new flavors? Remember that the more you force someone, the worse the result you will achieve. Don’t bribe or blackmail. Food must not be associated with compulsion and unpleasant necessity.
Eat meals together with your child. Show that the ingredients they avoid are good for the rest of the family. Place a plate with a specific dish in the middle of the table and offer, but don’t press. Or maybe you should find a new recipe for an old dish? Sometimes parsley or carrot slices in the soup leave the entire plate untouched. Try to give them up temporarily and come back to the topic in a few weeks or months. Young children don’t always like new flavors. Sometimes they prefer dishes based on simple ingredients and preferably served separately – if you happen to have such a “case” – prepare the salad so that each element on the plate appears separately – perhaps it will turn out that the toddler will eat everything with appetite, as if he was consuming the most refined dish in a restaurant.
Healthy eating for children – what does a child and teenager need?
A child’s diet should provide him with a sufficient dose of calories, be as little monotonous as possible. Healthy nutrition for children must provide a daily dose of nutrients and vitamins. Children are constantly growing – that’s why vitamins D and E, calcium, iron and magnesium are so important on the menu. All of these ingredients will provide dairy products, vegetables, fish, and seafood. Introduce specific dishes depending on the seasons – magnesium will complement dark cocoa, drunk on winter evenings, in summer enjoy the benefits of nature – fresh fruit and vegetables. Healthy eating for school-age children begins in infancy.
A child’s diet is not only about healthy ingredients. It is also about skilfully combining them and teaching the child the right attitude to food. If your son or daughter understands why it is forbidden to binge on sweets and processed foods, even under the influence of peers, he will not be so easily tempted and will think about what he is eating.
Diet for a child – the perfect menu
How to compose a balanced menu for a child of any age? The basis is 5 meals. Here’s a sample menu:
- And the meal – breakfast
It is considered the most important meal of the day. It can be milk soup, porridge with milk or water, muesli with fruit and yogurt. If your child doesn’t like such foods, breakfast can be a wholegrain sandwich with good quality protein, such as natural cold cuts, cheese or legume paste.
- Second Meal – Second Breakfast
This is the perfect place for fruit and vegetables – whole, sticks, a fruit smoothie based on yoghurt or cream cheese with colourful toppings
- Meal III – lunch
A vegetable-based soup with the addition of healthy fats and oils. In addition, the meat is steamed or baked in the oven with groats or dark rice. Children like pasta – it can be a traditional spaghetti sauce or a vegetable mousse with the addition of delicate spices. Always remember to have vegetables or fruits on your plate!
- Meal IV – afternoon snack
Compose it according to what your child eats for lunch. There is also room for homemade cake, fruit salad, pudding or jelly. Preferably something light to replenish your energy after lunch.
- Meal V – Dinner
Dinner should be easy to digest and tasty to calm the body. Avoid fried and heavily processed foods. Choose a colorful salad, a cheese or lean meat sandwich, a smoothie, or a cup of hot cocoa. The last meal should be eaten up to two hours before bedtime.
If you are not sure whether your child is eating properly, you suspect that you are not providing him with enough good ingredients, take advantage of the advice of a specialist and visit a Diet Clinic. A consultation with a dietician will allow you to take a look at your diet and assess whether there are too many or too few of these products. As part of the offer of the Wieliczka health resort, you will find help from educated staff and gain additional knowledge that will give you a chance to take better care of the health of your loved ones.
This is especially important if your child is in the convalescence period or you would like them to effectively fight excess weight. Sometimes a few visits are enough to change your bad habits and get rid of harmful habits forever.