The five meals of the Optimized Mixed Diet

Optimized mixed diet: 5 meals for optimal nutrient supply

For a balanced supply of nutrients, the Research Institute for Child Nutrition in Dortmund (FKE) recommends observing five fixed meals of the optimized mixed diet a day, which can be broken down into three with breakfast, lunch and dinner and one snack each in the morning and afternoon Have a main meal and two snacks. This distribution of meals is intended to prevent an interim drop in performance due to tiredness and food cravings. The latter usually lead to eating too much and wrongly, which can eventually lead to overeating.

The regulated meals of the optimized mixed diet also create fixed structures for your child, which can give him security and also make it easier to deal with and positively evaluate food, especially healthy food. A consciously eaten meal, especially together with other family members, not only promotes your child’s social skills, but also creates a healthy relationship to nutrition itself. You can find out more about this in the article “Why meals together are so important” .

In the concept of the optimized mixed diet , there are different guidelines for the daily meals in terms of the design and use of the individual food groups. This is to ensure that the diet remains varied and therefore balanced and that all important nutrients are covered by different foods.

Recharge your batteries for the day at breakfast

In order for your child’s body to be able to perform to its full potential right from the start of the day, it is important that it is supplied with sufficient energy early in the day. A balanced breakfast is of the utmost importance.

The main component of this first main meal should be milk or a milk product such as yoghurt or quark. Fruit or vegetables come second as raw foods, followed by bread or another grain product, such as oatmeal. Sausage and cheese are only used to a small extent if possible, as they can be very greasy. You should also be careful with breakfast cereals, as they often contain a lot of sugar and are therefore considered sweets. So how about a delicious muesli with fresh fruit in the morning, for example?

Important: Your child should drink enough with every meal . Liquid is very important for your child’s metabolism and if their body lacks water, the nutrients from food cannot be optimally transported and utilized. Therefore always have water or other calorie-free or low-calorie drinks ready for your child and give them enough drinks to take to kindergarten or school.

The second breakfast

In the course of the morning, your child already uses up a large part of the energy that it consumed with breakfast. That’s why it makes sense to insert a snack between this first and second main meal, lunch, so that the energy supply is not interrupted. According to the optimized mixed diet, this consists largely of fruit or raw vegetables and can be supplemented with milk and grain products.

Here, for example, the combination of the classic break bread with a finely chopped apple or other fruit is a good idea. The bread can be topped with low-fat sausage or cream cheese, for example. Occasionally you can give your child a chocolate bar or a piece of cake as a surprise as a morning snack. However, this should remain the exception.

Early starter or morning grouch?

Every child has their own rhythm and not everyone is already fit early in the morning. If your child doesn’t feel like eating a real breakfast when they wake up in the morning, coercion is not the way to go. This only leads to your child not feeling taken seriously by you. However, it should not leave the house on a completely empty stomach. So try to persuade them to at least have a glass of milk or fruit juice.

Instead, the second breakfast can be a little more sumptuous than usual so that your child can use it to compensate for the lack of energy. However, it must not be too rich, so that there is still an appetite for lunch.

The warm main meal

In many families with small children, the warm meal is eaten at midday. Of course, it is just as possible to move this to the evening if, for example, you have several children who come home at different times or one parent works and eating together is only possible in the evening.

In the FKE concept, the main components of the warm meal are potatoes, pasta or rice, for example. There are also plenty of vegetables, for example as a sauce or in a salad. Meat or fish can be served three to four times a week as a side dish, so to speak, and vegetarian dishes should be served on the other days. With the large selection of delicious stews, casseroles, pasta dishes and salads, you shouldn’t get bored.

An afternoon snack

In the afternoon your child gets really excited again, plays with friends, goes to sports or romps around in the garden. It also consumes a lot of energy. So that no “hole in the stomach” develops by the evening, a small snack is also planned between lunch and dinner. The guidelines are the same as for the mid-morning snack: lots of fruit and raw vegetables as well as milk and grain products. A yoghurt with fresh fruit or vegetable sticks with herbal quark are delicious, for example.

A balanced end to the day

To end the day on a healthy note, an appropriate dinner is a must. If you have already eaten warm at lunchtime, then you should content yourself with a cold meal in the evening. The same criteria apply as for the main meal in the morning. Milk and dairy products, together with fruit and raw vegetables, form the main part of the evening meal and can be supplemented with grain products and, if desired, with some sausage or cheese. For example, simple sandwiches with cream cheese and vegetable slices or mueslis with yoghurt or milk are ideal. If you haven’t eaten a warm meal at lunchtime, you can do so now.

With variety to the goal

The concept of the optimized mixed diet is intended to ensure that your child is supplied with all the essential nutrients. It is therefore important to have as varied a mix of foods as possible, since different foods also have different effects and ingredients. Due to the different guideline values ​​and the modular system for the individual meals, the concept makes it easier for you to keep the balance between the individual food groups.

However, you should only see the recommendations as such. Every child is different and therefore has different needs. Therefore, always orientate yourself on your child, cater to their preferences as much as possible and do not force anything on them that they do not want to eat. This is the only way to implement healthy nutrition in your family in the long term. Of course, the general balance should be maintained, for example to prevent overeating or deficiency symptoms in your child. Exceptions, however, keep the tension and make you want more.