Must-Eat Nutrients for Your Child: Children should be fed very carefully as they need to grow well. And many children are very picky while eating, reminding their parents to wonder if they are getting enough nutrition or not. Always remember that good nutrition will always support your child’s health, growth, and development. Even malnutrition will affect your child’s academic performance.
If you neglect your child’s nutrition at this age it may affect or impact their whole life. Here in this article, we are going to provide you with complete information on some of the must-eat nutrients of your child. Read them carefully and try to include the foods that we have given below while preparing your child’s food.
- List of Must-Eat Nutrients For Your Child – Healthy Foods For School-Aged Children
- What are the nutrients that students need most?
- Do kids need vitamins every day?
- What type of foods helps your kid to grow?
- What are nutrients that most students are deficient in?
List of Must-Eat Nutrients For Your Child – Healthy Foods For School-Aged Children
Malnutrition is the most common problem that we see mainly in students as they are active, they eat less food. So parents should always concentrate on the foods that are feeding their children. If we see 60% of students are suffering from malnutrition.
Even schools should teach students and parents about why nutrition is important for students and how poor nutrition affects students learning. If it is possible, they should play a role to feed the children with nutritious food. Below is the list of nutrients that are needed for every child.
- Protein
- Iron
- Fats
- Carbohydrates
- Fiber
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Calcium
- Folate
- Potassium
Protein
Protein is an essential nutrient in any diet. By giving protein food to your children, it helps to digest food into energy, build cells and fight infections in the body. It is essential to the growth, and pairing of tissues for children even in adults too. But it is very important for children, and they need to eat protein daily.
If your kids are under the age of 4 and 9 about 19 grams, and if they are above 9 to 13 they need 34 grams of protein per day.
Look into some of the protein-rich food includes
- Cheese and yogurt
- Beans
- Tofu
- Soy
- Meat
- Eggs
- Fish
- Poultry
- Cottage Cheese
- Quinoa
- Brussel sprouts
If you have infant babies breast milk has a high amount of protein which helps to grow them well. And coming to the quality of food, animal products have the complete 9 essential amino acids but in plant-based products, there is less food that has the complete 9 essential amino acids.
Iron
For children, iron is the most important nutrient to be healthy and thrive. And also iron is very necessary to build healthy blood that flows throughout the body. In many children, we see iron deficiency which causes anemia, fatigue, irritability, weakness, pale skin, and even slower weight gain.
So, it is always important to give 7mg of iron to the age of 1 to 3. And even adolescent girls also need iron intake. Here are some of the food products that are rich in iron.
- Nuts
- Beans
- Iron-fortified cereals
- Red meats
- Shellfish
- Whole grains
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Grapefruit
In iron, there are two types of iron heme iron and non-heme iron. Heme iron is easily absorbed by the body and non-heme iron is not well absorbed compared to heme iron. And babies below 1 year and those born prematurely need to use iron supplements.
Fats
Healthy fats are a great source of energy for kids, it provides twice the amount of energy than carbs and proteins. The fat requirement varies from person to person, but the body should not exceed 30% of calories daily. Essential fatty acids are good for cell building, strengthening the cardiovascular system, brain function, and immunity.
Foods that contain healthy fats include,
- Meat
- Fish
- Vegetable Oils
- Butter
- Cream
- Eggs
- Cheese
- Olives
- Nuts
For children who are between the age of 2-3 years, fat intake should be 30 -35 % of calories, and for children who are at the age of 4-18 years, fat intake should be 25 – 35% of calories.
Carbohydrates
Carbs are the most important source of energy. And these carbohydrates are found in many foods we eat, which give us 60% of our energy. Many types of research say that kids under the age of 1, should consume 130g of carbs each day. And it is very easy to get as carbs are available in many sugars, starches, and fiber.
Foods that contain high levels of carbohydrates include
- Rice
- Cereals
- Bread
- Crackers
- Bread
- Oatmeal
- Starchy Foods like potatoes, pasta, rice, and semolina
- Pulses like peas, beans, and lentils
- Pasta
- Potatoes
Infants need more carbohydrates in their bodies than adults. As sugars are high in carbohydrates, excess intake of sugars may lead to the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. As we have sugars in every food, we need to make it less intake.
Fiber
Fiber is the structural carbohydrate that is found in plants. And it is essential for bowel regularity, decreasing chances of heart disease, and cancer in your child. Even it also lowers the bad cholesterol in the body and even controls sugar levels. FDA recommends kids who are at the age of 3, need 14 grams of dietary fiber per day. And children above 4 years need 28 g of dietary fiber.
Below are some of the fiber-rich foods include
- Whole grain cereals
- Whole grain bread
- Kidney Beans
- Nuts
- Grain products like wheat bran, oat bran.
- Legumes like lentils, soybeans, chickpeas, soup peas, mixed legumes, and mung beans.
- Vegetables and Fruits.
Normally, fat doesn’t digest completely in the human body as they are resistant to digestive enzymes. The requirement for fibers will increase as your child grows and develops. Develop a healthy diet for your children and provide the amount of dietary food they need.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A gives out a variety of purposes in the body in kids and even in adults. By taking vitamin A into your body, it regulates bone growth, vision, and growth of cells like hair, nails, and skin and also fights against infections. The National Institute of Health has revealed taht there are two types of vitamin A we have in our body they are performed vitamin A and provitamin A carotenoids.
