Teaching Children about Child Nutrition

Child nutrition is the most important component of a healthy child.

However, many parents do not know how to teach or fail in teaching nutrition to children.

This article will give you the very best nutrition advice that I can offer for children.

With that said, this article will be somewhat lengthy; but, in the end you will know what to teach your child about nutrition.

Child nutrition needs during childhood increase, according to the increased growth rate and changes in body composition associated with puberty.

This dramatic increase in energy and nutrient requirements coincides with other factors that influence child nutrition, such as:

• The quest for independence
• Acceptance by peers
• Increased mobility
• Greater time spent at work or school
• Pre-occupation with self image and
• Much, much more just to name a few.

Sound child nutrition plays a crucial role in preventing chronic diseases such as:

• Obesity
• Coronary heart disease
• Cancer
• Stroke and
• Diabetes.

In order to have sound nutrition in your child the best child nutrition advice I can give you is to start teaching nutrition to children at an early age.

The earlier you start the easier it will be for your child to adapt to a healthy eating plan.

Unfortunately, most children fail to meet their daily dietary needs an adequate nutrient intake.

Most children get their energy from fat and have a lower intake of:

• Vitamin A
• Folic acid
• Fiber
• Iron
• Calcium and
• Zinc.

Vitamin A and calcium consumption decreased as a child ages.

The low intake of iron and calcium among girls becomes a major problem.

Iron deficiency will impair:

• cognitive function and
• Physical performance.

Inadequate calcium intake will increase the risk of osteoporosis later in life.

When you take a look at Child nutrition, you will begin to see a pattern of behavior among children's eating such as:

• Meal skipping
• Fast food consumption
• Frequent snacking and
• Dieting.

These behaviors can become detrimental to your child's health.

The most common meals that children skip become breakfast and lunch due to their fast-paced lives.

However, when your child skips breakfast, it will affect their school performance and their diet.

When a child misses breakfast, they can eat more calories at one time, and most of these calories come from vending machines and fast food.

• Advise your child or teen not to skip breakfast. Make sure they eat a piece of fruit maybe with a piece of whole grain toast and an egg. Give them a glass of milk and you're set. Breakfast is served!

Snacking is another concern with children.

A timed, nutritious snack is great; however, most snacks children consume come right before dinner made up of junk food.

These types of snacks end up decreasing your child's appetite for dinner and their chance to get a nutritious meal.

Another roadblock in your efforts for an adequate child nutrition plan.

• Teach your child how to improve their diets with nutritious snacks instead of:

• Fresh fruits and vegetables with low-fat yogurt dip
• Iron fortified cereal and low fat milk
• String cheese
• Cheese and crackers
• Low-fat frozen yogurt
• Calcium fortified cereal bars and juices
• Vegetarian pizza.

Remember, the earlier you start the easier it becomes to teach proper child nutrition to your children.

Another huge problem among children and teens is fast foods.

As children become more independent, they can eat away from home more often.

Because fast food is so cheap, it becomes extremely popular with the children; especially teens.

• Iron
• Calcium
• Vitamins A and C
• Fiber and
• Folic Acid.

• Sodium
• Cholesterol
• Total fat and
• Saturated fat.

Since food will be a way of life for many teens, you need to teach your child how to make wise food choices such as grilled chicken or salads.

When teaching nutrition to children, especially teens, you need to teach them to include:

• Nutritious snacks
• Calcium rich foods
• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Baked potatoes
• Steamed vegetables and
• Low-fat frozen yogurt into their diet to supplement the fast food that they consume.

Dieting is also a major concern, especially among girls.

It is extremely common for children to be unhappy with and self-conscious about their changing bodies.

Girls seem to think that thinness, no matter how unrealistic, is perceived as the desired body shape.

So, in order for them to avoid becoming overweight and to fit in, they attempt to lose weight by regulating their food intake.

