Find out how to raise a healthy child and get on the right track of nutrition earliest possible!
Meeting Your Child’s Calcium needs Did you know that two glasses of Snow Brand SUPER KID-plus provides your child with his daily calcium requirement? A 3-year-old needs at least 500mg, whereas a 4 to 7-year-old would require 800mg a day. Apart from calcium obtained from milk, introduce other calcium-rich foods to your child’s diet in stages, e.g. cheese and yoghurt. Add food rich in vitamin D, as this improves calcium absorption and helps facilitate ingestion of calcium. Sesame seeds are high in calcium, especially when combined with vegetables or other foods high in antioxidants.
Getting More Fruits and Vegetables In to Your Child’s Diet
If your child hates fruits and vegetables, here are some ways to sneak them into their meals and snacks:
Fruits: Most kids love the taste of bananas, peaches and berries when they’re blended into a smoothie. All you need is a blender, fresh/frozen fruit, low fat yoghurt or SUPER KID-plus milk, and blend away!
Veggies: Serve vegetables with dipping sauces. How about steamed broccoli with some cheese sauce? Cherry tomatoes or carrots dipped in low fat ranch dressing is often a winner with kids. Visit a salad bar buffet–it’s a great place for your child to try new veggies and dressings. It usually takes children an average of 10 tries to develop a taste for a food they don’t like. So try and try again!
Introducing Fish to Your Child’s Diet
Fish is a great alternative to red meat as it is easier to digest and lower in calories while still providing an important number of nutrients like protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Wait until your child is at least a year old before introducing fish into his diet. Even then, do it carefully and in small amounts to make sure your child is not suffering from allergies or unpleasant reactions.
Fish sticks are an ideal way to introduce your child to fish. As he becomes accustomed to the taste, move on to baked or fried fish. Do not feed a child under 10 years fish with small bones. The risk of choking is high in small children, even if you are looking carefully through it and eliminating all bones.
Meeting your Child’s Calorie needs
Feeding a growing child is a challenge. Not only do you need to worry about providing a balanced diet, you also need to ensure their calorie requirements are met. With too many calories, children run the risk of becoming overweight, too few and they may not get enough nutrients to grow strong and healthy.
Here are some tips:
1. Consult your doctor to determine your child’s calorie requirements. You can also refer to FDA’s food pyramid, especially for children.
2. Feed your child small meals throughout the day. This is especially if your child is a picky eater and refuses to finish meals. Add nuts and dried fruits or low calorie cereals as in between snacks if you like. Keep it light so it doesn’t spoil his dinner.
3. Liquid calories like fruit juices, healthy smoothies made with milk can up the total calorie intake while still providing nutrition.
Helping your Child Enjoy Milk
Many parents deal with fussy eaters and drinkers at some point. If your child refuses milk, get creative to get him to like it and his dislike of milk may change. Keep offering milk even though your child refuses to drink. It takes a child some time before they consider accepting certain beverages. if possible, remind her of the time when they did not like certain foods that she enjoys now. Try serving milk in character cups from his favorite cartoons, movies or kid’s shows.
Make drinking milk fun with low-sugar cereal—tastes better than drinking plain milk in a cup. She may even enjoy tipping the bowl up to drink as well. Rather than resorting to flavored milk drinks, try mixing real chocolate or fresh fruits into milk with a blender. Why not get your child to help you?
Lastly, try SNOW BRAND SUPER KID-plus—it retains the all-natural taste of milk that children love plus the goodness that milk provides!
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
