| It is highly important to ensure our children don't eat | | | | without losing any of the calcium content. |
| contaminated food. That's not the most serious | | | | Most children love to drink fruit juice, a powerful |
| danger on their plates. The main problem with most | | | | source of vitamins. But beware of fruit drinks which |
| children's diet is the amount of junk food eaten. | | | | tend to be sugar laden and low in juice. And healthy |
| Packed with saturated fat, salt and sugar, it fills them | | | | though real juice is, it's best diluted to avoid tooth |
| up but provides little nourishment. In fact, digesting a | | | | decay. Whole fruit is even better than fruit juice. In |
| burger may use up more B vitamins than the burger | | | | general, the less processed a food is and is better it |
| provides. | | | | is for you. |
| A healthy diet is important at any age, but never | | | | Make sure that children don't drink enough to ruin |
| more than in childhood. That's when our bodies are | | | | their appetites. Even milk and fruit juice don't contain |
| growing fastest, incorporating everything we put into | | | | all the nutrients they need, but soft drinks will just |
| them, for good or bad. The way we eat then sets | | | | rot their teeth and fill them up without providing any |
| us on the path to lifelong health and energy, or to | | | | goodness at all. In fact, a lot of soft drinks have |
| endless niggling health problems and low level | | | | been found to contain more than the legal limit of |
| un-wellness. Children, more than anyone, need to eat | | | | artificial sweeteners, often together with sugar. |
| plenty of fruit and vegetables (frozen is fine if | | | | You may not have much control over what your |
| they're horrified by the sight of fresh vegetables). | | | | children eat during the day, but breakfast is one meal |
| They need meat and dairy products or suitable body | | | | that makes a lot of difference. Kids who eat good |
| building alternatives such as other vegetable proteins. | | | | breakfast do better at school because they can |
| Bread and cereals are healthy fillers too for children. | | | | concentrate. It's worth waking them up early enough |
| Like adults, children need to eat a wide range of | | | | to have some healthy cereal like corn flakes, porridge |
| foods to make sure they get all the nutrients they | | | | or whole meals toast and fruit juice, or yogurt with |
| need, but most kids' diets contains little varieties, | | | | fresh fruit. Read the labels on cereals aimed at |
| despite all the different products. Read the labels on | | | | children, since these are often sugary junk food |
| the sweets and munchies they fill up on and you'll | | | | themselves - though still better than nothing in the |
| see the same few ingredients again and again - | | | | mornings. You can often fool kids eating healthier |
| mainly unhealthy or unnecessary, like sugar and | | | | fare by sweetening ordinary cereals or yogurt with |
| additives. The more junk food they eat, the more | | | | handful of dried fruit. |
| restricted their diet really is. | | | | You can also help do well at school by giving them |
| Current parents have a harder time now than even | | | | lunches or snacks that will keep them going all day |
| thirty years before, when the range of junk food | | | | long. Sandwiches are the great standby, especially if |
| now available simply didn't exist. Then children ate real | | | | you use whole meal bread, cheese or ham with salad |
| food or nothing other than that. Now, it's hard to | | | | are good meals in themselves, with an apple or |
| battle against the advertisers, who are allowed so | | | | banana. School meals used to be a mainstay of |
| much more time on children's television here. And it is | | | | healthy diets until nutritional standards were abolished |
| heart breaking when meals turn into a battle of wills | | | | in the early eighties, which then allowed schools to |
| between parents and children. But the effort put into | | | | serve any kind of junk as long as it was cheap and |
| helping children build good eating habits is repaid many | | | | easy to prepare. |
| times over. | | | | The odd bar of chocolate or bag of crisps won't |
| It's not surprising doctors have found children | | | | matter as long as children eat plenty of fresh |
| suffering from scurvy - a lethal but almost forgotten | | | | vegetables, whole grains, fruit and dairy product, with |
| disease that's easily cured with vitamin C - when | | | | some meat or other protein foods. There's no need |
| many eat no fruits or vegetables other than | | | | to worry if a child turns down vegetables, just make |
| potatoes chips. And resilient though children are, a | | | | sure they replace the meat with nuts, seeds, beans, |
| bad diet in childhood can store up trouble for later life. | | | | pulses, eggs, cheese, bean curd or meat substitutes |
| Heart disease, for example, is linked with poor diet | | | | like Quorn. If they turn strictly vegan, refusing even |
| during childhood period. Another frightening long term | | | | eggs or dairy products, consider giving them a |
| result of this, or any form of malnutrition, is the | | | | vitamin B-complex supplement for replacement or |
| brittle bone disease osteoporosis which causes so | | | | complement. |
| much pain and injury in elderly people, especially | | | | Watch out that you don't go to the other extreme, |
| women. The disease sets in when the bones begin to | | | | though of putting your children on a diet that's not |
| thin, so if young people don't build strong bones they | | | | appropriate for their age. Though skimmed milk is |
| risk suffering from it much earlier. | | | | recommended for adults to help keep our ever |
| Milk is an important source of calcium, though | | | | increasing fat intake down, it's unsuitable for children. |
| ordinary cow's milk is not for babies as it can cause | | | | Children need slightly more fat (from healthy sources |
| allergies. Children from one to five years old should | | | | like dairy food and vegetable oils), because that's the |
| drink fully fat milk and semi skimmed is all right for | | | | most concentrated source of the calories they need |
| schoolchildren. Switching to skimmed milk and low fat | | | | for growing. Too much fiber fills them up so they |
| cheese can placate a weight watching teenager | | | | can't take enough calories on board. |