What Should Children Be Eating

Healthful eating habits for all children can best be achieved by consumption of a varied and moderate diet, that includes foods from each of the major food groups, as illustrated by the CINDI (WHO) Food Guide Pyramid.  Boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 10 require about 1,800 to 2,400 Calories daily.  In nutrient terms children should be having a diet rich in protein, calcium (800mg daily for children ages 4 – 8), iron (which can be obtained from lentils, red kidney and soy beans, tofu, fish, dried peaches, raisins, whole grains and pumpkin), and complex carbohydrates.  In other words, on a daily basis a child’s diet should include cereals and starchy vegetables (6 – 11 servings from breads, cereals, rice and pasta, etc), milk and dairy products (2 – 3 servings), fruit and vegetables (5 or more servings), and meat or high protein foods (2 – 3 servings),  which need not necessarily be from animal sources (eg: legumes, pulses, soy products, tofu, nuts and seeds) .

An adequate amount of dietary fat is crucial to development in very young children but between the ages of 2 to 5, the dietary intake of fat should increasingly develop to  resemble that of an adult.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the ADA have stated that gradually the fat in the diet should contribute to only 30% of the total energy intake and only 10% should come from saturated fatty acids.  Dietary cholesterol should be less than 300milligrams per day.  Hence, like adults, children should also be eating more white meat and reducing red, removing the skin from poultry and trimming the fat from meats, reducing butter and margarine and consuming foods which have been cooked with low-fat cooking methods, eg baking, grilling, poaching and steaming.  Junk foods and excessive sweets should be avoided.  It is very difficult to tame the sweet tooth children are born with, but parents can help control the child’s access to sweets by not stocking them at home or bribing children with sweets.  Research shows that when children eat too many sweets their appetite for other tastes will not develop, so these should be kept to the occasional treat.

Fibre is another important component in a child’s diet.  It is obtained from plant foods particularly wholegrains, cereals, pulses, fruit and vegetables and has a vital role to play in the digestive system as well as in reducing the chances of heart disease and cancer later on in life.  The recommendation for those under 20 years, for fibre is to add 5 to the age of the child, where this will be the figure in grammes of fibre to be consumed daily.

The Health Promotion Unit have recently published a booklet on Healthy Eating for School Children and this offers advice on child nutrition,   
whilst showing how healthy eating can be achieved and how children can be guided to opt for nutritious foods.

Wellpoint Health Networks has collaborated with the ADA to produce a print and web-based guide for parents that provides practical strategies for engaging the entire family in healthy eating and physical activity.  For more information visit www.wellpoint.com/healthy_parenting/index.html