What amount of food should my kid consume

Children need nutritious diets in the right amounts to get the nutrients they require to develop, learn, and flourish.

The Australian diet guidelines define the amount of daily meals children require every day from every food category, based on their gender and age:

This is merely a guideline. The needs of your child will be based on their activity level. However it’s helpful to know what you should be shooting at.

Remember that serving sizes can vary in each one of the five food categories. Here’s an example of what constitutes a portion of grains:

A sandwich will equal two servings. NHMRC

Picking from five food groups sounds easy enough. However, supermarkets contain up to 30,000 items. Many food items are heavily promoted and aren’t always healthy choices.

Thus, children eat more junk food and less fruit and veggies than the recommended. A study conducted in 2011-12 among two to 18-year-olds showed that 38% of the average daily energy intake was from junk food. Cakes, muffins, slices of cake biscuits, chips, packaged snacks, processed foods, and sweet drinks were the primary food sources.

In 2017-18, one of 17 children aged between two and 17 years old ate the recommended daily servings of vegetables.

How do you convince children to consume less junk food and eat more nutritious food?

Do not eat junk food

While children of a young age can recognize healthy foods quite effortlessly, they find it difficult to determine which foods are nutrient-rich, energy-dense “junk” foods.

The food options available at your kitchen act as a strong signal to your children on what they should consume. If you have unhealthy snacks in the pantry, kids (and adults) tend to eat more.

Read more: What is a balanced diet anyway?

Unfortunately, it’s hard for parents to avoid some messages their children receive around food, especially from advertising.

However, try to avoid these demands, and eventually, your child will cease asking. A study of 7,800 kids discovered that children that “often” asked for items advertised on television were 30 percent more likely overweight over two years of following-up.

Children have a clear understanding of what’s good for them but aren’t as clear about harmful food items. Shutterstock

Avoid portion distortion

Pay attention to the portion size. Consuming more could result in eating more.

We looked at portion sizes of most beverages and food items that children aged two to 16 years ate between 1995 and 2007.

We observed that the typical portion sizes for cooked chicken and meat mixed chicken dishes, ham and bacon, fish, and pizzas had grown.

Sizes of portions have been reduced for most dairy products, such as breakfast cereals, vegetables, and certain packaged snacks.

Read more: Health check: do bigger portion sizes make you eat more?

Don’t let fussy eating derail healthy eating plans.

It is typical for children to experience an eating disorder, and reports vary between between one and three of five.

Children’s appetites can differ significantly, especially among toddlers, who tend to eat only when they’re hungry, no matter if it’s mealtime or not.

Strategies to help children eat healthily include taking note of how others are doing it and having direct contact with food by scent, touch, and taste.

Read more: How to tell if your kid’s ‘fussy eating’ phase is normal

Try to have set meal and snack times (breakfast, lunch, and dinner and two to three snacks) and offer children foods from each of the food groups daily. If a child isn’t hungry at that time, wait until the next scheduled meal or snack and offer food then.

When you sit down to dinner, be aware of the behaviors you wish to observe. Make sure to praise the child who is taking part in the meal and trying new food items. For instance, “I love the way you tasted that eggplant.””

Please make sure you plan inexpensive meals that take no time to cook, and children can eat themselves like those found available on the No Money No Time website.

Encourage your children to try various foods. Shutterstock

Are you looking for more information about diet for kids?

We’ve created two completely Free three-week Massive Online Online Courses (MOOCs).

The Food For Kids Course: Introducing Healthy Eating is a course that is interactive and specifically designed for primary school children. The topics include what’s in food and how it’s processed in the body, finding healthy foods and beverages, and ways to reduce food waste.