Food for Child Growth FAQs Part I
Nutrition in child development
Food for Child Growth means feeding Your Kids the Right Stuff to promote optimal growth and development. You may wonder what are the nutritional needs of your school-age child? How can you meet them?
Clinical Nutritionist Pallavi Pinge fields questions commonly asked by parents..
Question. What does one really mean by nutrition?
Nutrition means nourishing the body with food so that food nutrients help various body processes to promote growth and rejuvenation. The primary nutrients in food are protein, fats and carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Energy provided by foods helps in physical and mental activity. Knowing what and how much to eat helps establish a balanced diet that meets one’s nutritional, health and growth needs.
Good nutritional status involves a well-balanced diet that supplies all essential nutrients to the body. A child who receives optimal nutrition and food for child growth obtains and utilises essential nutrients in the correct proportion, providing for the body’s present as well as future needs.
Question. What is the ratio-wise breakup of required nutrients in a balanced diet for a growing child?
Food for child growth requires sufficient intake of nutrients and calories. Insufficient food can result in deficiencies that could affect a child’s growth and development. Twenty-five percent of total energy comes from fats; including invisible fats or the fats inherent in foods and cooking oil; 50-60% of energy comes from carbohydrates (cereals and tubers). Proteins (non vegetarian foods, pulses and legumes) provide the rest. Vitamins and minerals, essential for all major metabolic processes, are provided by fruits and vegetables (required levels differ according to age and gender). Calcium is vital for growth and development.
Question. Considering children’s lifestyles and the activities they engage in, is a three-meal pattern still the best?
A three-meal pattern along with small, healthy snacks at intervals (mid-morning and evening) works as best pattern to enable timely food for child growth. Children today have active lifestyles and need frequent replenishment for their growing needs.
Question. Can one have flexible meal timings for children?
As far as possible, stick to regular meal timings. Generally, smaller children can be fussy and take longer to eat – meals can extend to almost an hour. Flexibility (not sticking to meal timings) can affect digestion and optimum food utilisation – digestion and optimum food utilisation – and therefore health. Satiety levels are determined by children’s moods and physiological status (for example, a child with a runny nose does not usually finish a meal without a fuss). However, why sticking to meal timings is vital, mothers/ caregivers should NOT force the child to eat if he/ she doesn’t want to. A healthy snack after an interval is a better option.
Question. Kids are small eaters, but parents sometimes tend to ply them with food. How does one know when a child has had enough?
Don’t get worked up – most children are fussy eaters and can be quite stubborn. Force-feeding very young children who cannot verbalize that they have had enough can often result in vomiting, accompanied by crying. Grandma’s method of touching and pressing the abdomen to check for a full stomach works. So does gently pushing away the infant’s hand or food bowl to check the reaction, though this is not always a reliable indicator. If in perpetual doubt, feeding small children at smaller intervals can be an alternative method to ensure sufficient food for child growth.
Question. Wouldn’t it be best to eliminate snacking altogether?
Snacking is necessary to meet growth needs (and avoid rebellious upbringings and secret snacking). Good food for child growth means giving healthy snacks to children which provide the nutrients needed for building health and development. This staves off the hunger pangs brought on by increasing age and physical activity. Moderate snacking helps curb excessive weight gain too – but it should not suppress the appetite enough to affect the next meal.
Variety of healthy foods for kids school lunches can be planned by the best qualified dietician to avoid boredom, and ensure they are based on complex carbohydrates and proteins.
Food for child growth and nutrition FAQs Part II Continued…
This article has been published in Parent & Child magazine by Eurokids, The Preschool Specialist
Pallavi Pinge is a Clinical Nutritionist and Dietitian | Content Director & Editor for health websites | has a passion for digital health and enjoys promoting health and wellness. She’s the founder and director of Ambrosia Wellness, where she provides personalized nutrition counseling, education, and coaching to individuals with various health conditions. You can follow her on her social media channels below to stay tuned in with the latest in health and wellness | Health Blog | Contact her for appointments |
