nutrition requirement of your kid
We personally got to know about specific nutrition requirements in kids, just recently. My daughter’s school would diligently send their lunch menu, especially curated for the kid’s well-being, every month. We observed that they took into account, foods that were nutritious for growing kids, which was indeed a very noble gesture from their side.
Nutrition (i.e. minerals, carbohydrates , protein, vitamins, fat, etc.) is the same for all, but children need more of certain nutrients for their overall growth. As we all know, calcium is the main nutrient that our kids require for the development of strong and healthy bones and teeth, but did you know that each child has a different nutrition requirement depending on their size, age and gender?
Growth parameters are evaluated from birth so that we know the general progress of the child. These include the length, weight and head circumference. Since their birth, we had charts for both our kids and marked them in order to understand their growth pattern. Though both our kids were fed the same food and had the same genes, I noticed that my second one grew at a slower pace than my first child.
But, as my children were considered healthy, by our paediatricians, we did not worry much about the height. According to FTF, child health includes physical, mental, intellectual, social and emotional well-being. It is not ascertained merely with the absence of disease or illnesses. So, if a child is physically active, mentally stable, and emotionally well, he/she is considered healthy. These children also have the opportunity to reach their full development potential if their surroundings allow them to.
Though it is difficult to calculate how much a child needs, per day, per serving, we tried incorporating additional nutrition for our little one in order to try boosting his growth. We gave him an extra serving of dairy products (which he loves), eggs, chicken, fruits and leafy vegetables. Also, yoghurt is something that we try to include with almost every meal.
Some basic principles to remember while planning the nutrition requirement of your kid:
Give them an adequate amount of water every single day.
Make sure they have a variety of raw fruits and vegetables with every meal.
Include nutrient dense food for breakfast.
Teach them to consume fats and sugar in moderation.
Maintain a balance with staple food.
Control their accumulating calories by regular exercises.
We may sometimes not even realise when kids have a nutritional deficiency or if they are growing according to their age. National Family Health Survey (2015-2016) estimated that 38% of children are stunted and 35% are underweight. These abnormal growth patterns can result in negative effects on their health like lethargy, early puberty, eating disorders, anaemia, irregular periods, frequent illnesses, etc. Therefore, planning nutrition according to growth parameters in kids, in India, is very important to bring up a healthy future generation. This should be our #FirstStepToGrowRight.
I remember a time when I visited my second one’s (son) paediatrician; I was told that it is important to keep a track of children’s growth. Planning nutrition according to growth parameters in kids, in India, can be tricky at first but once we understand it, mapping their growth becomes a life saver. Eating healthy is of course important, but sometimes nutritional gaps can be identified only when we keep an eye open for them.
I balance my son’s meals with a glass of PediaSure daily, so, no nutrition is missed out. Even then, I have now begun mapping her growth, too. PediaSure’s Grow Right tracker came in handy for this. After entering the data, I can download the report and show it to his paediatrician on the next visit. Isn’t that easy? Now, I can ensure I am doing everything required for his well-being.
How do you plan meals for your kids? Let me know your tips!
The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not reflect the views of any brand. Any omissions or errors at the author’s end does not assume any liability or responsibility on any party mentioned in the blog.
34 Comments
Hello I am very happy with your blog site it contains all matters regarding right nutrition plan for kids, best wishes to you and your good work
Thank you.
A proper nutritional food plan is so imp and I have added pediasure to this also
That’s a good write up. I agree that the tracker is being super helpful in tracking growth.
Growth Tracker has been a game changer for us as well . Thanks for sharing such wonderfull tips that would help many parents keep a check on their child’s nutritional intake.
Such an informative and helpful write-up 👍👍 and this Pediasure tracker is really amazing 👌👌
Growth tracker gives you. the understanding of the nutritional requirement of your child and gives you the comfort of designing the diet of your child accordingly. Loved your post.
