Nutrition Tips for Healthy Children

Teaching your children healthy habits today can help them grow up strong and fit and give them a head start on staying healthy as adults.  Here's what you can do.

Learning healthy habits today can help your child grow up strong and fit. As a parent, you can teach your child to make better food choices. There are also things you can let your child do on her own.

Shopping for healthy foods

Shopping for healthy meals is the first step in practicing healthy eating habits. Your child can help pick out healthy foods with you.

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Preschooler nutrition

Preschool-age children (ages 4 to 5) are still developing their eating habits and need encouragement to eat healthy meals and snacks. They are eager to learn, especially from other people and will often imitate eating behaviors of adults. They need supervision at mealtime, as they are still working on chewing and swallowing skills.

School-aged child nutrition

School-age children (ages 6 to 12) need healthy foods and nutritious snacks. They have a consistent but slow rate of growth and usually eat four to five times a day (including snacks). Children establish food habits, likes, and dislikes during this time. Family, friends, and the media (especially TV) influence their food choices and eating habits.

Heart healthy eating

A diet high in fat and cholesterol may contribute to the development of heart disease in adulthood. A heart-healthy diet may help prevent or treat high blood cholesterol levels. The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition recommends that healthy children ages 2 and older follow a diet low in fat (30 percent of calories from fat), the same eating recommendations for healthy adults.

Nutritious foods and drinks and healthy snacks

Try to serve your child foods from all the food groups every day. Give your child many kinds of healthy foods from each group to help them learn to like new tastes. set limits on food and drinks that have a lot of sugar and instead give them healthy snacks.

Making meals with your child

Cooking and eating together is the best way to teach kids healthy eating habits. Kids need meal routines, just like they need bedtime routines. make mealtime family time. Let your child help prepare healthy meals. Eat sitting together at the table. Turn off the TV, remove electronic devices from the room, and talk as a family.

Healthy foods on the go

If you’re not near a grocery store or farmers’ market, you can find healthy choices in a corner market or convenience store. Even fast-food restaurants offer some good choices for the whole family.

When your child eats less

You may be concerned that your child eats less than he used to. That is often a normal stage of development for a growing child.

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