Best Food for Children

In today’s times parents are finding it very difficult to ensure that their children are having the balanced diet that they need. If you are one of them; you need not worry much about it. Just include the following five foods in your diet for indian kids and rest assured that your child is getting the much needed nutrients imminent to his healthy growth.

Milk and Milk Products (Fitness Plan for Kids)

You must have heard your parents telling you to drink more milk so that you become stronger. Now it is important that you do the same for your children’s health. Milk is one of the most nutritious foods that kids should have. It is natural, readily available and a nutrient rich food comprising of nine essential nutrients, including calcium, vitamins A, B12 and D, protein, phosphorous, riboflavin, potassium and niacin. These nutrients are very important for the salubrious growth of your child.

Milk has immense significance for people from the time they are born. Its importance can be judged from the fact that it is the only food fed to a new born for the initial six months. Apart from the adequate quantity of calcium found in milk, important for building and maintaining strong bones, it also contains Vitamin D which is important for absorption of calcium. The other nutrients found in milk are also of immense importance for the proper growth of your child.

You must pay importance to your child’s milk intake. A glass or two of milk is important for your child’s healthy growth.

Whole Grain Products

Whole grain cereals are nutritionally higher-up to refined grains, more plenteous in dietary fiber, antioxidants, protein, dietary minerals and vitamins. To be more specific, whole grain foods include breads and cereals that contain 100% whole grain foods and not processed flours. Some examples of whole grain food products are cornflakes, brown bread, brown rice, and even popcorn.

You might have tried to include some leafy vegetables in your child’s diet only to receive a frown from him. With whole grain food products you are not only feeding your child with wholesome meals but also providing them with the much needed food fiber. The refined foods such as white breads, white rice or noodles are stripped off their nutritional content and food fiber. Though, refined foods are easily available and in ready-to-eat forms, however, for your child’s health it is important that you switch to whole grain products.

Starting your child’s day with whole grain products will keep him full and active for a long time. In fact, a shift from refined grain foods to whole grain food products will prove to be a much healthier option for the entire family.

Coloured Vegetables

Most parents realize that different kinds of vegetables should be a significant part of their kid’s daily diet because vegetables are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamins as well as minerals. Regretfully, most of the parents face a very difficult time getting their children to eat few if any vegetables every day. First of all, it is important for you to know that by colored vegetables we mean different varieties of vegetables that are consumed raw, boiled, steamed or stir fried in little oil. This does not include french fries or any other deep fried vegetable!

As a parent you must make sure that you child eats vegetables in good quantity. We understand that it is easier said than done. Do not ever force your child to eat vegetables that will turn the meal time into war time. The more you force him the more he will avoid them. As a parent you have to change the way you cook or present the vegetables. Creative methods to get your child to have more veggies can include disguising them with other food products, like in a vegetable sandwich. You can even chop up lots of vegetables and mix them in noodles, soups, omelets etc or even better making pizza with more vegetable topping and less or no cheese.

Egg and Meat

The egg has a high repute as a food. Its white portion is rich in protein, and the egg yolk is rich in protein and vitamin A. An egg also contains calcium and iron. However, the egg yolk has high cholesterol content. You must try to include eggs into your child’s daily food intake. There are several ways of preparing eggs which will add variety to the diet. Hard boiled eggs can prove to be a nutritious snack for your child.

Meat is known to have high biological value and is rich in protein and several other nutrients. Meat like any other food should not be fried as it loses its nutritional content and with the extra fat it becomes unhealthy. The best way of cooking the meat is stir frying, grilling, broiling and cooking in a pressure cooker. Also, many studies have established that meat improves a child’s performance at school and makes him brighter.

A variety of fruits

Fruit nutrition should be an important part of your child’s diet. Fruits are known to be rich in many nutrients and daily intake of the same reduces risk factors of some serious diseases in the long term. Providing your child with adequate amount of fruits is the best thing you can do to ensure your child’s good health. Fruits are best eaten fresh, do not cut them and store them in the refrigerator for long time. If your child is not specifically a fruit lover, then you can prepare scrumptious fruit chaats for him. Also, you can replace sodas and other soft drinks with fruit juice at your home.

Though it is advised that fresh juice is best for health, substituting it with packed fruit juice available in box packing is better than a glass of cola drink. Moreover, kids would love sipping the fruit with a straw.