Healthy Food and Nutrition

Healthy Food and Nutrition

            Eating healthy is a task that not only adults should follow; we should also encourage our children to practice eating healthy as well. “Good role modeling, providing healthy food selections and discussions about the My Pyramid Food for Kids can send children positive messages about good nutrition.” (Robertson, 2010) Eating a nutritious meal can help develop and  strengthen the child’s bones; while on the other hand it can also cause adult’s bones not to become fragile.

            Infants need to be cared for and given all the required nutrients during their first twelve months which comes from being breastfed. For those babies who can not tolerate breast milk, formula would be a substitute and he/she can still receive all of their nutrients. At or about four to five months, infants should be given rice cereal and then slowly add on the fruits and vegetables.

            Feeding toddler and preschooler’s sometimes can become very challenging, because they can be very picky eaters. They will also go through likes and dislikes of certain foods for days or weeks at a time and may or may not come back and revisit it. The introduction of finger foods and trying new things usually gets interested especially when the child is transitioning off of baby food.

            School age children can be the most challenging individuals to provide for because they are often influenced by their friends lunch, or fast food places, or junk food. Making sure they eat their vegetables, fruits, and drink plenty of water is very important.

            Adults should encourage children to eat healthy, to ensure they are getting all the proper vitamins, nutrients, and a variety of different foods. By adults helping the children eat healthy, they can also help themselves by modeling what it is to eat healthy. Once the child observes the parent eating vegetables and enjoying them, it’ll give the child an interest of knowing what they taste like. By encouraging the children to eat healthy foods, it’ll curve them from becoming obese; which is an epidemic from children and adults over-eating, not eating the proper foods, nor exercising and staying physically fit. Two ways in which parents can help curve the improper eating is by giving the child a controlled portion size and not allowing them to over eat because there is food left over, and avoid chips and other high-calorie, low nutrient foods and replace it with fresh fruit and or vegetables.

            Some healthy snacks that can be prepared with your young child are:

1) Apple Pudding- 1 cup of left over cooked rice, 1 cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt, 1 cup of applesauce, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix rice and applesauce together in a large bowl. Add cinnamon and yogurt. Stir well. Spoon into dishes and serve. Makes six ½ servings.

2. Yogurt Grahams- 1 graham cracker (large rectangle), 2 tablespoons low fat fruit flavored yogurt. Break graham cracker in half. Spread yogurt on one half and top with the other. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Makes one serving.

3. Bugs on a Log- celery sticks (about 3inches long)/apples (cut in half w/core removed)/carrot sticks (about 3inches long) 2. Spreads: cream cheese and pineapple/cheese and pimento/peanut butter/egg salad. 3. Ants: raisins/unsweetened cereal/ sunflower seeds/ golden raisins/ chopped peanuts.

(http://www.nncc.org/Nutrition/cc42_snacks.presc.html)