Tips for Stepping Up Nutrition for Kids

Eating healthy foods are essential to your child’s nutrition. Eating healthy foods will not only promote your child’s health and reduce their risk for childhood obesity, but it will dramatically impact proper eating habits into their adult life. Here are some tips for stepping up nutrition for kids:

•Be physically active each day
•Aim for a healthy weight
•Eat a variety of whole grains daily
•Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables each day
•Avoid caffeine and soda
•Avoid foods with high sodium and sugar amounts
•Choose a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol and moderate in total fat
•Do not switch to whole milk before a baby is twelve months old.

Most children do not get enough calcium and iron recommendations for their age. Soda beverages and sugary drinks have taken the place of milk in many children’s diets. Many fast-food restaurants also do not promote healthier food and therefore have lead to obesity in many young children. When you are looking at your children’s nutritional recommendations, keep in mind that vitamins A and C, iron and calcium have clearly defined recommendations for children.

If you have a toddler or a child who is a picky eater, you are probably having a hard time getting your child to eat vegetables on a regular basis. Many experts will tell you that you can get kids to eat more vegetables is you start by offering a large variety of vegetables. Teach your child to eat right by eating vegetables yourself. Many parents have found that if you mix vegetables into a food your child already likes, they will eat their vegetables.

Incorporating fruit into your children’s nutrition is often easier than vegetables. Know how many fruits your child should be eating each day to ensure proper nutrition. Looking at the daily food pyramid is a great place to start to know how many servings of fruits and vegetables your child should be eating each day.

One of the best way’s to improve your child’s diet is to cut out unhealthy snack habits like cookies, chips, candy, doughnuts, fruit drinks, and soda. Children should not need a bedtime snack, but usually need a late morning and early afternoon snack. Clean out the cookies and potato chips and add healthy foods like fruits and vegetables to your cupboards.

Be sure to read the nutrition labels and don’t be deceived by foods that say they are low in fat. Check the caloric intake and sugar and sodium intake. Keep in mind that most raw fruits and vegetables, except avocados and olives, are naturally low in fat.
For most child nutrition it is recommended that they eat three meals a day and two nutritious snacks, limiting high sugar and high fat foods. Starting to teach your child to have healthier eating habits can prevent many medical problems, including; obesity, osteoporosis, and developing diabetes.

Encourage healthier food for your child by purchasing healthier foods such as milk, fruits, whole-grain bread, vegetables, and avoid fast food, caffeine, juice and soda. Always have a variety of food available and balance the foods your child eats with proper physical activity. Your child’s bones are developing and continually growing at this young age and need enough calcium to stay strong into adulthood.

Teaching your child about nutrition and exercise is one of the best ways to help them avoid childhood obesity. What your child learns in their youth will impact their nutritional decisions throughout adulthood. Be safe about the foods you are buying and feeding your children, don’t always believe what the “selling word” is saying, read all the facts on the label before consuming it.