You are such a nice mom. Grt helpful info dear
Thank you, Charmy!
This was indeed very helpful in understanding a bit more about nutritional intake in kids. Thank you for sharing this and I absolutely loved the video too 🙂 We too have been using the growth tracker for our little one’s growth..
Very good post about planning meals based on the nutrition of your child. Highly informative and nicely written. Keep up the good work.
So we don’t necessary follow a meal plan per sé. What we do is ask our kids what they would like to eat for a meal and then we ideate in a way that it looks like their idea even though it’s what everybody would eat happily. Works every time 🙂
Wow, Surbhi, that’s a lot of work I suppose.
The tracker surely seems very helpful and handy to track a child’s growth.
it’s so important that we monitor the growth of the child regularly and what better way than a tracker made by specialists. This shall help moms like to us to plan the meals accordingly keeping in mind the age wise nutritional intake
It’s really important to take care of kids growth and development. Thanks to pediasure growth tracker it’s really helpful for all parents in tracking growth of their kids
Yes, even our Pediatrician emphasized tracking our son’s growth regularly as that will help us in understanding his growth and nutritional requirement. Earlier I was using the growth chart and it was a bit tricky maintaining that sheet over the years. I am so happy to use the online Growth tracker by PediaSure now, it’s so easy and simple to use.
Right and balanced nutrition is a must for kids in the growing stage. As a mum even I am always in the look out of things that will help boost their health. Thus even I have started with Pediasure and happy to see the results.
Giving right nutrition is crucial and planning it each time sometimes gets difficult too. Tracking the growth and giving required nutrition in form of supplements can help balance the activities and nutrition chart.
Having plenty of fruits and atleast one veggie in a day is a must at my place but kids will be kids and tend to get picky. Pediasure definitely helps in the daily nutritional needs.
I agree planning a good nutritious meal is important and a nutrition planner with a growth tracker seems to be a great idea for parents to stay on track.
As a mom I am always worried about giving right nutrition to my son. Thanks for simplifying the way how the meals should be planned for balanced nutrition. The growth tracker is thoughtfully developed by PediaSure.
The #Growrighttracker is a very useful tool for parents to keep an eagle eye on their kid’s growth. Your tips are apt and that’s how we can bring up healthy kids. Food, water, exercise are so important.
great tips dear. I also try to include as much as nutrient rich foods in my girls”s meal. my little one is picky eater, so I have to try creative ways like using veg puree to knead the dough to make her eat vegetables. pediasure’s growth tracker is really useful for parents. I am hearing a lot about it all across the web.
Kid’s Growth should not be restricted to their weight or height. Their emotional well being also plays a major role. Food being an integral pat of our life, we have to make sure if they are meeting the requirements or not.
Being a doctor, planning meals is not a tough job but making them eat it is certain a tough job. I had inculcated the habit of having fresh fruits and veggie sin their diet early on so I am able to manage a nutritious diet but having a nutritional supplement is definitely an added convenience.
Amazing.. Such a well-written post.. nice ideas to plan a meal to make sure the kids get the right nutrition.
Planning a meal is very important to make sure, 1. Kids find something new to eat everytime and 2. Make wht kids like and also to ensure all the nutritional bit is served to them in each meal. Pediasure acts like an additional boost in their diet.
Very well written post, Cindy. I too track my son’s growth using Pediasure’s growth tracker
For complete growth in kids right nutrition is very important. You’ve shared some good points here. A growth tracker sounds great.
It’s important to track your kid’s growth, but as you mentioned the basic principles I too follow them. For me, a diet plan for my kid is always according to his requirement of growth. I am happy using this Pediasure tracker for him.
Tracking a child’s growth is quintessential to know the development of a child. This growth tracker makes it so easy.
To be able to track your child’s growth and nutritional requirements is very important. When I look back I think I should have started early.
Right nutritional plan with a little twist is very important for kids. Also we too are using this growth tracker.