Feeding healthy food to your kids, especially if they are fussy eaters, isn’t easy. And once the kids start kindergarten or school life takes a new turn. It becomes even more difficult to make sure that your kid feels fuller for long and gets the needed nutrition.
Moreover, kids are growing and more active at this age. So a regular and healthy food for children is a must to help them stay active and energetic throughout the day. So if you are confused and need help to plan diet and meals for your preschoolers here are the tips to get you started.
- Plan your meals well
Kids learn new skills and ideas about food outside the home. They learn to share their food and may want to try different foods from their friends’ lunch boxes. It’s the time that you get them involved in preparing their lunch boxes or preparing healthy meals for them.
Preparing meals together with your kids gives you a better opportunity to teach them more about nutrition. And with some quick and easy recipes for kids, they will enjoy eating the food they helped you prepared.
- Keep the treats for special occasions
By this age of preschoolers, kids learn to eat independently and enjoy eating with family or classmates at school. It’s that time when they make more friends, which means eating more out of the home. They may attend more birthday parties or have fast food at a restaurant – a treat by their friend’s parents.
Thus, you should limit their sugar intake at home and make sure they get all the necessary nutrition. Keep the sugary sweets and high energy treats for special occasions instead of giving them into lunch boxes for your kids.
- Don’t be too strict on diet
This is the age where children are continuously growing at a steady age. So, you should let loose on strict or low-fat diets as kids’ energy and nutrition needs are high during their growth years.
- Healthy drinks
Fluids are an important part of diet along with solid food. Fluids especially water is important to your body hydrated. And active children need plenty of fluids. Along with water, you should make sure that kids have at least two glasses of milk a day. This provides enough calcium for bone development.
We all are prone to having odd time snacks, especially the kids. It’s possible that eat munch more chips and fries and other unhealthy food. But you can limit their oily and fast food intake by serving them healthy snacks such as fruit salads, vegetable dips, and smoothies. These are easy to prepare and kids will feel fuller and get the necessary nutrition for healthy growth.