If there was only one rule to remember, it would be to “give them everything, a little everything”. In other words, your child must have a varied diet to stay healthy and receive all the vitamins and minerals necessary for their growth.
It’s all in the presentation!
It must be admitted that getting a child to taste a new dish is sometimes a real challenge! Does your child refuse to touch anything presented to him outside of pasta or mashed potatoes? Persevere again and again because experience shows that the more you present a dish to a child, the more you tell him about its origin (where it comes from, how it was prepared, what is in it, etc. ) and the more chances there are that he will end up tasting it. Sometimes a simple effort of presentation of the plate and it’s won!
No prohibitions if your child eats well at the table
Your child can eat candy or chocolate from time to time as long as he has three real meals (at regular times) and a balanced snack. Rather than focusing on sweet or fatty food, it is better to bet on a healthy lifestyle in general.
The basics: give him 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day (fresh, canned, or frozen) and offer him foods with a low glycemic index, recommended for young and old alike by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is important because we now know that this “diet” (with a low glycemic index) is the best way to avoid obesity or diabetes.
For these foods, pick from fruits and vegetables but also natural whole grains, legumes, pasta, and brown rice. Consuming a variety of foods during the same meal, adding protein (meat, fish, egg) or a little fat (of plant origin) are other simple ways to lower this famous glycemic index.
In general, eating raw is ideal (mixed salads for example) but letting a cooked dish cool also lowers its glycemic index, as does favor “hard” textures (crunchy) over “soft” textures (mashed ).
Water is the only essential drink!
Don’t get your child used to drink sweets… If fruit juice is welcome from time to time (at a birthday party, for example), be uncompromising during meals: water and nothing else! “Light” drinks will no longer have their place at the table: it is true that they provide few or no calories, but they do not help the child to get rid of the sweet taste.
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