Nutritional Guidelines for Children
Over the past years what children should and shouldn't eat has become clouded, especially with recommendations always changing.
So here is a quick guideline for those busy parents, that if your anything like me, struggle to remember what day it is at times!
Based on the British Nutrition Foundation, children aged one to 13 years are recommended to eat the following every day:
Four to five servings of starchy carbohydrates
One serving can represent:
* 1/2-1 slice of bread
* 6 tbsp breakfast cereal
* 1-3 tbsp mashed potato
* 2.5 tbsp cooked pasta or rice
Five servings of fruit and vegetables
(at least four servings of vegetables and 1-2 servings of fruit)
One serving can represent:
* 1/2-1 banana
* 2-3 broccoli florets
* 4-6 carrot sticks
* 1 apple
* 3-10 grapes
Three portions of protein
One portion can represent:
* 2-4 tbsp beans, lentils and soya products
Two calcium- rich food servings
One serving can represent:
* 100ml soya or other fortified plant milk i.e. oat, almond, coconut etc
* 2-4 tbsp tofu
* 1-2 tbsp tahini
In addition, i encourage parents to give children healthy fats every day, such as 1/4-1/2 avocado, flaxseed meal or flax oil, hemp seeds or hemp oil, as well as a range of seeds and nuts.
Another great way to get these healthy fats into your child is in the form of a delicious smoothy, stay tuned for smoothy recipes coming soon.
"Healthy food for children equals happy mind, happy child".