Importance Of Healthy Food For Kids

IMPORTANCE OF HEALTHY FOOD FOR KIDS:

TEACH BY EXAMPLE:

First on the list and the most valuable advice we can give you is to set a good example to your children. If they see you enjoying a healthy salad and fresh fruit, they’ll want to try it; if they see you leaving your dinner so you can tuck into a huge dish of chocolate pudding and cream, they’ll be justified in doing the same!

That doesn’t mean that you should never have sweet puddings but try and avoid giving them a big build-up – ‘eat your dinner and we’ll have a treat’ – if you want your kids to regard them as just another food option......!!!!

HEALTHY FOOD: 

A nutritious, balanced diet for children should include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, nuts and low-fat dairy products. Children should eat some food from each food group everyday. It is also important to limit the amount of saturated fats and sugar that children consume.

'Good nutrition is important for all, especially for those younger than five years as these years are demanding for the developing child. They are the years in which children acquire many of the physical attributes and the social and psychological structures for life and learning’. (British Medical Association 2005).

GROWTH: 

A healthy diet is an essential factor in a child's growth and development. Between age 1 and adolescence, children grow an average of 2 1/2 inches per year, and growing bones and muscles require proper nutrition to reach their full growth potential.

A GOOD HEALTHY EATING POLICY WILL INCLUDE:

• The reasons that underpin healthy eating in the setting.                  
• Key aims focusing on health and well being.
• Key messages about food and nutrition.
• How these messages will be coordinated and conveyed.
• How everyone, including parents and careers, will know how to contribute to the promotion of healthy eating.
• How staff will be trained, so that knowledge and skills are developed to ensure consistent messages are given to the children.
• How the setting’s practice will be monitored and reviewed.

MAINTAINING A BALANCE OF GOOD HEALTH: 

The nutritional advice produced by the Food Standards Agency entitled The Balance of Good Health is applicable to children of five and over. This also provides a good guideline for younger children, although they may need more calcium and fat in their diet. The Balance of Good Health is a pictorial guide that groups foods together into five categories. These are:

• fruit and vegetables.
• breads, other cereals and potatoes.                         
• milk and dairy foods.
• meat, fish, eggs, soya, beans and pulses.
• Foods containing sugars and foods containing fats.

A healthy balanced diet contains more foods from the first two groups and a smaller number of foods from the next two groups. Foods from the fifth group – those containing fats and/or sugar – should be eaten sparingly and not as a substitute for foods from the other four groups.

The Balance of Good Health also provides eight general guidelines on healthy eating which are applicable to all of us:

• Enjoy your food.
• Eat a variety of different foods.                                  
• Eat the right amount to be a healthy weight.              
• Eat plenty of foods rich in starch and fibre.
• Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.
• Don’t eat too many foods that contain a lot of fat.
• Don’t have sugary foods and drinks too often.
• If you drink alcohol, drink sensibly (no alcohol for young children!).

Eating fruit and vegetables as an alternative to crisps and sweets as a snack between meals is a good way to start introducing young children to a healthy, balanced diet. Fruit, vegetables and salads are rich sources of vitamins, minerals and other components which boost the immune system. They also provide an excellent combination of fluid and fibre to help prevent constipation in young children.

ACTING AS A ROLE MODEL: 

Children learn much about the world through watching and imitating others – they need to see adults demonstrating healthy eating and drinking habits in order to develop their own. Most settings now have water freely available to the children, but how often do the adults drink the water? Drinking plenty of water is vital for a healthy lifestyle and if the adults are seen drinking the children will drink more. Some children never access water at all during the course of a session, so a system for monitoring who has accessed it and who needs some encouragement is a good idea. It could be that when a child has had a drink he puts his name on a board or puts a picture of a water drop next to his name/photo. The child can see how many drops he has by the end of a session and the adults can quickly see who is not drinking enough. The adults will of course have their names and water drops recorded too!

Snack and meal times need adults acting as good role models, not practitioners hurrying around sorting out the room, or passing plates of food around, but instead sitting, eating and talking with the children. To appreciate the importance of acting as a good role model think about the messages you are giving if you do not participate. If no adults are eating the food some children may feel apprehensive and wonder what is wrong with it. If children see others, particularly adults, eating new and unusual foods they will feel it is safe to try the food themselves...

LIFE-LONG MEANS GOOD NUTRITION:  

Children who eat healthy foods will be more likely to make better food and nutrition choices as adults. Unfortunately, studies show that the opposite is also true -- overweight children tend to become overweight adults. Teach your children about healthy foods. Here are some tips to help:

• Read over the different food pyramids and ask your kids to pick out some favorite foods from each food group.
• Have them help you plan a meal that includes a healthy serving of protein, a vegetable or two, and a healthy fruit for dessert.
• For young kids, make a chart to keep track of all the fruits and vegetables they eat (we need at least five servings of fruits and veggies every day).
• Snack time can be more fun if you try different recipes and snack ideas together with your kids.