Thursday, April 15, 2010

Nutrition for Children

Good nutrition and good eating habits are important for all groups of children because it is important for appropriate growth and development of the child. There are two major categories of nutrition and they are macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrient is the energy nutrients that are produced by carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. This energy is used for growth, to regulate the body, and to perform voluntary activities (Robertson, p.236). Energy is needed to maintain life. Then micronutrient is needed to help macronutrient because it helps regulates the body metabolism and perform their functions (Robertson, p. 240). Micronutrients would be the vitamins, minerals, and water, and they must be right in order for macronutrients to do their job properly. Calories are not found in micronutrients. Teachers need to know this information when preparing the menu for the children at their centers, then the children will get the right amount of nutrients they need in their daily meals.
For the infants, 46 percent of them get their food from an early childhood program (Robertson, p.214). Meals should meet the nutritional need of the infants. The infants should be feed the way they need to be, because they may be on different schedules. Solid foods should not be introduced to an infant until about 4 to 6 months. This is about how long it takes for them to develop their fine, gross, and oral skills needed to eat solid food (Robertson, p.300). So because they are growing and developing they must be feed right. If the solids are introduced to early, it can make the baby vulnerable to food intolerance or food allergies (Robertson, p.300).
For the toddlers and preschoolers, they are able to eat whole foods that are appropriate for them. They can eat fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy. By this time, they should be ready to feed themselves also. Only 50 percent of toddlers/preschoolers will get the correct amount of nutrition and only 30 percent do not get the recommended amount of fruits and vegetable. The recommended diet primarily consists of whole grains, low-fat and nonfat dairy products, fruits and vegetables, beans, fish, and lean meat along with a physical activity component (Robertson, p. 227).
Adults should help children develop healthy eating habits because it can affect growth and development if they are not feed adequate amounts of healthy food from each food group. If the adults show children how to eat then they do not have to worry about them overeating, playing in the food, or not eating at all. Children’s nutritional needs change as they grow. If they are not getting the proper nutrition it could affect their learning ability too. An adult can help regulate meal time, keep a child on task, and make sure they are well behaved at meal time. It is also up to the adult as to how the child learns about food and when they get to learn about it. This can be done by training the child to be on task in eating satisfying foods and giving the child selection of well-prepared foods. The food should be nutrition and given in varieties. If they do not eat, the adult should be flexible, stay calm and relax. They will learn to eat properly over time as they grow. Another accomplishment is for adults to maintain clear limits and be consistent and also provide opportunities for a child to exercise some control (Robertson, p. 307). When they are allow control over their feeding practices, fewer issues of contention arise (Robertson, p.307). When they learn to self regulate and recognize when he is hungry, thirsty, or not eat if he is not hungry, then he will learn to control food intake over his lifetime.
Three nutritional recipes that family members can prepare with preschoolers are Green eggs and ham and this is the recipe for it: 2 eggs, 1/4 cup shredded cheese or sprinkle as much as you'd like. Add salt and pepper, a shake of each, chopped ham, and green food coloring. Now take the chopped frozen spinach, thawed- replace the green food coloring and add a little frozen spinach for the green color if you like (*shredded zucchini, if desired). Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl, beat eggs, cheese, salt and pepper and ham. Stir in spinach and zucchini if desired. Add 2-3 drops of green food coloring. Beat together. Cook in warm skillet stirring continuously and break up eggs. The nutritional value of this recipe is the spinach, and zucchini, that is two servings of vegetables, then there is the egg and ham for the meat and the cheese is the dairy. This would be a good snack for a child.
Another recipe would be Apple Smiles. This is an apple recipe your kids are sure to love. Cut a red apple into slices, these are the lips. Have child spread peanut butter or cream cheese on apple slice. Then place mini marshmallows, which are the teeth, on top of peanut butter and top with other apple slice. This would be a healthy snack due to the fact that it has apples and peanut butter in it. It is a very light snack for the kids to enjoy. There is no fat in this snack.
Finally, another healthy snack is the ants on a log. The teacher must first cut the celery into 3-4 inch pieces. Then fill middle with cheese spread or peanut butter. Last have the kids add raisins to top to get the ants crawling on the log. Again celery, peanut butter and raisin are healthy because there is a fruit, vegetable and meat in this snack serving.
Cooking with kids should be a fun experience. They get to learn about different foods and also how to prepare them properly. They also learn how to eat healthy. They get to taste the food when they are finish preparing it and it is done by them. Let them do everything from start to finish and they will have achieved cooking. Cooking would be a time to talk with the children and get them to tell you what they like about cooking or preparing food.

Reference
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Preschool Snack Recipes. Retrieved April 4, 2010, from:
www.kids-cooking-activities.com/preschool-snack-recipes.html
19 Nutrition and Weight. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from:
http://www.healthypeople.gov/Document/HTML/Volume2/19Nutrition.htm

1 comment:

  1. Pamela, I agree with you that nutrition is definitely important for the growth and development of the children we have in our care. I also believe that thier meals should be well balanced with fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and the proper meats. Because so many of our children do not get the proper nutrition, it is up to us to, not only provide balanced, healthy meals, but also teach them healthy eating habits. We should instill in our children the concept of growing up healthy and strong by eating the right foods and exercising. Pamela, not only did you offer valuable information for child care providers and parents on nutrition, the recipes were an added bonus. I can definitely use those for my children.

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