A nutritious guide for your toddlers

Toddlers are by nature inquisitive and love to explore and discover, exerting much energy in the process.  Thus, they must be feed wholesome food to prevent their energy stock from running down and impairing their fun.

Intaking of a nutritional diet is a prerequisite for ensuring rapid growth among children. It helps the children to maintain a good weight and appropriate haemoglobin levels. A healthy diet substantially minimizes the risk of contracting a serious illness and aids in avoiding chronic diseases. It boasts their immunity and strengthens their stamina, which in turn enables them to partake in myriad activities that will level up their motor and cognitive skills.  Thus nutritious food has a profound impact on the overall health of children.

Balance diet for toddlers

Balance diet for your children differs highly from you, i.e. adults, especially the portions. The content of salt should be kept to a bare minimum of 2g per day.  High fibre food and those containing additional sugar should be given once in a while, as kids' tummies are quite sensitive and volatile to these kinds of food. Such a diet should contain all the appropriate nutrients like vitamins, minerals, beta carotene, choline etc.

Healthy food is effective only if it is taken in adequate proportion.  It is best to adhere to the old school routine of feeding three full meals and two to three square meal or snack a day to your child. Keep in mind to serve them portion according to the size of their cupped hand.

Nutritional Diet for children: The Basic Food

A proper diet should contain all the necessary vitamins and minerals in appropriate measure. To ensure that, you must try to inculcate in each diet, the four prime class of food as follows:

• Protein Rich Food: Make a note to include protein in their daily meal at least once. For that purpose, you can use any of protein-rich ingredients like pulses, fishes, eggs, meat or nut.
   
• Include dairy at all cost: Refrain from feeding dairy goods only if the child is lactose intolerant. Milk, cheese, butter, ghee they are an incredible source of calcium, potassium, zinc, choline and selenium in addition to vitamin A, D and B12.  Though its better to focus on low-fat products to decrease chances of obesity which is turning at a large scale in recent years among kids.

Read | Ways to confront Childhood obesity and Overweight problems

• Fruits and Vegetables: They are packed with goodness and you should cultivate among your children, the habit of in taking a variety of fruits, legumes and green veggies as they are greatly beneficial to one’s health. Allow your kids to munch on dry fruits like cashews, apricots etc instead of candies. While they may prefer the latter’s taste initially, you might be able to stimulate a taste for the former if you keep on feeding it, as studies done by the American Academy of Pediatrics have concluded it as a fact.

Read | 5 Health Benefits of Beetroot for children

• Starch: While high fibre starchy food is bulky, those containing moderate amount should be inducted in the dietary plan regularly. Food produced from whole grains as bread, cereals, wheat, oats or even white rice endows one with vitamin B, iron and calcium.

In addition to it, make sure your child drink sufficient amount of water daily to remain hydrated. If you wish to provide for extra nourishment, you can get vitamin D supplements from the doctor. You can also consult them for additional nutrition guide for toddlers.

Guidelines for nutritional food for children: Pursuing them to eat healthy food

It may be difficult for parents to coax your child into eating healthy food. They might make a fuss and throw tantrum, but you should not give in to their antics.

Be stiff but don’t berate them for non-compliance as it would aggravate them. Exercise patience and try tactics to coax them into eating. You can adopt the following tactics to make your child eat healthy food:

• Try to present their food temptingly. You can make it look colourful in an organic manner by making use of more veggies and fruits. And don’t fret when they don’t accept something new in their meal.
   
• Introduce subtle variety so that they don’t complain of same old’ food (they have taste buds too that demands change once in a while).
   
•  See to it that the food is no hard to swallow or digest. Cut them in bit size. It's best to feed them moist and soft edibles at room temperature.
   
• Try to comprise most of the nutritional needs of toddlers in the food, more specifically, if possible try to incorporate calcium, magnesium, potassium and fibre in as much dishes as possible because they are substantial for muscle, bone and brain development among children.

Apart from it, make it a point to feed your kid at a specific time. Try to teach them the benefits of picking nutrition-packed food through fun activities as telltale, joint cooking venture etc. There is no need to feel haggard if they don’t finish the complete meal each time, as they, like grownups, might have an unpredictable appetite once in a while.