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Just like adults, young children need energy (calories) from food and nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals, to make sure their bodies work properly and can repair themselves.
At this age, children grow very quickly and are usually very active, so they need plenty of calories and nutrients. A healthy and varied diet should provide all the nutrients your toddler needs.
Remember to include these sorts of foods every day:
• Milk and dairy foods – these provide protein, vitamins and minerals and are a good source of calories for growing children.
• Meat, fish, eggs, beans, peas and lentils – these are rich in nutrients such as protein, vitamins and minerals. You can give boys up to four portions of oily fish a week, such as mackerel, salmon and sardines, but it's best to give girls no more than two portions of oily fish a week.
• Bread, and other cereals such as rice, pasta and breakfast cereals, and potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes – these starchy foods provide calories, vitamins, minerals and fibre.
• Fruit and vegetables – these contain vitamin C, and other protective vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre.
Although toddlers can eat the same food as adults, before they're two years old children can't eat large amounts of food at one sitting. So, until then, give your child meals and snacks packed with calories and nutrients (nutrient dense foods) such as:
• full-fat milk and dairy foods
• meat
• eggs
Don't forget to give them fruit and vegetables and starchy foods as well. But if you tend to eat high fibre foods, remember that young children's stomachs can't cope with foods such as wholemeal pasta and brown rice. Also, too much fibre can sometimes reduce the amount of minerals they can absorb, such as calcium and iron.
By the time they're five years old, young children should be eating family food, which is more bulky as it contains lots of starchy foods and plenty of fruit and vegetables. But make sure it doesn't contain too much saturated fat, which is found in butter, hard-fat spreads, cheese, fatty meat and meat products, biscuits, pastry and cakes.
Take care to avoid the following foods:
• Raw eggs and food that contains raw or partially cooked eggs because of the risk of salmonella, which causes food poisoning. If you give eggs to your toddler, make sure the eggs are cooked until both the white and yolk are solid.
• Whole or chopped nuts for children under five years old because of the risk of choking. It's a good idea to crush or flake them.
• Shark, swordfish and marlin because these fish contain relatively high levels of mercury, which might affect a child's developing nervous system.
• You might also want to avoid giving raw shellfish to your toddler to reduce their risk of getting food poisoning.
• There's no need to add salt to your toddler's food. From the age of 1 to 3, children should be having no more than 2g a day. If you're buying processed foods, even those aimed at children, remember to check the information given on the labels to choose those with less salt.
• There's no need to add sugar or honey to food for your toddler.
• Don't give sweet drinks such as sugary fizzy drinks and fruit squash because they cause tooth decay. If you do give fruit squash or sugary drinks, make sure they're well diluted with water and drunk at mealtimes. Between meals, it's better to give water or milk to drink.
If our toddler has already been diagnosed with an allergy, such as a food allergy or eczema, or if there is a history of allergy in their immediate family (if their parents, brothers or sisters have an allergy such as a food allergy, asthma, eczema, hay fever, or other types of allergy) then they have a higher risk of developing peanut allergy. So we should talk to your GP, health visitor or medical allergy specialist before we give peanuts or foods containing peanuts to our child for the first time.
If our child hasn't been diagnosed with any allergies and there isn't a history of allergy in their immediate family, you can choose to give them peanuts or foods containing peanuts after they are six months old (but remember to crush them up). When we give our child peanuts for the first time, look out for any allergic reaction. If we think our child is having an allergic reaction, we should get urgent medical advice.
If we have any questions or concerns about whether our child should be eating peanuts, we should discuss these with our GP, health visitor or other health professional.
From two years old, we can start giving your toddler semi-skimmed milk, provided they're eating a varied and balanced diet and are growing well. Fully skimmed milk and 1% fat milk aren't suitable as main drinks until they're five years old, because they don't contain enough vitamin A and skimmed milk doesn't contain enough calories for a growing child.
If we want to give your toddler a vegetarian diet, it's important to make sure their diet is balanced and includes all the necessary nutrients.
Make sure we give them foods rich in nutrients such as milk, cheese and eggs. This will mean their diet won't be too bulky and they'll get plenty of protein, vitamin A, calcium and zinc.