Sometimes, this regulating can turn into dieting and disordered eating behaviors such as:

• Exclusion of specific foods or food groups
• Adopting reduced energy diets or fad diets
• Skipping meals
• Binge eating
• Fasting
• Self-induced vomiting
• Using laxatives, diet pills, and diuretics or even
• Excessive exercising.This can also occur in adults as well.

• I feel too fat.
• My friends tease me.
• Parents pressuring them to lose weight.
• Being advised by a coach or sports instructor, and
• They want to look better (i.e. thin).

Dieting behaviors can end up compromising their intake of energy and nutrients they need for proper growth and development.

• Irritability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Sleep disturbances
• Muscle wasting
• Cardiac dysfunction
• Digestive tract disorders
• Menstrual irregularity
• Interruption in growth
• Delayed sexual maturation and
• Inadequate bone mass accumulation.

These children can also developed eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia.

Educate your child about the normal changes in growth and development that will occur within them.

Your child should understand that self-imposed dieting is not healthy or desirable for their growing bodies.

Make sure that your child eats:

• Lean Red Meats
• Chicken
• Fish
• Eggs
• Iron fortified cereals
• Whole grains
• Dried beans
• Seeds
• Nuts
• Citrus fruits
• Tomatoes
• Pineapple
• Low-fat yogurt
• Milk and
• Cheese.

These foods contain ironing calcium that your child will need for proper child nutrition.

This is a nutritionally vulnerable time for your child.

Poor eating habits can be formed easily and remain with your child for life.

These poor eating habits will lead to obesity and diet related diseases later on in their life.

• Use the food guide pyramid below as a guide for a healthy diet.
• Emphasize variety in your child's diet to supply all the necessary nutrients, they will need for growth and development.
• Recommend to your children to consume reduced fat dairy and animal products.
• Make sure they eat moderate portion sizes; not super sized.
• Have them eat less higher fat items.
• Give them more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
• Stress to your children the importance of eating all meals, especially breakfast.
• Promote nutrient dense snacks to help fill in nutrient gaps.
• Teach your children how to make nutritionally sound choices when faced with unhealthy foods.
• Do not categorize foods as "good", "bad", "safe", or "fattening"; instead, focus on recommended foods, rather than on foods to avoid.
• Emphasize your children that no one body type is ideal.
• Stress the importance of body diversity and that all children develop at different rates.
• Explain to your children the importance of healthy eating habits to their health, appearance, and energy.
• Educate your children, especially girls, about the importance of calcium to bone health, the recommended intakes, and the good sources of calcium.
• Advise your children to consume iron rich animal foods and foods with vitamin C in them.
• Educate your children that dieting is not healthy.

• compromise nutrition and
• Reduce their growth.
• Dieting can also increase the risk for the development of an eating disorder.

Below you will find the daily caloric requirements that your child needs along with the food guide pyramid.

Please read through it carefully so that you will know how many calories your child needs to consume.

BOYS

GIRLS

As you can see by this table, the number of calories vary greatly.

This is because the number of calories on the left side is what your child needs to just survive if they perform no activity whatsoever.

The higher number of calories is if your child is extremely active.

For most children, the average of the 2 cal numbers is what you want to achieve.

Example.

Your child is a boy that is 15 years old.

The average calorie requirement for your son would be 1430 plus 2400 divided by two equals 1915 calories per day.

Determination of Energy Intake:

Remember, the more active your child is the more calories they will need.

Once you know how many calories your child needs for proper child nutrition, then you will know what to feed them.

Below is the food guide pyramid for children.

Within the food guide pyramid, you will find the exact serving sizes your child needs.

Food pyramid for children 10 -- 18 years old:

The above food pyramid outlays the servings of each food group based on the number of calories your child requires.

When teaching nutrition to children, you need to teach them about each food group and how many servings they need each day.

Remember, child nutrition is the most important component of a healthy child.

In teaching nutrition to children, my final child nutrition advice is to do it!

Your child can overcome their weight issues through proper nutrition and exercise.

Together, we will make a difference; one child at a time.