The fact that, every individual needs an appropriate intake of plenty of nutrients and a balanced diet, does not need any highlighting. And when it comes to children aged between 3-5 years of age, the significance of eating timely and healthy meals is even more imperative as their physical growth and mental development is heavily dependent on it.
For all that the preschoolers do and learn at home, school or other social settings, requires the backing of a balanced diet, full of proteins, vitamins, minerals and all the nutrients that their budding brains and bodies ingest rapidly. So, find out what all you ought to do for maintaining a super-healthy and nutritious diet plan for your little one:
- Maintain a well-timed schedule of meals and snacks for children in their daily routine, keeping 20-30 minutes for meal times and 10-20minutes for snack times.
- Use your creativity and try to make the dish look visually impressive so that it would attract the children. Use a variety of colors and also, ask your child to pick up some items for the dish.
- Make it a routine affair that your children take all their meals with the entire family.
- Offer choices to your child example choosing between two fruits or raw v/s cooked version of certain vegetable.
- Never force your children to eat what they do not want to. Propose them another equally healthy dish instead, example if your child does not like to eat pulses, ask her to go for oatmeal.
- Do not replace the food they refuse to eat with something they like to snack on. This would only encourage them to say no to the healthy food every time.
- Keep a regular check on your children’s height, weight and other vital growth signs.
You may also want the given diet chart, designed by the experts, as reference for planning your children’s nutritional intake.
| Food Type | Advised Servings per day | One Serve should ideally have | Remarks |
| Breads, Cereals, Rice, Pasta and Noodles | 3-7 | 2 slices of bread / 1 cup of cereal or cooked rice or pasta or noodles | · Include various kinds of whole-meal, wholegrain and bread, such as raisin bread, dry biscuits, and fruit buns. |
| Vegetables and Legumes | 2 | Half cup cooked, or 1 cup salad | · Make your child try both raw and cooked vegetables. She may like one form of the vegetable but not another (ex: she may like raw carrot over cooked carrot). |
| Fruit | 1 | One medium piece e.g. an apple or banana / Two small pieces e.g. apricots, kiwi fruit | · You may use frozen, canned and dried fruits as alternatives to fresh, but avoid using fruit juices. |
| Milk, Yoghurt and Cheese | 2 | Two cups or 250ml of milk, custard / 200g
yoghurt / 40g cheese or cheese slice |
· You may lessen the use of special custards or yoghurts and use reduced fat dairy foods instead.
|
| Meat, Fish, Poultry, Eggs, Nuts and Legumes | 2 | Half cup mince or 35-50g meat / 2 tablespoons kidney beans or other legume / 40-60g fish / 1 egg / 1 tablespoon peanut paste | · Give them red meat, often, as it’s a good source of iron.
· For toddlers use only nut pastes because they may choke themselves with nuts. |
