How to Nourish Your Child’s Body and Mind

From the awesome gals @ Nutrition Babes  (Thanks Lauren & Kathy), some great thoughts on how to teach, and keep, your kids healthy:

How to Nourish Your Child’s Body and Mind

Feeding children is not an easy task.  Between picky eaters, after school activities, weekend sports, etc, it’s tough to be consistent.  If the old adage, “you are what you eat” is true, we need to pay extra attention to what we feed those little growing bodies.  When the body receives optimal nourishment, kids perform better at school and in all of their activities.  Proper nutrition will help temper the behavioral highs and lows associated with poor eating habits.  This information could fill more than a book, so a blog requires some simplifying.  Here is our list of major guidelines for healthy eating for children:

1. Breakfast is critical!  Bodies need fuel to get going the same way your car needs gas.  We can’t expect our kids to think clearly and perform well in school on an empty tank.

2. Eat every 3-5 hours.  Skipping meals or not planning ahead can cause kids to experience a dip in energy levels and concentration.  Make sure your child has a snack if there is a long stretch between breakfast and lunch. The same goes for after school if they have activities, or if dinner is late.

3. Balance meals and snacks.  It is essential to have a mix of carbohydrates (preferably whole grain), fat, and protein at each meal to optimize blood sugar stability.  Just a bagel with jelly will cause them to feel hungry much sooner than scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast.  Think about having one serving from each “food group” at every meal.

4. Add whole grains at least ½ the time.  Whole grains are essential to helping kids get their daily fiber intake, as well as stabilizing their hunger as they are digested more slowly than refined white grains.

5. When possible, avoid food dyes, additives and preservatives.  While some studies have linked food dyes and preservatives to increased hyperactivity in children with ADHD, new studies are linking these chemicals to hyperactive behavior in kids that do not have ADD.  This one is tough.  Most “kid” food is made with colors not found in nature.  Look for foods colored with fruit or vegetable dyes, not red 40 or yellow 5.  Look for short ingredient lists, organic foods and minimally processed foods.  If your third grader can’t pronounce the ingredients, they probably shouldn’t be eating it.

6. Wash produce well, even if you are not eating the peel!  When cutting fruit like a cantaloupe, most people will not think to wash the outside.  There can be harmful bacteria on the exterior of fruits and veggies that can transfer to the inside flesh when cut.  Make sure to wash all produce well before cutting or peeling.  If you are washing edible fruit like berries, consider using castile soap.  It’s a natural soap that will help remove some extra pesticide residues. 

7. Pay attention to sodium!  New dietary guidelines recommend a major cut in sodium, even for kids.  The new recs are 1500mg per day, or about 2/3 of a teaspoon.  Limit processed and fast foods.  Read labels!

8. Stay hydrated the smart way. Depending on their age and activity level, children will require anywhere from 4-11 cups of fluid per day.  The best choices are water, skim or 1% milk.  Whole milk is no longer necessary after a child’s 2^nd birthday.  Limit 100% fruit juice to a total of 4-6 ounces per day.  Instead of soda, add a splash of juice to seltzer.  Try to avoid sugar sweetened beverages that are a source of empty calories, especially sports drinks and caffeinated or herbal energy drinks. 

9.  Eat the colors of the rainbow.  Try to get your kids to choose several servings of produce per day.  Fresh is better, but make sure that if their choice is canned or frozen that it does not contain high fructose corn syrup or added sugar.  Ideally, half the plate at each meal should be filled with fruits and vegetables.

10. Heart disease can start as early as 9 years of age.  Just because your child is thin, does not mean it is OK to feed them junk food.  That food is still affecting their arteries, and learning healthy habits at a young age will decrease the likelihood of becoming obese later.

Make food fun.  Take the kids to the store and help them choose your groceries.  Include them in the cooking when you can, and expose them to new and different recipes.  Proper nutrition starts early.  Healthy habits now will lead to healthy adults later.