5 Daily diet essentials for growing children

Growing children need to eat healthy and balanced food and drink plenty of water. It gives your child ample nutrition for the overall growth of your child according to his/her age. What they eat and drink in their developmental years affects their health for many years to come. At the same time, they should also indulge in games, sports and physical activities

Coming back to nutrition, growing children needs to eat food from each of the five healthy food groups.

Each group has different nutrients that are essential for the proper working and growth of your child.

Let us have a look at how each group helps your child’s body to grow:

1. Proteins – Proteins
   1. accelerate the height of a child
   2. repairs damaged tissues
   3. Ensures growth of lean muscles

Protein is found in meat, chicken, fish and eggs found in beans, pulses, lentils paneer and nuts.

2. Carbohydrates- Carbohydrates provide energy which is particularly important for children as they are very active.

It is found in wheat, rice, maize, millets, potato, sugar, honey, banana, mango, papaya etc.

3. Fats– Fats provides double the energy otherwise provided by the same amount of carbohydrates.

The sources of fat are butter, ghee, milk, cheese, eggs, meat, oils (groundnut, coconut, sunflower, mustard), til, nuts, soybean.

4. Vitamins– Our body requires very small quantities of Vitamins for
   1. Good eyesight,
   2. Strong bones, gums and teeth
   3. Proper digestion
   4. Normal growth
   5. Protection against diseases

Some of the vital vitamins are Vitamin A, B₁, B₂, B₁₂, C, D, E, K and B₆.

Sources of Vitamins are Fruits and vegetables, especially green vegetables, milk, meat, eggs, fish liver oil etc.

Vitamin D is also made in our body when the skin gets exposed to sunlight.

5. Minerals– Minerals are essential for
   1. Building of bones and teeth
   2. Formation of blood
   3. Coagulation of blood
   4. Functioning of muscles, nerves and thyroid gland

Some of the vital minerals needed by our body are the following:

• Calcium
• Phosphorous
• Iodine
• Iron

They are found in milk, cheese, eggs, green leafy vegetables, fish, wheat, rice, fruits, pulses, seafood,iodised salt,

6. Water– Our body needs water to

• Transport digested food, chemicals like hormones to the body
• Gets rid of waste products from our body
• Control and regulate body temperature

7. Roughage – It is the fibrous matter in food that can not be digested. It

• Provides bulk to the food
• Keeps the food and waste matter moving along the intestine
• Helps to prevent constipation.

The sources of roughage are fruits and vegetables, wholemeal flourproducts.

So, a balanced and nutritious diet essential for the proper growth of a child should contain:

1. Pulses, peas, milk, cheese, fish, meat, eggs ( to provide proteins)
2. Cereals, potatoes, sugar ( for carbohydrates)
3. Butter, ghee, oil ( for fats)
4. Vegetables and fruits ( for vitamins, minerals and roughage
5. Water

Some physical exercises and games are also essential for proper growth in children.  Check out Yellow Class for various kids activities, dance, Zumba, yoga classes and a lot more. Here you can visit alltimesmagazine to get the latest news around the world.

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