It is not easy for children to eat. We all know that in order to feed our children, we always have to compromise something, even though we know it's not good. But with the increase of concessions, bad habits are formed. The following are some of the most common nutritional problems I have seen in practice, and the reasons why you should pay attention.
Trap 1: Pizza is the staple food.
As the second largest source of calories in children's diet today, when it comes to pizza, they may eat too many delicious things. For many parents, pizza has gradually become a regular meal rotation because it is easy to order and prepare, and most children are happy to eat it. Although pizza contains all the main food types (grains, vegetables, dairy products and meat) and tastes delicious, it also contains high calories, fat and salt. A recent study in Pediatrics magazine shows that children consume much more calories, fat and sodium every day because of the extra load brought by pizza. The authors of this study suggest reducing the pizza that they think is over-eaten, and letting children use whole wheat dough (available in many shops and bakeries) instead to keep the skin thin and nutritious vegetable ingredients. If you and your family can't ban pizza completely, you can keep pizza slices smaller and vegetables larger when ordering or making.
Trap 2: Too much salt.
Sodium is an important basic nutrient-our body needs a small amount of sodium to maintain normal function, but many children consume more than twice as much sodium every day. Long-term excessive sodium will form the habit of eating high-salt food for a long time, which will eventually affect the health of adults-it is related to the risk of hypertension, heart disease, kidney problems, stroke, osteoporosis and even asthma in adulthood. Salt-related health problems, such as hypertension, sometimes occur in childhood. The main source of salt for children is processed food-some packaged foods (bread, processed meat, soup, pasta and sauce) account for 75% of the typical children's diet. Health Canada suggested that according to age, the upper limit of daily sodium intake is: 65438+1500mg per day for children aged 0-3; Children aged 4-8 years old daily1900 mg; Children aged 9- 13 take 2200mg daily. Take the typical children's diet as an example, many children will reach the upper limit after lunch. The best way to reduce children's salt intake is to reduce the intake of packaged food and processed food, be familiar with brands that provide low-sodium food, and pay attention to labels to ensure that the overall sodium content is below the upper limit.
Trap 3: Insufficient fiber material
All plants (such as grains, fruits, vegetables and beans) contain fiber. Many people don't realize that fiber is indigestible in the body, but it plays an important role in cleaning the digestive tract when it passes through the body. Constipation in children is very common, and the most common reason is that there is too little fiber and liquid-most children get less than half of the fiber they need. Canada's food guide recommends that children eat 4 to 6 servings of fruits and vegetables and 3 to 6 servings of grains every day.
It is easy to add more fiber to children's diet: replace bread and cereal with high-fiber cereals-look for "whole grain", "bran" or "fiber" in the name; Introduce high-fiber side dishes such as brown rice, quinoa or barley, or add them to soup instead of noodles; Adding fruits to the grain (choose high-fiber fruits such as raspberry, blueberry, kiwi fruit, pear, apple, mango, strawberry, dried apricot, cranberry and raisin); Sprinkle a few tablespoons of bran on yogurt or cereal, or add it to muffin, biscuit or pancake batter.
For children aged four and above, popcorn is also a good source of fiber (for younger children, popcorn may be in danger of suffocation). In the choice of packaged food, each serving should have at least 2g and 4g fiber.
Trap 4: Juice
Sugary drinks are one of the main causes of childhood obesity. Some fruit juices, punch and fruit cocktails may contain as much sugar as soda, or even more. Sugar-sweetened fruit juice can increase excess empty calories without filling a child's stomach. Fruit juice should not replace real fruit, because fruit contains important nutrients, vitamins and fiber. Children who drink too much juice are at risk of "infantile diarrhea". When the high concentration of sugar in fruit juice sucks the water in the body into the digestive tract, it will lead to soft stool. Provide water instead of juice all day. If fruit juice is really served, choose unsweetened, 100% fruit juice, and limit it to 4 ounces (120 ml) per day.
Trap 5: the wrong way to drink milk
Do you know that?/You know what? Do you know that?/You know what? Some toddlers drink too much milk, and children after two don't need high-fat milk. Milk (and some milk substitutes) is an important source of bone calcium. Canada's food guide suggests that children aged 2-8 should drink two servings (about 500ml) of milk or milk substitute every day, and children aged 9- 13 should eat three or four servings every day. When they are two years old, you can provide 1% or 2% milk, and skim milk can not be provided until the children are at least five years old.
After one year, the intake of milk should be around 16 to 24 ounces (500 to 720 ml) per day. Too much milk is actually harmful to children's health, because milk will make them full, resulting in less solid food intake, so that they lack necessary nutrients, especially iron. Children who drink too much milk will be short of iron, which usually leads to anemia. In order to control the intake of milk, once the child is ready, it can be replaced by a straw or a cup.
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