Health Tips For Kids

Micronutrient for Kids

You feed your children healthy and nutritious food! But many overlook important nutrients for kids, the micronutrients.

Choline is one of the micronutrients, often overlooked. It is very essential for development and functioning of brain. Also, it helps brain to communicate properly with other parts of the body.

Lack of Choline reduces the brain function, the kids will suffer from tiredness, shivering due to lack of oxygen supply, poor memory, inability to concentrate, etc.

What foods provide choline,?

• Egg Yolk
• Broccoli and Cauliflower
• Tofu and Cottage cheese
• Sprouts
• Peanuts, almonds
• Soya granules, soya beans
• Brown rice

Antioxidants for Kids!

Just like vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates, kids need antioxidants. Often antioxidants are associated with defying aging and improving the longevity.

Kids need antioxidants for many reasons.

• Improves and strengthens immunity
• Lustrous hair growth
• Optimal skin health
• Prevents cell damage
• Awesome brain functions
• Prevents and improves Autism
• Overall health and wellbeing
• Detoxification

So you may ask yourself ‘should I feed my child green tea, which is rich in antioxidants?’

NO. Dark coloured foods are rich in antioxidants. Example, Orange, Watermelon, Apple, Berries, green leafy vegetables, pink cabbage, beetroot and carrot, garlic etc. Nuts and seeds also contain high amount of antioxidants.

Guess what! antioxidants are abundant in CHOCOLATES, something that is crazily loved by children. Next time, don’t prohibit your child from eating chocolates (not candies though).

Don’t miss this important nutrient, Antioxidants for kids!

Breakfast Cereals for Kids

Breakfast cereals, a popular choice of breakfast foods for kids are not really always what they claim to be! They come in attractive packaging, tempt kids to grab them. Breakfast cereals come in a variety of flavours with labels claiming that they are enriched with Vitamins and Minerals .However, they are loaded with sugar or salt and most often are a bane than a boon They may lead to metabolic disorders due to this reason. Nevertheless, adding yogurt, fruits and nuts can make them nutrient rich and can be an option for breakfast once in a while. All said and done, homemade food is the healthiest and most nutritious ones. Have you all noticed the combination of cereal and pulse in our Indian breakfast? Idli – has rice and dal, so has dosa. If you look at the humble puttu and channa curry again it is a cereal and pulse combination. Our ancestors have ensured that the first meal of the day is rich in carbohydrates and proteins so that it helps us be energetic in the rush of activities that we are involved in, in the first half of the day.

Occasional Treats

Let your child know that eating sweets or sugary foods is meant for special occasion. Desserts are not something that the children can eat as a whole meal when they are hungry, rather, it should be considered as a special treat. For example, give a scoop of ice cream when they are sad or to make them feel special. This way, you can teach that sweets don’t form part of the meal! Of course, fruits are exceptions!

Veggies and Whole Grains

Every little positive change you make each day adds up something to boost the health of your child. Here are a few tips you can follow.

• Follow a plan to cook a meal only using veggies and whole grains. No fats, no fries and no meat!
• Try a new fruit or a new veggie each day / Try to cook veggies in a different style
• Choose to eat a fruit of one colour each day –musk melon, orange, papaya, red – Watermelon, strawberries, etc.,
• Draw an interesting story about every vegetable, fruit, spice and grain
• Make your food look attractive – Concentrate on plating and decorating the foods
• Dice vegetables and fruits in various shapes

Heart Healthy Kids

Healthy heart is critical for maintenance of overall health. Eating fresh and healthy foods, consumption of less fats and foods with lower cholesterol levels, combined with moderate physical exercise is something that everyone can benefit from. It is important for children also to take care of their health, especially that of their hearts.

Heart works 24 X 7 X 365. Let your child know the importance of healthy heart to inculcate HEALTHY HEART HABITS.

Feed them heart healthy foods:

• High fiber foods
• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Cottage cheese and low fat cheese
• Opt to stir fry/ steam cook meat and fish rather than deep fry
• Cook in olive oil or canola oil

Stay away from processed foods and trans-fat foods, which are high in cholesterol and unhealthy fat.

Heart healthy kids are the key to a joyous family!

Effect of Peer Pressure on eating habits of Children

Now-a-days, children are under peer pressure to eat specific types of foods, called trendy foods, which are undoubtedly unhealthy! Trendy foods are nothing but processed foods with artificial flavourings and colourings. Children develop an unhealthy appetite for such foods, especially because that do not want to be excluded from the group of their friends.

This peer pressure is encouraged by parents themselves, without actually realizing it! Yes, family dining, parties, weddings, special events, no time to cook lunch at home, quick meal or on the go foods, etc. are the causes that aid the children’s habit of eating trendy foods.

Regular consumption of trendy foods result in the following:

• Mal-nourishment / lack of nutrition
• Obesity among children
• Cost involved is very high, whereas home cooked food can be very inexpensive and nutritious at the same time
• Your child grows deprived of healthy eating

It causes no harm to eat a pack of chips or munch on French fries with dips or fried chicken occasionally. However, parents should limit the occasions as well the options that let the child fall prey for peer pressure eating!

Underweight - How to improve your child’s state of nutrition

While a lot of kids suffer from overweight, there are many kids still suffering due to lack of nutrition and underweight.

Here we give you some healthy homemade food options to improve the weight and nutrition of an underweight child:

• Feed whole milk twice or thrice a day
• Add starchy, carbohydrate-dense foods like potatoes, rice, etc.
• Don’t replace solid food or meal time with a snack or a drink
• Provide a dessert, a chocolate or a piece of cake after dinner. But do ensure that your child brushes her/ his teeth before going to bed Add lean mean, beans, cereals and pulses
• Create delicious toppings and dips with cheese
• Stay away from foods with trans-fat like burgers, fries, etc.
• Makethe plate colourful with a variety of food.

Eat Alphabets

We all yearn for healthy and active children! What should we do? It is simple!

Let your child eat alphabets! Yes, alphabets. Make sure your child gets adequate quantities of Vitamins, A, B, C, D everyday. Feed them vitamin rich foods, which alleviate the worry about health concerns in kids.

How not to make your child a couch potato during holidays?

Summer holidays for kids turn out to be worry-some for parents sometimes. Lack of physical activities among kids may cause several complications. Make your child active during summer holidays with these simple steps.

• Dance and dance – Let your child dance like crazy, like nobody is watching.
• Play hide and seek with your child
• Go walking to buy grocery, shopping or just for the sake of walking
• Have fun doing simple yoga poses with children
• Let you child join swimming classes
• Be available to your child to encourage and participate in activities
• Now for some safety tips!

Don’t leave your child in a locked car

Travelling is a lot of fun and taking to the road is more exciting for children. If you plan to take your children on a vacation in a car, be cautious to save the life of your kid.

Don’t ever leave the child in a locked car for whatsoever reason, even for a few seconds. A few seconds’ halt in the locked car could cause heat stroke and may even take away the life of the child.

This is not just a caution for parents during summer, but also during cold days. So, whatever may be the reason, don’t leave your child behind and step out of the car.