How to Adopt Best Food Habits to Kids:
How to adopt best food habits to kids? It is a problematic situation faced by every parent. The reason being during infancy the kid is only on milk diet or formula milk preparations and the digestive system is not in a position to digest other foods.
Good parents start giving boiled mashed vegetables gradually so that the kid develops the taste of vegetables. If the kid is not introduced to vegetables in the early life, the kid refuses to take vegetables, which is an essential source of vitamins and minerals necessary for growth of the kid.
There are certain basic facts for good nutrition, which can be understood through right information source popularly known as food pyramid. It can become a useful guide for parents to determine, which food habits are good to be encouraged and what are bad food habits to stop them. If the right food habits are practiced, the kid is saved of obesity and diseases like diabetes related to obesity. Once a kid has become obese, then the precautions do not remain effective.
The Call of the Food Pyramid:
The food pyramid for kids stresses on the need of five categories of foods in right proportions, which are essential for proper growth of the kid. These foods are proteins, carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, fat and dairy products. There is a Warning in respect of restricted use of fats and sweets in kids between the ages of 2 to 6 years.
The right proportion of essential nutrition required for growth needs of kids, can be obtained by using variety of foods, instead of confining food preparation from narrow range of vegetables and fruits. All the seasonal vegetables and fruits should by rotation. The nutritionists advise that one must use five varieties of vegetables and fruits in daily meals.
Wonders of Fruits & Vegetables:
The health departments and their agencies having wide reach to the population also recommend five vegetables and fruit concept in their media messages and programs featured by media to prevent obesity and related diseases.
Fruit and vegetables are full of natural goodness due to presence of number of essential vitamins and minerals, which are not found in other sources of food.
By eating food comprised of fruit and vegetables, there is lowering of the risk of suffering from degenerative diseases and there is prevention of other health problems like: cancer, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
The fact is most of fruit and vegetables do not contain fats or cholesterol and provide nutrition with less calories count. These help us in maintaining our body with physical fitness features.
A Count of Nature’s Goodness in Fruits & Vegetables:
- Water is most essential component of our body and we need fiber for keeping our alimentary canal clean and getting rid of cholesterol and prevention of constipation. Both of them are present in bulk in watermelon.
- Variety of colored fruits and vegetables provide different minerals, nutrients and antioxidants. Thus taking variety of colored fruits provides essential nutrients in right proportion.
- Dark green leafy vegetables like cabbage, watercress and spinach contain carotenoids helpful in preventing or delaying age related diseases of eyes. These contain high quantity of vitamins C and E, which act as anti-oxidants.
- Red colored fruits like watermelon, yellow colored oranges and vegetables tomatoes, carrots and apricots have more of vitamin A, C and E.
- Thus such a food provides adequate quantities of vitamins A, C, E, B and K besides minerals also like potassium, calcium, phosphorous, manganese and iron.
If this advice is not followed, the kid is going to face deficiency in nutrition. These food choices should be started in early life of kid, so that it becomes a good food habit and kid likes their taste.
Following foods result into bad food habits, hence they should be avoided
- Excess quantity of dessert.
- Excessive sweetened drinks with fruit flavors.
- Sweetened cereals.
- Sugar based candies.
- Hard mutton preparations.
- Chewing of gums.
Following the food pyramid for kids in daily routine shall be enough to make a meal, which is balanced as well as rich in nutrients. Good food habits determine the quality of intellectual abilities and physical strength. The food for kids should be prepared from wholegrain cereals, lot of calcium and iron available in variety of dishes. Keep sugar, fats and salt to the minimum, while preparing food for kid, excess of which ruin the health.
For the sake of good of the kid it is advisable that food pyramid should be considered for making meals for other family members also, because other wise the kid shall have the attraction to eat food made for other family members. Some thing is not good for kids like ice cream should not be taken by other family members.
- advantages of adopting good eating habits
- benefits of different colored food for kids
- five foods and its benefit for kids
- food preparation benefits and advantages
- obesity and alimentary habits on kids
- positives in the media on food habits