Iron is found in many vegetables and pulses (beans, lentils and chick peas), in dried fruit (such as apricots, raisins and sultanas) and in some breakfast cereals, but it's more difficult to absorb from vegetable sources than from meat, so:
give your toddler foods containing iron each day
try to give foods high in vitamin C – such as fruit and vegetables or diluted fruit juices at mealtimes – because these might make it easier to absorb the iron
don't give young children tea or coffee, especially at meal times, because this might reduce the amount of iron they can absorb
If we want more information, we should contact our health visitor or GP.
From about, 6 month of age milk will not satisfy a baby’s nutritional needs. The body will require more of the different nutrients especially iron in order to maintain healthy growth and development. Healthy eating means that the baby is offered plenty of fruit vegetables and pulses as well as meat, fish, eggs and cereals at the appropriate times. Until 9 months old, we should avoid to give them
• Cows milk
• Eggs
• Citrus fruits
• Chillies and other strong spices
• Wheat based foods including cereals and bread
• Nuts
• Fatty foods
Until 1 year old, we should avoid giving them
• Cows milk
• Chillies and other strong spices
• Nuts
• Fatty foods
After 1 year old we should ensure we provide the children a balanced diet, we can divide food into five different food groups.
Group 5 – Carbohydrates; These are high-energy foods such as bread, cereal, rice, and potatoes. Although mainly carbohydrates they also contain some protein, vitamins, mineral and fibre. They gives energy, maintains a healthy bowel. Fibre provides bulk and helps digestion, prevents constipation and encouraging chewing and healthy gums. Children need 5 portions from this group per day.
Group 4 - Fruit and Vegetables: These provide a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and fibre. They are essential for healing and fighting infection. Green vegetables contain iron, citrus fruits and potatoes vitamin C. Orange colour fruits contain vitamin A. In addition, they are good for healthy skin and blood formation and good vision. Children need 4 portions from this food group per day.
Group 3 – Milk and dairy products: These include milk, yogurt, and cheese and fromage frais. They contain protein, vitamins A, D, and a rich source of calcium. A child requires 1 pint of milk a day to ensure the right amount of calcium to form their healthy bones ant teeth. In addition, it is good for the healthy working of the nervous system. Children should not have skimmed milk under the age of 5. They will need 3 portions from this group per day.
Group 2 – High Protein Foods: These include meat, fish, poultry, eggs, tofu, quorn, and pulses. They are essential for growth and repair of the body. Good for brain, blood, skin and other tissues. Oily fish ant liver contain vitamin A. Children will need 2 portions from this group per day
Group 1 – Oils and fats: These foods are concentrated source of energy but too many saturated fats (animal fats) may result in heart disease in later life. Most of the child’s fats requirement is found in their diet – meat, cheese, crisps and cakes. They should eat this group of food with limit. They do not need any extra. However, children under the age of 2 years need more fat and less fibre in their diet. We should use unsaturated fats and reduce the amount of deep-frying.
In addition, we have to think about:
Sugary foods: They give short-term energy. Sweets, chocolate etc. They are not in the food group because they do not have nutritional value. If child eats a lot of sugary food, they will be overweight and suffer tooth decay.
Salt: Too much salt can cause ill health in later life and we should avoid adding salt to children’s food. Young children can have kidney problems.
Liquids: Water is the best liquid. Avoid giving children fizzy drinks also some squashes have very high sugar content. We should not add sugar to any drink it cause sweet tooth.
Snacks: mid morning and mid afternoon raw fruit and vegetables, yogurt, milk, unsweetened biscuit, plain bread stick or popcorn.
Addictives: They are substances added to food to preserve it or to improve its look or taste. All manufactured foods are required by law to list any additives in the food – these are al coded with E numbers so that they are recognisable.
Good habits learned when young tend to stay for life. As an early years practitioner we are in a unique position to influence the lives of the children in our care during this crucial early period. Healthy Living in the Early Years Foundation Stage will guide us through the processes of:
• making healthy living a part of the vision and values of our setting
• ensuring that all the policies and organisation of the setting promote healthy living
• providing suitable experiences for young children to enable them to understand what healthy living entails
• helping children to take responsibility for their own personal health and wellbeing
• helping parents to understand what healthy living involves and how they can support their own children
• acting as good role models for having a healthy lifestyle.
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