Confused - How to Give Your Kid a Nutrition-Balanced Diet? Here’s a Beginner's Guide

We all know Good Parenting is a tough nut to crack. Parenthood comes with many responsibilities and challenges. One of those challenges is to find the right nutrition food for kids. The parents often end up asking these questions:

• Whether my child is getting the right nutrients or not?
• Is my child overfed or underfed?
• How would I know if my child is consuming the right amount of nutrients?

According to the *National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019–2021, 35.5% of children are stunted (low-height-for-age) and 19.3% of children are wasted (low-weight-for-age) in India. One of the major reasons for this condition is inadequate consumption of daily required nutrition. A well-balanced diet with the right proportion of Micronutrients (Vitamins and Minerals) and Macronutrients (Carbohydrates, Fiber, Protein, Fat) can help children be more energetic in daily life.

The new parents often need to catch up while keeping up with multiple suggestions from experts and non-expert relatives. But if you are one of those parents or an acquaintance of any such parent, this is your lucky day.

As with this Blog, we will guide you through some of the most important factors you must consider keeping your child’s nutrition in check.

Practice What You Preach Yes, the first step towards teaching your child a habit is implementing the same to yourself. Because as they say, a child adapts every behavior and habit they witness in their daily lives through their parents. Start adding the best nutrition food for children to your diet and eat, sitting right next to them. Normalize the healthy eating plates in your routine, so they see healthy eating as a lifestyle and not an exception for only selective days.

Add More Colors to Their Plate The more shades of the veggies and fruits your plate has, the more nutrients you’re eating. Different vegetables contain different natural color-causing chemicals that help fight diseases.

• Red Coloured Vegetables contain Lycopene which helps prevent heart disease and cancer
• Purple or Blue colored vegetables contain anthocyanin which lowers the risk of stroke, cancer, and heart disease.
• Orange or Yellow colored vegetables consist of Carotenoids which help to prevent cataracts and age-related macular degeneration
• Green coloured vegetables contain phytochemicals including carotenoids, indoles, and saponins which promote anti-cancer properties

Offer your child a certain portion of sauteed veggies as a side dish with every meal. Make sure to add any seasonal fruit to their diet at least once a day, be it with breakfast or as an evening snack. Try to ditch those canned and dried fruits in the mart and stick to fresh seasonal fruits for uncompromised nutrition levels. It is suggested to consume whole fruit rather than in juice form, as juicing out any fruit eliminates the fiber components present in the skin of the fruit.

Prepare Healthy Alternatives at Home It’s not the food that’s unhealthy, it’s the ingredient used to prepare it. A homemade multigrain pizza base topped with healthy sauces, dressing, and lots of veggies is much healthier than a market-bought pizza base, or a pizza as a whole. You can always make any junk food item healthier by swapping the ingredients with a better version. From ragi pasta with paneer and spinach sauce to dates and yogurt ice cream, a healthier version is right in your hand.

Don’t Give Up Soon on the Restricted Food Items Most parents make the mistake of giving up on any healthy nutrition food for kids once they refuse to eat it. The food likes and preferences of a kid change quite frequently, one day they don’t like a food item, and a few days later they relish the same. Parents should be patient and keep introducing the same item to their diet occasionally. If the child is too picky, maybe you can try the same item in different forms or recipes. Because with child food habits, you can always expect the unexpected!

Find the Right Supplement The priority to fulfilling a child's nutritional needs must be through their diet only. However, there are times when these requirements can’t be fulfilled through their daily meals only, and this is where adding supplement substitutes comes in handy. Supplements like ChilRun® can help a child consume 37 essential nutrients in a single serving. These 37 nutrients will help with the kid’s bone development, height and weight gain, brain health, building strength, boosting energy levels, and improving immunity.

Conclusion Managing food and nutrition is the right way for your child and it can be a huge task, but not impossible if you approach it with an upright plan. Just a few tips and tricks to incorporate and you can nail the nutrition game for children. In addition, you can always add some healthy supplement drinks or consult a professional dietician for a certified meal plan customized to your child's age and needs. Found this blog useful? Share with your friends and family. Would you like to talk to our nutritionist? If yes, please follow this link

Read More:

1. National Family Health Survey (NFHS)
2. https://www.fao.org/srilanka/news/detail-events/es/c/1305160/
3. Venkatesh U, et al. Micronutrient's deficiency in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Nutr Sci. 2021;10:e110.