Here we are going to provide you with foods that are rich in vitamin A are
- Broccoli
- Fish oils
- Spinach
- Salmon
- Eggs
- Apricots
- Milk
- Squash
- Carrots and Sweet potatoes
Babies who are below 6 months of age need 400 mcg(RAE) of vitamin A, while the kids that are of age 9 to 13 need 600 mcg(RAE) of vitamin A. RAE is nothing but the retinol activity equivalents. Always include all the above food items daily to get vitamin A to your child’s body.
Even a deficiency of vitamin A leads to improper eye vision which will automatically affect your child’s academic performance. Checkout, children vision academic performance to know how eye vision affects your child in school.
Vitamin C
Many of us may not know the power of vitamin C and its qualities, and they think the intake of vitamin C fights the common cold. But that is not true, it helps to strengthen the bones and teeth of your child, and not only that, it helps to strengthen the walls of blood vessels, repairs bone, and cell growth, and minimizes bruising by assisting with the healing.
Common foods that are rich in vitamin C are given below. All of us think that citrus fruits are the one that is rich in vitamin C but no there are even more foods that gives vitamin C to your body.
- Potatoes
- Bell peppers
- Cauliflower
- Cantaloupe
- Tomatoes
- Fruits like grapes, Amla, strawberries, and all citrus fruits.
- Broccoli
- Papayas
- Mangoes
Children who are at the age of 4-8 need to intake 25 mg of vitamin C daily, which might be half of the small orange. And with the age of 9-13 need to intake 45 mg of vitamin C daily. And if your child is in teens they should intake 65-75 mg of vitamin C daily.
Calcium
Every one of us knows that calcium intake is very important to the human body to strengthen the bones and teeth, but it only contains 2 % of our body. Coming to children it is very much important as the bones and teeth are in the growing stage and that is the age when bones and teeth become strong.
It is essential not only for bones and teeth but also for the whole body like blood clotting of nerves, heart function, and muscles, and to convert food into energy. And calcium deficiency in kids and babies may lead to rickets and bones will become soft, and causes stunted growth.
Food products that are rich in calcium are given below. Have a look at them.
- Ice Cream
- Milk
- Yogurt
- Cheese
- Soybeans
- Oranges
- Figs
- Prunes
- Broccoli
- Tofu
- Spinach
- Fortified Cereals
According to FDA recommendation, children who are in the age of 1 to 3 should intake 700mg of calcium per day, and children who are 4 years and above should intake 1300 mg per day. Calcium is not only found in the above foods, but even founds in bread, juices, and other foods that children consume.
Folate
Folate is the one nutrient that is needed for the child and for the mother who is expecting a baby. It is one of the crucial vitamins of B that helps in the development of child cells and healthy growth of the child—children with a lack of folate cause anemia.
Some of the foods that are rich in folate are
- Berries
- Orange Juice
- Spinach
- Chickpeas
- Brussel Sprouts
- Beans
- Asparagus
- Lentils
- Kidney beans
The amount of folate that should be taken by different age groups of children are, children with the age under 6 months should intake 65 mcg on a daily basis, children aged 4-8 should intake 200 mcg daily, 14- 18 years old should intake 400 mcg daily. Try to include the above foods in your child’s diet.
Potassium
One more and final nutrient that is important for your child’s body is potassium. As potassium will help to regulate the body functions of your children including the heart rhythm, muscle contraction, and also the nervous system. If there is a deficiency of potassium, it may lead to muscle weakness and also abnormal heart rate.
Look into the foods that are rich in potassium are
- Bananas
- Salmon
- Spinach
- Beans
- Milk
- Yogurt
- Prune juice
- Sweet Potatoes
Children with the age of 3 should need 3000 mg and the children with the age of above 3 need the 4700 mg daily.
In the above all the nutrients, you can see there are some common foods that you will get all these nutrients if you include that food in your child’s diet plan. Without a proper diet plan and nutrients, they cannot be active in school as well as at home.
You can even check out the student nutrition article to know some tips to provide healthy food to your school-going kid.
FAQs on Nutritional Requirements for Toddlers and Students
- What are the nutrients that students need most?
Young children need protein and iron nutrients for growth and development. And these proteins and iron are rich in pulses, meat, fish, eggs, beans, and tofu.
- Do kids need vitamins every day?
Yes, children who dont eat well need multivitamins. But for some children who are actively eating different types of foods, no need to take the multivitamins every day.
- What type of foods helps your kid to grow?
Here is the list of nutrients that help your child grows.
- Sweet Potatoes
- Green Leafy Vegetables
- Citrus fruits
- Fruits and vegetables
- Meat Products
- Dairy Products
- Plant-based Products
- What are nutrients that most students are deficient in?
The most common deficiencies that we are looking at in school-aged children are calcium, Vitamin E, B12, D, zinc, fiber, and potassium.
Key Outcomes
We hope that the knowledge we have shared on must-eat nutrients for your child is useful for you. Nutrition deficiency always affects your child’s behavior, development, growth, and academic performance.
Even improper food intake in students causes a lot of stress and if you also see such type of stress in your school-aged kids, just check out Stress Management Techniques for Students, at our learncbse.in website.
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