Importance of good nutrition for 1- to 5-year olds • Ensures optimal growth and development • Encourages children to develop a taste for healthy foods in preference to fatty, sugary and salty foods. • Regular meals and snacks are essential in helping young children to establish healthy eating patterns that will last into adulthood. • Planning meals, snacks and drinks around the four food groups mentioned will help you to provide a variety of foods to provide a healthy, balanced diet and meet the nutritional requirements of the child. Setting the Table http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/30341- Setting%20the%20Table.pdf
Food Group: Starchy Carbohydrates Includes all types of bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and cereals. Choose low sugar, low salt breakfast cereals such as porridge, wheat bisks, puffed wheat or shredded wheat These foods should be offered at every meal and can make up part of a snack.
Food Group: Fruit and vegetables Includes fresh, frozen and canned varieties (avoid fruit canned in syrup and vegetables canned in added salt). 1 portion of fruit or veg= 40g Only serve dried fruit with meals & offer once daily (1 portion = ½-2 tablespoons). These should be offered at meals and snacks. Children should be encouraged to try at least 5 different fruits and vegetables
Food Group: Milk and dairy foods (and dairy alternatives ) Includes milk, yoghurts, cheese and milk/yoghurt alternatives Avoid yoghurts and fromage frais high in sugar (≥15 g sugar per 100g) What milk? 1-2 years Whole milk Over 2 years semi-skimmed. Skimmed milk should not be given to under 5s How much? 1-4 year olds about 300ml throughout day Milk, dairy and dairy alternatives should be offered at 2-3 meals and as snacks each day.
Food Group: Protein Includes Meat, fish, eggs, pulses, nuts, seeds and meat alternatives. Avoid processed meat and fish e.g. Burgers, pies and sausages as these are high in salt Eggs can now be safely eat raw, runny of softly boiled as long as they are stamped with the British red Lion code mark. These foods should be offered at the main meal.
Iron • Children have very high iron requirements for their size • Iron from animal sources eg. Red meat, eggs, oily fish are good sources of iron and easier to absorb • Non-animal sources include dark green leafy vegetables, beans and pulses are good sources but are less easily absorbed • Vitamin C helps absorption of non-iron sources of iron, eg. A tangerine, kiwi, pineapple, most fruit (not apples or pears), citrus fruits and berries can be taken with a meal to increase iron absorption (this can include fruit juice but will only count to 1 of their 5 a day) • All teas inhibit iron absorption and should not be given to children
Vitamins • Vitamin supplements containing vitamins A and C are recommended for babies and children aged 6 months to 5 years old, unless they're getting more than 500ml (about a pint) of infant formula a day • Some over-the-counter supplements contain other vitamins or ingredients. Talk to your pharmacist about which supplement would be most suitable for your child. • Having too much of some vitamins can be harmful. Keep to the dose recommended on the label, and be careful not to give your child 2 supplements at the same time. • For example, don't give them cod liver oil and vitamin drops, as cod liver oil also contains vitamins A and D. One supplement on its own is enough. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy- and-baby/vitamins-for-children/
Vitamin D • It is not possible to get enough vitamin D through diet alone • Everyone in Scotland over one year of age should take a 10μg/d vitamin D supplement daily • As a precaution, breastfed babies from birth up to one year of age should also be given a supplement of 8.5 to 10μg/d vitamin D per day. • Babies who are formula fed do not require vitamin D if they are having 500ml/day of infant formula or more, as infant formula already has added vitamin D. Scottish Government, november 2017
Positive Family Mealtimes • Eat together Sitting together, sharing a meal is a great opportunity for parents to support and help their children pick up healthy eating habits. • Introducing foods Parents should introduce a wide variety of different foods , including foods they might not like themselves but which can be part of a healthy diet. It’s a good opportunity for children to try a new food which they might see others eating and enjoying. This can later reduce food fussiness. Parents should encourage the children to try new food • Be positive and talk about foods you enjoy Commenting on foods that you like can help direct children's attention to that food and encourage them to try it too. • Avoid making negative comments about foods We don't all like the same foods but avoid negative comments like "urgh, I don't like celery at all" as this can make them much less likely to try these foods. Keep thoughts about disliked foods to yourself. • What Can I Do? Try to modelling healthy eating behaviours in front of your child. If you want your child to eat a new food, they need to see you eating it too. If you don't want your child to eat a particular food, don't eat that food in front of them. https://www.childfeedingguide.co.uk/tips/c ommon-feeding-pitfalls/role-modelling-tbc/
