Healthy Eating for Children
Eating well and being physically active are key to your child's well being. You can take an active role in helping your child, and your whole family, by learning healthy eating and physical activity habits.
All children benefit from healthy eating and physical activity. A balanced diet and being physically active help children:
- Grow
- Learn
- Build strong bones and muscles
- Have energy
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Avoid obesity-related diseases like type 2 diabetes
- Get plenty of nutrients
- Feel good about themselves
Parents play a big role in shaping children's eating habits. When parents eat a variety of foods that are low in fat and sugar and high in fiber, children learn to like these foods as well. It may take 10 to 17 tries before a child accepts a new food, so do not give up if your child does not like a new food right away. Parents have an effect on children's physical activity habits as well. You can set a good example by going for a walk or bike ride after dinner instead of watching TV or getting on the computer.
Child care providers and after school program providers also help shape children's eating and activity habits. Make sure your childcare provider/after school program provider offers well-balanced meals or snacks, as well as plenty of active playtime. If your child is in school, find out more about the school's breakfast and lunch programs and ask to have input into menu choices or choices in the vending machines. Get involved in the PTA to support after-school sports.
What Should my Child Eat?
Just like adults, children need to eat a wide variety of foods for good health. Use the USDA Food Guide pyramid as a starting point for planning family meals and snacks. While the Food Guide is undergoing revisions, it's fine to use the current Guide.
How Can I Help my Child Eat Better?
- Give your child a snack or two in addition to three daily meals.
- Offer a wide variety of foods, such as grains, vegetables and fruits, low fat
dairy products, and lean meat or beans.
Let your child decide whether and how much to eat. Keep serving new foods even if
your child does not eat them at first.
- Limit the amount of added sugar in your child's diet. Choose cereals with low or no
added sugar. Serve water or low-fat milk more often than sugar-sweetened sodas and
fruit-flavored drinks.
- Involve your child in planning and preparing meals. Children may be more willing to eat the dishes they help fix.
- Have family meals together and serve everyone the same thing.
- Do not be too strict. In small amounts, sweets or food from fast-food restaurants can still have a place in a healthy diet.
- Make sure your child eats breakfast. Breakfast provides children with the energy they
need to listen and learn in school.
What About Physical Activity?
Like adults, children should be physically active most, if not all, days of the week. Experts suggest at least 60 minutes of moderate physical activity daily for most children. Walking fast, bicycling, jumping rope, dancing fast, and playing basketball are all good ways for your child to be active. As children spend more time talking on a cell phone, watching TV and playing computer and video games, they spend less time being active.
What if my Child is Overweight?
Children who are overweight are more likely to become overweight adults. They may develop type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other illnesses that can follow them into adulthood. Overweight in children can also lead to stress, sadness, and low self-esteem.
- Do not put your child on a weight-loss diet unless your health care provider tells you to. Remember that limiting what children eat may interfere with their growth.
- Involve the whole family in building healthy eating and physical activity habits. It
benefits everyone and does not single out the child who is overweight.
- Accept and love your child at any weight. It will boost his or her self-esteem.
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Poison Safety
How do you rate on this poison safety checklist?
- Know which household products are poisonous.
- Keep poisonous products out of kids' reach.
- Keep the Rocky Mountain Poison Control Center hotline number by each phone:
1-800-222-1222.
- Don't mix different cleaning products together.
- Keep products in the original containers. Read labels to learn if a product is poisonous and for first aid information.
- Never refer to medicine or vitamins as candy.
- Choose medicines and products that have child-resistant caps.
- Keep make-up, hair spray, cologne and other personal products away from children.
- Install carbon monoxide detectors in the home.
- Throw away old medicines and cleaning products.
For more information, visit SafeKids.org
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Foods Can Teach
Don't miss opportunities to teach children some basic knowledge as you work in the kitchen. Children can learn counting, shapes, colors, textures, temperatures and more by observing food preparation. For example, if you're making blueberry muffins, ask your children to name other things that are blue. They can count the number of blueberries in each muffin and observe the change in texture from raw to cooked blueberries. Think about all the ways to "discover knowledge" in the kitchen.
For more information on a variety of Consumer and family topics, contact your
local Colorado State University Extension office.
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