How to Feed Your Child Enough Vitamin E

If your child's eating habits are erratic, as many children's are, it can be a challenge to feed her enough vitamin E. Use these ideas to make sure your child gets plenty.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Canola Oil
• Nuts
• Peanut Butter
• Sweet Potatoes
• Wheat Germ

1. Sprinkle wheat germ into your child's oatmeal or onto cold cereal. Each tablespoon has 2mg of vitamin E.

2. Drop blueberries into your pancake batter. One-half cup of blueberries has 1.5mg vitamin E.

3. Fix yet another PB&J! Peanut butter offers 1mg vitamin E per tablespoon.

4. Add sunflower seeds to your muffin and quick-bread recipes. One-quarter cup has 7.5mg.

5. Crunch on nuts like almonds, cashews, filberts or pumpkin seeds for snacks. Nuts have about 7mg vitamin E per 1/4 cup.

6. Mash a sweet potato into plain mashed potatoes. Each sweet potato has 5mg.

7. Dine on salmon with steamed broccoli on the side. Three ounces of salmon (about the size of a deck of cards) contains 1.3mg, and 1/2 cup of broccoli has nearly 1mg of vitamin E.

8. Savor some creamy guacamole with baked tortilla chips. Avocados have 2 to 4 mg each.

9. Use vitamin-E-rich cooking oils. Canola, safflower, corn, soy and sunflower oils have 6 to 8 mg vitamin E per tablespoon.

Tips & Warnings

• The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for vitamin E, in milligrams (mg), are: infants 0 to 6 months, 3mg; infants 6 to 12 months, 4mg; children 1 to 3, 6mg; children 4 to 10, 7mg.
• Vitamin E is an antioxidant; it protects the body from damaging free-radicals. It is linked to the prevention of cancer, macular degeneration and heart disease.
• Vitamin E is one of the many casualties of refining grains. When wheat is milled into white flour, almost all of the vitamin E is left behind. Whole wheat, brown rice and other whole grains are much better sources of E than their refined counterparts.
• If your child refuses wheat germ, don't worry. One meal will not make or break a good diet. Just serve plenty of vitamin-E-rich foods and look at your child's intake over three to five days.
• Wait until baby is at least 1 year before introducing crushed nuts. This helps prevent allergies.
• Nuts and nut butters can be choking hazards for young children. Consider waiting until children are 3 or 4 before offering them.

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