Food Pyramid for Children - Guess the Main Components
Do you know your child’s diet should have components from every category of food pyramid?
Do you know that knowing about the food pyramid is good for improving the nutrition of your kid ??
“Normal is boring '' is great for eating. Children desire variety and see everyday dishes as boring. As your child grows older, you tend to worry about their eating habits and think more often about whether they are getting enough food, eating on time, and whether or not they are nutritious. So let's take a look at nutritious baby food with the help of the food pyramid.
What is a Food Pyramid?
The food pyramid is used to help to understand a balanced diet. Children need a healthy and balanced diet to complete their growth and a balanced diet comprises a proportionate portion of foods that belong to specific but basic food groups, such as vegetables, whole grains, and so on.
A food pyramid is a chart (assumes a pyramid shape) that has different sections. Beginning from the base, it introduces the types of foods your child needs to eat. As the pyramid goes up, more periodic types of food that need to be eaten are served. A good food pyramid will show pictures of different types of food in each section along with information about portion sizes and age groups.
A food pyramid (top to bottom) consists of:
- Top Pointed Layer - Foods and drinks that are high in fat, sugar, and salt
- Second layer - fats and oils
- Third layer - meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, and nuts
- Fourth layer - milk, curd, cheese, and other dairy products
- Fifth layer - seasonal vegetables and fruits
- Sixth layer - cereals, pulses, legumes, and bread
Why is the Food Pyramid Important for Children?
The Importance of Food Pyramid Important for Children because-
- Food pyramids act as an excellent visual aid of the information that they provide which can differ with age ranges in years.
- A food pyramid is a chart to guide and help parents to create nutrient needs as simply as possible to understand the requirements and components of a complete and balanced diet. Growing children need carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and fat, regardless, the amount of each of these important components varies with age and gender.
- Food pyramids convey the guesswork of trying to figure out what to give your child at each meal. In general, a balanced diet with adequate nutrition includes at least 3 to 5 food groups in each meal.
What Are The Most Important Key Components Of The Food Pyramid?
The five main food groups for children that are important key components of the food pyramid are -
- Grains (carbohydrate-rich foods)
Children are involved in a lot of physical activity and therefore need carbohydrates i.e., grains as a source of energy.
Examples - Grains such as bread, chapattis, rice, oats, cereals, pasta, wheat, quinoa, pancakes, waffles, and cereals.
- Vegetables and Fruits (vitamin and mineral rich foods)
Children require Vitamins and minerals in small amounts to work adequately and remain healthy. Vegetables and Fruits are a suitable way to get these two nutrients.
Examples - Seasonal vegetables such as Green-leafy vegetables like spinach, cauliflower, colored vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, and so on.
Fruits like banana, orange, peach and many other fruits that your child prefers
- Milk or Dairy (calcium, vitamins, and proteins rich foods)
These products provide the needed amount of calcium, vitamins, and proteins for your child to support strong bone growth and build strong teeth.
Example - milk, yogurt, curds, paneer, cheese, buttermilk, etc.
- Meat/Beans/Fish (protein-rich foods)
These are a good source of proteins and essential components for child growth which help them in building and replacing the tissues in their body.
Example - fish, dry beans, eggs, nuts, seeds, soya beans, pulses, sprouts
- Additionally - Fats and oils (fat rich foods)
These may sound unhealthy, yet, children need a good amount of fats and oils because they are still proceeding through a developmental phase and involved with a lot of physical activities that require energy. Our body needs fats and oils to protect significant organs, control body temperature, help skin cells & brain.
Examples - butter, mustard oil, ghee, olive, sunflower seeds, and peanuts
“One of the most important basic requirements for a healthy and balanced diet is water. Therefore, make sure your child's diet is fulfilling by drinking plenty of water or others fluids like watermelon, coconut water, oranges, and buttermilk.”
Serving Sizes Components Of The Food Pyramid
Conclusion
A food pyramid is a tool to guide and provide a framework of a healthy diet with nutrient-rich elements, types, and amounts of food that are to be eaten in combination to provide a healthy diet to a child.
It is designed to solve every problem because the right nutrition will help your child to keep up the energy levels throughout the day but also be beneficial with their physical growth.
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