A balanced diet is one that gives your body the nutrition it needs to function properly. In order to get the right balanced nutrition, you should gain the majority of your daily calories from fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. A healthy, balanced diet for adults as well as children provides essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that are required for a healthy body. While we all understand the importance of a well balanced meal in our lives, we tend to waver or falter many times in making it a part of our routine either during summer holidays, travel periods or out of sheer boredom. The following tips will serve as a reminder and can help in putting you and your little ones back in gear for a well balanced diet.
Mix and match
Serve baby carrots, cucumber or other raw veggies with fat-free ranch dressing or hummus. Dip cracker sticks or fresh fruit pieces in labneh or keep a portion of fruits in the midday snack daily with peanut butter to tempt your child to eat fruit.
Broaden the menu
Offer unusual fare, such as pineapples, cranberries, red or yellow peppers, or roasted peanuts, almonds or Mediterranean nuts that are available in the local supermarkets. Whole grain pretzels and tortillas provide energy and stamina for your little ones.
Revisit breakfast
Serve breakfast foods, such as scrambled eggs and whole-grain toast, as alternative snacks for kids in the afternoon.
Sweeten it up
Healthy snacks for children do not have to be bland or tasteless. To satisfy your child’s sweet tooth, offer fat-free puddings, pancakes or frozen yoghurt. Make smoothies with skimmed milk, yoghurt and fresh fruits.
Creativity is key
Use a cookie cutter to make shapes out of cheese slices and whole-grain bread. Make fruit kebabs or show your child how to eat diced fruit with chopsticks or toothpicks. Make a tower out of whole-grain crackers, spell words with pretzel sticks, or make funny faces on a plate using different types of fruit.
Designate an eating zone
Restrict eating to certain areas, such as the kitchen or the dining room. You will save your child countless calories from mindless munching in front of the TV. If your child needs to snack on the go, offer cheese fingers, soup sticks, a banana or other drip-free items.
Above all, remember that food diversity and moderation are the keys to a sensible and well balanced diet. Smart nutritional choices during childhood can reinforce lifelong healthy eating habits and helps kids grow to their full potential. So it’s important to start young to reap good results in the future.
With thanks to Barni Nutritionist, Hala Barghout.