Why a balanced diet is so important for your child
Introducing children to a balanced and needs-based diet is a great concern for parents and sometimes also a big task. Because not everything that has a positive effect on the well-being of the little ones is also well received by the offspring. In childhood, however, the foundations for lifelong nutritional behavior are laid. This is not the only reason why a balanced diet is so important for children. Together with Alpro, we explain the background to you.
A balanced diet is by no means magic and it helps the child’s development with many positive effects right on the jumps. For example, it strengthens the immune system and prevents nutrient deficiencies. In addition, the foundations for lifelong eating behavior are laid in the first years of life. Children who grow up with a balanced diet usually adopt this behavior and eat better overall.
We show you which foods have a positive influence on a balanced diet and tell you a few tips that can be easily integrated into everyday life with children.
Drink properly and sufficiently
Hydration is often overlooked or excluded when it comes to nutrition, but the right drinking behavior has an enormous influence on well-being. Water serves in our body as a solvent for the transport of nutrients and is a reactant of numerous metabolic processes.
Toddlers should drink about 0.6 to 1 liter per day, elementary school children 1 to 1.5 liters. Ideal as thirst quenchers are still water or sparkling mineral water. Unsweetened herbal or fruit teas offer even more taste and are often well received, especially chilled. Vegetable juices and fruit juice spritzers made from one part 100% fruit juice and three parts water are also suitable.
Whole grain products also taste good for children
Cereals and cereal products are important staple foods. The carbohydrates contained serve to generate energy and also saturate well. Whole grain products are particularly valuable.
In the outer layers of the cereal grain as well as in the seedling there are B vitamins, minerals (magnesium, iron and zinc), but also important dietary fibres and unsaturated fatty acids.
Small children often do not like the harder, very grainy variants of whole grain products, but are often enthusiastic about wholemeal bread made from finely ground grains and oatmeal or crispbread.
Not all fats are the same
Fats are just as much an indispensable part of a balanced diet as carbohydrates. However, not all fat is the same. In the diet, especially the (poly) unsaturated fatty acids play a positive role. They are energy donors, building fabric for body cells and hormones, as well as carriers of fat-soluble vitamins. In addition, our body cannot produce the vital essential fatty acids itself and is dependent on food supply.
Vegetable fats contain a good combination of unsaturated fatty acids. For salads, cold-pressed, unrefined oils are perfect – ideally rapeseed oil. Margarine is particularly suitable for the so-called spreadable fats.
Snacking is also balanced
Parents are often looking for balanced snacks for their offspring in between. For children, the taste counts above all, adults tend to keep an eye on the ingredients. Nuts, kernels and fruity soy-based quark alternatives provide a lot of valuable vegetable protein and are rich in unsaturated fatty acids – which makes parents and children happy.
Proteins are needed for healthy growth and development of bones in children.*
Tips for parents with a lack of time
When reality throws the beautiful (menu) planning over the pile in the twinkling of an eye, quick and practical solutions are needed. However, the balance of meals does not necessarily have to suffer. Frozen vegetables and fruits are much better than their reputation from a nutritional point of view and save valuable minutes when in doubt.
And even if it has to go really fast, quick dishes or the sandwich can be brought into a good balance with a salad or some sliced vegetables such as kohlrabi sticks, cucumber slices or tomato wedges.