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What you need to know about what your toddler is eating


I previously posted this article back in June but upon reading ProBlogger tips on the Importance of titles I thought I would put this out again (*This time with a different title)

The human brain is particularly susceptible to the effects of poor nutrition during the early years of development, and most preschool diets are either average or impoverished.[1]

Young brains need many nutrients for learning. Food additives and Deficiencies in some nutrients have been linked to ADD and ADHD.
Some guidelines that can help are:

No Soft Drinks - At least till the age of 5, and then only as an occasional treat. Replace Soft drinks with Water, Natural Fruit Juices (Without corn Syrup or Fructose Sweeteners), and Low fat Milk.
Limit Potato Chips, Donuts, Pop-Tarts, and Cookies. These should be a treat and healthier alternatives like whole grain pretzels or baked chips, fruits like bananas, sliced apples, grapes, and watermelon are ideal snack choices.
Natures Path has some better snack options for Toaster pastries, Cookies, and Chips.

Stick with whole foods, real foods, and reduce the manufactured processed ones.

Nutritional supplements can help to avoid vitamin and mineral deficiencies, but you should try to get most of these thru the food your child eats. Try this online Balanced Meal Planner to ensure that you are selecting enough foods from the major food groups.

Children have their favorite foods and sometimes it seems like it is next to impossible to get them to eat anything other than mac and cheese or PB&J one way to get your Child to eat healthy foods is to hide them in their current favorites.
For tips for some simple strategies for hiding healthy foods in kids' favorite meals checkout http://www.thesneakychef.com/

Resources used
[1] M. Georgieff and R. Rao, "The Role of Nutrition in Cognitive Development," in Handbook of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, eds. C. Nelson and M. Luciana (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Some other tips from Shereen Flaxman

http://www.kidica.com/raising-children/child-health/kids-food.aspx

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