Healthy Diet Kids: Vegetarian KidsOne way to introduce eating a lot of vegetables to your children is to serve them vegetarian dishes. There are many tasty vegetarian dishes out there. In fact there are vegetarian dishes found in all kinds of cuisine, and your children can benefit from all their goodness. Look into vegetarian cookbooks for recipe ideas. Vegetarian dishes aren't just about cooking vegetables as side dishes, but you have many main course dishes as well. In a previous article, we briefly discussed food alternatives, and vegetarian dishes are definitely an alternative food that you can serve your children, especially if they need a vegetable boost. Since vegetables can provide protein as well, you can have a completely vegetarian dish but still address all five food groups. While serving vegetarian dishes is great, especially if your children will eat it, think twice before going completely vegetarian or vegan on your children. Many people choose to be completely vegan, which means they only eat products made from vegetables, fruit, or grains. Some parents who are vegan find it only natural that their children will be vegan as well. However, making your children vegan from the very beginning is not the healthiest of decisions. We are not trying to disprove that being vegetarian or vegan is healthy because it definitely is, but during the formative years when your children's bodies and brains are developing, children will need more than just vegetables. The protein your children need may be taken from nuts and beans, but dairy is one member of the food group that doesn't fit into a vegetarian diet, and your children certainly need it for their development. If you want your child to eat primarily vegetables, you can put them on a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet. This means that they eat mostly vegetables and grains, get their protein from beans and nuts, but still eat eggs (another source of protein) and dairy products. This lacto-ovo vegetarian kind of diet is more acceptable for a child because they are still getting the nutrients that they need from the dairy products. Some parents may try to substitute it with soy milk, and this can be okay when they're older, but in early childhood milk will be better for your child's development. |
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How To Get Your Kids To Eat Healthy Food - Without A Fight!
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