Tips for mealtimes • Have regular mealtimes – set up a daily mealtime routine, ideally 3 meals per day and try to avoid snacks before mealtimes • Have meals together as a family – Toddlers’ learn a great deal about mealtimes through watching others • Be prepared for messy eating – stay calm when toddlers food goes everywhere, some mess is expected • Get everything you need ready – be prepared and ready before bringing the child to the high chair or table. • Serve small, manageable portions and let the child ask for more • Introduce new foods one at time – name the food and praise the child for trying. If the child dislikes the food, leave it a few weeks and try it again • Offer finger foods – may have introduced this already • Encourage the child to use a spoon – the toddler may let you know when they are ready to try a spoon by grabbing the plate or spoon. Praise the child when they manage to get food on the spoon. You may need to gently guide the toddler through the actions. • Managing mealtime experiences – Remember the non- verbal cues we give can be more powerful than what we actually say so it’s important to look positive about the food offered– even if it’s something you are not fond of. • The toddlers’ non -verbal cues are also important, so look for those gestures that mean they want more or have had enough. This could be baby opening their mouth, looking towards you, turning their head away from you, clamping their lips together or blinking really hard • Encourage desirable mealtime behaviour – Pay attention to the child and praise them during mealtimes. Recognising your baby’s non -verbal cues during mealtimes builds a sense of trust and is more likely for the toddler to enjoy future mealtimes
Think about how you would want to be fed! • The things that are important to us as adults at mealtimes are not that dissimilar to a baby’s desires. • We like to see our food in from of us and need to be able to reach it and be in control of what we put in our mouth next. • We like to be comfortable in order to feel relaxed and enjoy the experience and we like to have enough time so that it doesn’t feel like a race towards indigestion.
Mini Meals (by 1 year of age) • Most children are ready to join in with healthy family meals by the age of one year. • Encourage as varied a diet as possible. • Snacks would include milk drinks and suitable finger foods including fruit, soft cooked vegetables, bread, toast, cooked pasta shapes. • Infants who have had appropriate family foods introduced at an early age tend to be less fussy eaters as adults. • A new food can be offered 10-15 times before it is accepted • It is important to avoid offering smooth mashed foods for too long as this can lead to refusing lumpy foods • Encourage family meal times as babies learn by example • Finger foods should be offered and babies encouraged to feed themselves
Meal Ideas • Breakfast • unsweetened porridge or cereal mixed with milk, topped with mashed ripe pear • wholewheat biscuit cereal with milk and unsweetened stewed fruit • toast fingers with mashed banana • toast fingers with a hard-boiled egg and slices of ripe peach • unsweetened stewed apple and breakfast cereal with plain, unsweetened yoghurt • Lunch or tea • cauliflower cheese with cooked pasta pieces • mashed pasta with broccoli and cheese • baked beans (reduced salt and sugar) with toast • scrambled egg with toast, chapatti or pitta bread • cottage cheese dip with pitta bread and cucumber and carrot sticks • plain fromage frais with stewed apple • Dinner • mashed sweet potato with mashed chickpeas and cauliflower • shepherd's pie (made with beef or lamb) with green vegetables • rice and mashed peas with courgette sticks • mashed cooked lentils with rice • minced chicken and vegetable casserole with mashed potato • mashed canned salmon with couscous and peas • fish poached in milk with potato, broccoli and carrot https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy- and-baby/childrens-meal-ideas/
Recommend
More recommend
