Nutrition of the child is the key to its full development. From birth, parents lay the foundation for children's health. Food for children should be healthy, tasty and nutritious. For the correct formation of all the systems of the child’s body and bone skeleton, a complete diet is needed.
Nutrition rules
From the first days of life, food for children should be selected taking into account the characteristics of the body and the digestive system. Dishes should contain a maximum of useful substances that are easily digestible.
Breakfast is hearty and nutritious. An afternoon snack is lighter. Lunch has a maximum of nutrients. Dinner for a child is approximately equivalent to breakfast in calories.
Food should be warm so that it is better absorbed. Fatty and fried foods are completely excluded from the children's diet. You can not overfeed the child, as well as force him to eat.
Of the drinks, purchased juices are not recommended, as they cause appetite and upset the stomach. You should not give children carbonated drinks, especially if they are painted in bright colors.
For the proper functioning of the digestive system, the entire daily diet is divided into 4-5 meals. The main foods in the baby’s diet are: meat and fish, eggs, dairy products, cottage cheese, cereals, vegetables and fruits, bread.
Proteins fats carbohydrates
Food for children should be balanced. Protein is essential for bone skeleton formation and mental development. Its lack reduces immunity, mental and physical activity. Animal protein contains substances that are indispensable for the child’s body, which are responsible for blood formation and bone structure.
A moderate amount of fat should be present in the daily diet of the child, as they are sources of vitamins A and D. They, in turn, increase immunity, positively affect growth and development. Plant and animal fats should make up about 15% of the daily diet.
Carbohydrates are energy and a charge of vivacity for the whole day. Their number should not exceed 30% of the diet, since excess leads to overweight. If a child has a stomach ache after eating, it is necessary to exclude complex carbohydrates in the form of legumes, potatoes and bakery products.
Vitamins
The food norm for a child is from 1300 to 2000 calories per day. Vitamins and nutrients must be balanced in the diet. Be sure to include fruits and vegetables on the menu.
The main vitamins in the child’s diet are A and D. They are responsible for mental and physical development. Vitamin A supports normal skin color, is involved in the formation of good vision. It is found in foods such as:
- Pumpkin.
- Apricots
- Bell pepper.
- Sea buckthorn.
Vitamin D is good from birth. It is involved in bone formation, improves calcium absorption. It contains:
- Chicken Yolk.
- Butter.
- Fatty fish and cod liver.
Vitamin C protects the body from the effects of microbes, increases immunity. It improves the absorption and absorption of iron. Contained in rose hips, currants, cauliflower.
Vitamin B is important for the circulatory system. It is responsible for the functioning of the brain. Contained in pork and beef liver, cereals.
Dairy products
When telling children about food, you need to do it as easy as possible. Every parent knows about the benefits of the products. Calcium is responsible for the development of the bone skeleton. Dairy products should be in the diet of every child:
- Cottage cheese, the fat content of which is not more than 5%.
- Milk.
- Ryazhenka.
- Kefir.
- Natural yogurts without additives.
- Sour cream.
Be sure to have butter in your daily diet. If the child does not want to eat cottage cheese or drink milk, recipes of dishes in which these products are needed will come to the rescue. Casseroles, desserts, complemented by fresh berries and fruits, will appeal to children.
Bakery products
Baking is loved not only by children, but also by adults. Specialists recommend whole grain bread, as it has a positive effect on intestinal function. It is not recommended to feed children with freshly baked pastries.
Pasta should be made from durum wheat. A great solution would be homemade noodles made by yourself.
Children are not recommended purchased dumplings and dumplings. They must be prepared independently from proven products. In addition, modeling dumplings can become a common activity for the whole family.
Fruits and vegetables, cereals
Food for children should be varied and healthy. Fruits and vegetables are included in the diet year-round. The daily norm is about 250 grams. Fresh fruits and berries are a source of vitamins and minerals.
It is recommended to cook stew from vegetables, stew or bake them, as well as eat fresh. Soups cooked from carrots, potatoes, cabbage, with the addition of greens are useful for the child's body.
Freshly squeezed juices, both from fruits and vegetables, are healthy and nutritious. If it is not possible to cook them yourself, choose a product intended for baby food. The norm of juice per day is no more than one glass.
Porridge will be an excellent source of fiber, along with fruits and vegetables. They improve bowel function, energize for the whole day. If parents do not know what their child can eat, then cereal is the best solution. The most useful are:
- Barley.
- Buckwheat
- Rice.
- Millet.
- Wheat
Porridge can be prepared monocomponent or combine several types of cereals together.
Nutrition for children per year
The transfer of a baby from breast milk or a mixture to simple food begins at 6-7 months from birth. From this moment, parents are faced with an important mission of preparing a children's menu. A child’s food per year should be balanced, contain healthy vitamins and minerals.
There must be porridge for breakfast. Tasty and healthy recipe:
- A small slice of zucchini and a half apple tinder on a fine grater.
- A glass of Herculean cereal is poured into the multicooker bowl, poured with water. Then add zucchini and apple.
- Porridge is cooked in the required mode. Before serving, add a small piece of butter.
For lunch, children are recommended vegetable soups cooked in water or meat broth. Already from 8 months of age, you can feed the baby puree. Making it very simple by boiling the soup. Such mashed potatoes will be useful and nutritious.
For dinner, you can cook baby fishballs:
- The fish fillet is scrolled in a meat grinder or chopped with a blender.
- Carrots cooked in advance are peeled and finely chopped.
- Two pieces of bread are soaked in milk or water.
- All components are connected, cutlets are formed and steamed.
Baby food requires parents to carefully select products for cooking. After overeating, pain may appear after eating in a child, therefore it is important to monitor the volume of a serving.
Daily Menu Example
The diet of the child is divided into 4-5 equivalent meals. Often parents wonder how to diversify the menu and what to cook. A sample list of dishes will help solve this issue:
- Breakfast is an important meal. The best will be cereals cooked in milk, chicken eggs, scrambled eggs. Sandwiches with butter and a small slice of cheese will help complement breakfast. Of the drinks, the most useful are a rosehip broth, cocoa or dried fruit compote.
- For lunch, it is recommended to cook soups in meat or fish broth, with the addition of vegetables or cereals. Cutlets are served with a side dish of mashed potatoes, pasta from durum wheat, buckwheat. Drink - jelly, compote, freshly squeezed fruit juice.
- At mid-afternoon, children are served dairy products, such as kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese. Additionally give oatmeal cookies, pastries, fruits.
- Dinner should be easier. A great option would be vegetable stew, boiled chicken egg, scrambled eggs or vegetable salad.
You can not force a child to eat, it affects the intestines. For the assimilation of food for breakfast and dinner, from 25 minutes are allocated, for lunch - about 30 minutes. During the meal, nothing should distract the child.
A balanced, healthy diet is the key to the proper development of the child. Parents should give children an example of behavior at the table, instill the right habits.