How to Know the Nutritional Requirements for Your Child

Good nutrition helps kids pay attention and do better in school. Here's how to make sure children get the nutrients they need.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Fruits And Vegetables
• Whole-grain Breakfast Cereals And Skim Milk
• Children's Multivitamins
• lean meats, fish, peanut butter and other protein-rich foods
• nonfat dairy products like milk, kefir and yogurt

1. Start every day with breakfast. A quick bowl of cold whole-grain cereal or instant oatmeal with raisins is a nutritious start. Breakfast is a great time to add fiber, calcium, iron and zinc to your child's diet.

2. Dish up two servings of protein-rich foods every day. Four- to six-year-olds need 24 grams of protein a day, and seven- to ten-year-olds need 28 grams.

3. Add calcium and strength to kids' bones by offering three to four servings of calcium-rich foods every day. Children four- to eight-years-old need 800mg of calcium. Nine- to thirteen-year-olds need 1,300mg.

4. Send kids out to play. A few minutes of sunshine on the skin produces vitamin D. Vitamin D is also found in milk. Kids need 5mcg of vitamin D per day.

5. Dig into iron-rich lean meats, poultry, fish, dried beans and whole grains. Kids need 10mg of iron every day.

6. Serve sweet, vitamin A-rich veggies. Carrots and sweet potatoes are some kids' favorites. Children ages four to six need 500mcg, and seven- to ten-year-olds need 700mcg of vitamin A per day.

7. Fall back on fruit. Serve vitamin C-rich blueberries, oranges, kiwi, cantaloupe and strawberries. Kids need 45mg of vitamin C a day.

Tips & Warnings

• A serving of protein-rich food could be 2 oz. of meat, fish or poultry, 3 tbsp. peanut butter, 3/4 c. tofu, 1/2 c. tuna, 2 eggs or 1 c. cooked beans. Each of these provide about 14 grams of protein.

• A serving of calcium-rich food might be 1 c. (8 oz.) milk, 1 c. yogurt, kefir, fortified soy milk or fortified orange juice, or 1 1/2 oz. cheese. All these offer about 300mg of calcium.

• Offer fruits and vegetables at every meal or snack to make sure your child averages five or more servings a day.

• Keep offering broccoli, chard, asparagus and other vegetables, even if kids only take a taste. Eventually, they will learn to like those nutritious veggies.

• Some school-age kids continue to be picky eaters. As the parent, your job is to serve nutritious food. Your child's job is to eat it (or not). Look at your child's diet over several days or a week to see if, on average, he or she meets the nutrient requirements.