What should my child be eating for optimal health?

Healthy eating habits are something that is best to encourage among the whole family. However, children are at the strongest demand for healthy nutrients, as their bodies need more energy, vitamins and minerals, to grow and develop properly. On the other hand, establishing healthy eating habits within a family is often a true challenge, and the children may often be the most reluctant to change their eating habits. Some food sources like fruit and vegetables should count for the most of the child’s diet. Others, like refined sugars, should be almost completely banned. It is much better to establish healthy eating habits while the child is still young, and before it becomes an independent eater. Here are some tips that could come handy.

A child needs a lot of vegetables in the diet, but most of the children hate to see them on a plate. There is a simple trick to overcome this obstacle. Parents should include more vegetables into the child’s favorite dishes. If a child loves spaghetti, for example, sneak finely sliced mushrooms or pepper into the sauce.

There are always some vegetables that a child likes to eat. When serving those foods, parents should serve them in big portions so that the child can enjoy both the taste and the healthy benefits.

Vegetables can easily complement various meaty dishes that child likes to eat. Barley, beans or lentils are great in soups and stews and the children will not even notice them.

Children should drink only sugar-free squashes and fizzy drinks. This is among the most frequent reason for complaining, but a simple trick could help to overcome the argument: pour the drinks into empty bottles of the standard variety when the children are not looking.

Try to incorporate whole-wheat or granary bread into the child’s diet. If the child constantly refuses to eat brown rice or whole meal pasta, cook both standard and whole-grain variety and mix them together.

Children should eat 6 servings of grain soup a day. These servings include 1 slice of bread, 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta, 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, and 1 ounce of ready to eat cereals. Vegetables and fruits should contribute to the daily diet with 3 and 2 servings, respectively. Each vegetable serving should consist of 1/2 cup of chopped or raw vegetables, or 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables. Fruit servings should consist of 1 piece of fruit or a melon wedge, 3/4 cup of 100% fruit juice, 1/2 cup of canned fruit or 1/4 cup of dried fruit. Milk is represented as two servings of 1 cup of milk or yogurt or 2 ounces of cheese. Meat group servings that include 2 to 3 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry or fish, 1/2 cup of cooked dry beans, should be represented in two daily servings.