There are so many things to consider after your baby is born. What food do I feed them? How often should they eat? What activities should they be involved in? All these questions can make the method difficult, but the reality is that every single child needs good nutrition and moderate activity.
For the healthy development of the baby, it is essential that you simply try to include healthy and balanced food in his diet plan and habits. Parents are largely responsible for the right and wrong eating habits of the child. Since most of the eating habits of the child are linked to his home, he goes ahead with his habit. So encourage your kids to have a healthy, diet that includes a variety of food groups and make sure they get all the nutrients they need to be sustainable. In addition, it is important for you to understand which nutrients and foods are best and important for your baby’s development.
The British Nutrition Foundation recommends that children’s diets include starchy carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, and some protein and dairy foods from the age of 5 onwards. Below are several important vital nutrients that should be included in every child’s daily diet.
Protein
Protein is extremely important for your child’s physical and mental development. Protein is required for proper growth, maintenance and repair of the body. For this, include chicken, fish, eggs, milk, dairy products, pulses, beans and soy products in your child’s diet.
Carbohydrate
As much as protein is important for a child’s growth, carbohydrates (starchy foods) are important for their full and balanced development. It is considered as the simplest source of energy for your growing baby. For this, feed your child food rich in many starchy carbs like potatoes, rice, oats, bread. Whole grains are rich in high fiber.
Fat
Your baby also needs fat in the diet to stay healthy. However, it is important to make sure that you give your baby only good fats and in the right amounts. For this, you will get the child to consume fatty foods like meat, fish, dairy products, ghee, butter, nuts etc. Try giving baby only unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats. Because having saturated fat can soon put your baby at risk of significant health problems like heart disease.
Calcium
The body first needs calcium. Not only children but also the elderly also need calcium for healthy bones and teeth. Therefore, to keep the baby’s muscles and teeth healthy, you should include calcium-rich foods in your child’s diet. Good sources of calcium are milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu, soybeans, green leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli, which are high in calcium.
Iron
A baby needs iron to move healthy blood like oxygen in the body. Foods rich in iron include whole grains, pulses, beans, red meat, nuts and dry fruits, dark green vegetables like spinach.
Vitamins
It is important to have some essential vitamins in the diet of a child for healthy growth and overall health. such as A, water soluble vitamins and D. Foods rich in A include milk, yogurt, eggs, green leafy vegetables, carrots, sweet potatoes, red peppers and spinach. In addition, citrus fruits, berries, tomatoes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and peppers are good sources of antioxidants. Whereas sunlight is the main natural source of calciferol. For this, include eggs, fish, soy milk in your child’s diet.
As far as the daily requirement of D, give your child a multivitamin containing a minimum of 400 IU per day.
Minerals
Another important nutrient that a growing baby needs is minerals. Minerals are essential for the growth and development of your baby’s body. For this, you will be able to include foods rich in minerals like iron, calcium, zinc, magnesium etc. in every meal you give to your baby. Some of these samples are iron-rich foods such as meats such as lean beef and fish or red meat; zinc-rich foods such as beans and lentils; calcium-rich foods such as milk and cheese; and magnesium-rich foods like almonds and whole grains.
You can also give vitamin supplements to your baby for the proper development of the baby. There are many multivitamin brands on the market.
Knowing the most effective foods for children’s growth can give you an honest idea of what kind of foods to supply them so that they can grow up healthy and powerful.
The best thing to try is to feed your baby when he is hungry and not on time. Whenever you feed him, try to make sure that he gets a variety of nutritious foods that he is not only eating frequently (even if it is his favorite).
And remember that with kids, quantity isn’t as important as quality.