Kids Food Pyramid: Child Nutrition Guide (Ages 12-18)This is the age of a lot of physical activity for your child. Their growth may slow down a little, but their muscles and bones are developing, hence all the moving around. They will very naturally turn to foods that will replenish their energy. Keep them away from sugary drinks, artificial fruit flavors, and sugary cereals. This would be the best time to turn them on to eating carbohydrate filled vegetables as snacks like carrots or papayas. Use the sweet, carbohydrate filled fruits and vegetables to replenish your child’s energy sources. Their bodies will thank you for it! Healthy kids should be eating many different foods from the different food groups. Follow the food servings as recommended by the pyramid. At this age make sure your children are not indulging in high calorie foods with no nutritional value. This is an age where habits can be set, and if they get used to high calorie foods they may face an overweight problem in the future. Keep in mind that children have different body types, though, and some children do go through chubby phases. As long as your child is getting the right nutrition in the right portions, and is getting a good amount of exercise each day, they should be fine. At this age group begin to serve whole grains to your child. Half of your child’s grain servings should be whole grain. You can determine if something is whole grain because it should say so on the label. Whole grains are a good grain source because they contain more fiber than refined grains. Your child may increase their protein servings at this stage. Protein helps build muscle, and their bodies may naturally crave it. Stick to serving them lean meats, and in good portions. Regarding portion sizes, keep in mind that you can go over on one day and less on another day from time to time. So if your child eats a lot on one day it isn’t something to worry too much about. Just make sure it isn’t an everyday habit to overeat. Ages 7 to 11 are usually the ages where children stop drinking milk. It can be the beginnings of peer pressure, where they think only babies drink milk, or it can be because they’ve outgrown its taste. Again, get them to eat cheese and calcium fortified orange juice. Check the nutrition label on the back of the juice bottle to see how many servings will fulfill your child’s dairy needs. Remember that a part of that glass of orange juice counts as a fruit serving too! You can channel all of your child’s energy into sports. As previously mentioned, this is a good age to start. Taking up a sport is good discipline for a child, and it will definitely provide them with their required exercise each day. Feeding a child who is serious about a sport can be a bit tricky. They will require a lot of carbohydrates, and a good amount of protein. Try serving them whole grains and fruits and vegetables high in carbohydrates. Most serious sport programs will have a coach that is knowledgeable in the nutrition of their players. They may have recommended diets for your child. Cross check this with what you know about the food pyramid. Make sure your child is getting their required servings of each food group before any extra servings of a particular group. If their coach recommends more servings of a particular food group, discuss the logic behind it. If you’re unsure as to why your child needs the extra servings, talk to a sports nutritionist for your child. Some sports programs try to “beef up” their players, which is not the healthiest thing for a child at this age. Finally be wary about your child eating to meet a weight requirement for their sport, or under eating in order to drop weight. This can be the beginning of unhealthy eating habits, and later on, an eating disorder. Many serious athletes do this on a regular basis, and while coaches will probably not encourage a child between 7 and 11 to do so, they may start introducing the concept this early. |
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How To Get Your Kids To Eat Healthy Food - Without A Fight!
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