How to give your child a healthy diet

The importance of a healthy and balanced diet during childhood can never be undermined. Though all parents are keen to do their best for their children when it comes to giving them the right kind of food, not many know how to go about it, perhaps because they can not add adequate variety to the children’s diets and run out of ideas about how to make the meals more interesting. The importance of a healthy and balanced diet during childhood can never be undermined. Though all parents are keen to do their best for their children when it comes to giving them the right kind of food, not many know how to go about it, perhaps because they can not add adequate variety to the children’s diets and run out of ideas about how to make the meals more interesting.

First of all it must be remembered that if the child is brought up with a healthy and nutritious food, devoid of the various ‘junk’ foods, so readily available, that are rich in additives, etc., you are actually helping him to grow up as a healthy adult too, without many behavioral problems, like dyslexia, short attention spans and hyperactivity.

When you treat your child to a variety of home-cooked food which is balanced and healthy, you are also helping the child in a way, to develop a good relationship with good food. Everything said and done, we as parents have a lot of responsibility towards our kids to instill many good habits like buying healthy food from the supermarket, to growing fresh vegetables in the backyard, etc. These beneficial habits usually stay with the individual for the rest of the life. One of the easiest ways to decipher what is good and healthy for your child is to follow the food pyramid, which clearly tells you what the child needs at which stage of development. For instance, when the child is at the pre-school age, he would need four primary food groups like milk and dairy products, meat, fish and poultry, fruits and vegetables along with some carbohydrates like bread, rice, etc. If you look at the food pyramid carefully, carbohydrates are at the base with fruits and vegetables coming up next. Proteins follow this pattern – which means that the quantum of such foods is decreasing. Foods containing fats and sugars are at the top of the pyramid – indicating that the proportion of such foods should be the least in a child’s diet plan.

How do you instill good eating habits in a child? You could do this by setting an example of course. Remember, small children have no preconception of what foods are like – so when the child sees his parents having a fruit snack instead of sweets etc., the child would also pick up the same habit. Of course, things are not that easy when the child has a sweet tooth or has picked up the habit of eating junk food from other children, etc. You also have the option of making burgers and chips healthier, if you can buy the best you can afford or buy the organic alternatives, if they are readily available. If you ensure that the child eats enough fresh vegetables and salads you could also add a lot of nutrition to the food that he is eating. It is a fact that switching from ready-made food to home-cooked food involves time and effort, but if you could gradually cultivate this habit, it could go a long way in improving your child’s health benefiting his present and future.