Healthy Children's Menus
Daily battles with kids over what they won't eat, as well as what they want to eat over your objections, are tiresome and stressful. The only real solution is to find a middle ground where what tastes good to kids also satisfies your desire to keep them healthy. With a little information and a little planning, it is possible to find meals that meet both requirements. You may have to resort to a little trickery, however, in the name of resourcefulness. Does this Spark an idea?
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Using the Food Pyramid
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The Department of Agriculture created a food pyramid particularly designed for kids. Looking at the recommendations set out in the pyramid can clarify what kinds of foods are necessary for good nutrition, as well as what kind of limitations should be placed on non-nutritional food items. Selecting breads and crackers that are labeled whole grains is a good start; adding a variety of vegetables and fruits, limiting juice to 6 oz. a day is the next most important step. Limiting milk for children over the age of 3 to 24 oz. a day of the low- or reduced-fat variety and serving protein in the form of fish, beans, nuts and seeds as occasional alternatives to meat completes the basic requirements of the pyramid.
Healthy Breakfasts
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Look for whole grain versions of the most popular breakfast items; you'll find waffle and pancake mixes as well as nutty breads that taste delicious when toasted and spread with natural almond butter or all-fruit, no sugar added, spreads. Store cereal in clear plastic containers and discard the boxes before kids can see the "healthy whole grain" pronouncements spread across the front of the box. Try a few different kinds until you find a keeper; serve any of these with lots of milk and sliced bananas or other fruit.
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Healthy Lunches
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Kids love to eat lots of foods in small amounts rather than one big menu item, like a whole sandwich. So consider making a list of all the possible foods that could be packed in small plastic containers and taken in a lunch box to make up a complete meal. Remind kids of the food groups by listing these each in a color-coded column and ask them to choose one thing from at least four groups. List such items as nuts of various kinds, whole grain crackers or pretzels, hard-cooked eggs, low-fat cheese cubes, cantaloupe chunks, apple slices, baby carrots, peanut butter stuffed celery. Ask kids to help you find ideas to add to the list. Adding a small candy treat to top off their lunch will not ruin the meal's nutritional value.
Healthy Dinners
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By the time a child is 3 years old, he should be eating the same foods as the rest of the family at dinnertime. If he has the opportunity to try a variety of foods, a child will eventually find favorites, which can be incorporated into the rotation of dinner menus. If the whole family can be involved in cooking, putting together a homemade pizza on a whole grain crust topped with vegetables becomes entertainment as well as a healthy meal. Experimenting with different kinds of pasta and sauces, making up individual shish kebabs heavy on the veggies and light on the meat, or helping to prepare baked potatoes with a variety of toppings are just a few ways kids can get involved in creating healthy dinners.
Healthy Meals on the Go
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It's possible to find the nutritional value of items sold at fast-food restaurants from a variety of sources, including FastFoodNutrition.org which gives detailed nutritional information on more than a dozen national chain restaurants. Give kids an opportunity to make lists of possible meals they might eat which meet good nutritional requirements and limit the salt, sugar and fat intake. Make it a game to see what kinds of combinations they can come up with and carry the lists with you in the car. Encourage them to stick with their lists the majority of time you need to stop for a meal on the go, but every once in a while let them splurge---and go ahead and splurge along with them.
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