5 Must Eat Nutrients for Children

By : Hygeena Shameer | 0 Comments | On : October 8, 2013 | Category : Healthy Tips, Parenting

5 Must Eat Nutrients for Children

It is important, to encourage children to eat healthy food choices.Children need the same types of nutrients as adults, but intakes quantity is different.A balanced diet with the right mix of nutrients is essential to child growth and development.Below is a list of 5 essential nutrients for your children.

• Calcium
• Fiber
• Protein
• Anti oxidants
• Iron

5 Must Eat Nutrients for Children

Calcium	Fiber	Protein	Antioxidants	Iron
Milk	Cereals	Egg	Citrus	Lemon
Yogurt	Beans	Meat	Beetroot	Jaggery
Cheese	Apple	Fish	Carrot	Ragi
Paneer	Vegetable soup	Sprouts		Spinach
Spinach

Calcium

Calcium is essential for the growth of bones and teeth.Milk,cheese,paneer and curd are rich source of calcium.Include the following foods in your kids daily diet.

• One glass of milk
• 1 cup of yogurt for lunch.Or yo can prepare lessi with banana,strawberry,mango etc…
• Replace bakery items with whole wheat bread and cheese
• Paneer dishes for dinner.Yo can give paneer as paratha,bhurji,kheer etc…
• Include leafy foods such as spinach egg rice,curry,spinach with paneer.

Fiber

Fiber is another main important nutrient children hesitate to have. There is no minerals and vitamins in fiber.But fiber is very important for the digestion of foods.Fiber avoids the risk of constipation.Fiber rich foods are given below.

• Give cereals with husk
• Beans are good source of fiber.So try to include beans poriyal,soup etc… for lunch or dinner
• Give apple without removing the skin.Chewing apple is good for teeth(Nowadays some kind of apple contains wax content in the skin.In that case remove the skin and give without cutting.

Protein

protein are important for the growth of cells.egg,fish and meat contains more protein.Cereals also contains comparatively good amount of protein

• You can give in many varieties as omelette,bulls eye,boiled egg,egg paratha,bhurji etc…Veg egg omelette gives both minerals and protein
• Give meat or fish with rice.Fish curry is better than fried fish.Fried fish can increase your risk of health problems.
• Sprouts are rich source of proteins.Most of kids will say “No” to saldas. So try to give sprouts stir fry,kuruma(wit roti),soups etc…(How to make green gram sprouts: .Soak green gram in water for 5-5 hour. Drain and tie in a cotton cloth.You will get sprouts within 6-7 hours
• Try to give meat and chicken in different varieties like cutlet,kabab etc… because we can include vegetables also in cutlet.Kabab contains less oil compared to fries.So go for grilled items instead of fry

Antioxidants

Duty of anti Anti oxidantsis to restrict various types of oxidants entering in to our body.Fruits and vegetables contains antioxidants.Other major source of antioxidants are

• Citrus

You can give plenty of of citrus as juice,desserts etc..Kids always like to have lime juice.Or else you can give lemon rice for their lunch or dinner.

• Beetroot and carrot

Beetroot and carrots are rich in antioxidants.Kids always like to have colorful foods.So try to do some experiments with beetroot and carrot.You can make beetroot dosa,carrot halwa,beetroot kheer etc…

Iron

Nowadays iron defeciency is common to all.Especially to kids.So try to include iron rich foods such as spinach,dry fruits,grapes,egg in their daily diet.Iron rich foods are

• Lemon

Vitamin C helps to absorbs iron.Lemon is full of vitamin C.
Tanin contains in tea stops the absorption of iron in foods.So avoid tea.Especially in kids.Do not give tea for kids at least up to age 7.

• Ragi

Ragi is another iron rich cereal.Give ragi dosa,idli,ada for kids.

• Jaggery

Jaggery is also rich in iron.Repalce sugar with jaggery.Sugar is also konwn as “white sugar”.

• Spinach

Spinach contains lots of iron.Spinach and palak is good source of iron and calcium

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