Nutrition Tips For Pre-Schoolers To Make Them Strong And Bright

Here are some essential nutrition tips parents of pre-schoolers need to know.

A pre-schooler is not the easiest to satisfy in the food department. But we hope our nutrition tips will give you some ideas on what to look out for when feeding your little one.

Fresh whole foods are the best!

From the time they are little, it’s a good thing to give your kids a variety of healthy veggies and fruits. Start young and you won’t have to ‘hide’ the healthy stuff in their meals when they are older.

Challenge your child to eat a rainbow a week.

This is a fun way of getting your child to take in a variety of healthy fruits and veggies. Make a fun chart and when they have their ‘red’ food — for example, strawberries — ask them to tick a box.

Colourful food is more appealing to the eye (and palate) as well!

Get them involved.

It’s a great idea to get the kids involved in meal preparation. It makes meal time that much more interesting and you can use this time to explain to them how nutritious each ingredient is.

Present food creatively and make mealtime fun!

Sometimes, changing the appearance of a food item and renaming it is all it takes to get little fussies to eat up.

For example, cut a celery stalk into two-inch pieces, fill it up with peanut butter and dot with a few raisins. Call this ‘ants on a log’ and the name alone will push up the ‘interest’ factor a couple of notches!

In addition to this, try varying how you present food to your kids. If you give them roasted sweet potato one day, try mashed sweet potato another day.

Show them how to select healthy snacks

Snack-time is a grey area in a kid’s diet. They may eat well-balanced main meals but binge on unhealthy sugar-loaded foods during snack-time.

Get on top of things by talking to them about making healthier choices for snacks as well. Stock the house with healthy snacks such as fruits and avoid buying unhealthy ones.

Offer a variety of foods repeatedly.

Just because your little girl turned up her nose at buttered peas today doesn’t mean she won’t entertain the idea of nibbling on one in a week.

If your child refuses to try a particular type of food once, give it some time and try again. Your persistence will pay off!

Be a veggie ambassador yourself!

If you want your kiddo to have carrots while you secretly HATE it, your efforts to get her to like carrots might be futile!

So go ahead — show her how you happily munch on your sautéed carrots and she may just give it a go.

Present veggies in familiar forms.

If your little one is particularly picky about trying new foods, be patient and wait it out. Kids go through phases of liking and not liking certain foods, and their palates keep evolving.

While you wait, try including veggies in familiar foods such as burgers by mixing them in with the ground meat.

Satisfy those cravings for sweets in a healthy way.

Instead of opting for candy when your child wants something sweet, keep dried fruits like raisins or dried apricots handy.

The point is, everything that is sweet is not evil. Meals are more enjoyable if the flavours are balanced, so it is what you use to satisfy this sweet craving that counts.

Show your kids how to make healthier choices when selecting ‘sweets’.

Do make sure that your child brushes his teeth after eating dried fruits though, as they could be as sweet as candy.

Keep cut up fruits easily accessible.

Cold fruit is a great snack option for these terribly hot and humid days.

Keep a box of cut up watermelon, mango or any other fruit of your choice in the fridge so your kids can grab a price of fruit when they need a snack.

Pack in the nutrients.

Smoothies are a great way of mixing up fruits for a really yummy drink. You can mix and match different combinations to create some interesting smoothies.

Home-made ice lollies are also a good way of getting some fruit into your kids. Just freeze your smoothie mix in ice lolly molds for a yummy, icy treat.

Don’t forget the ‘crunch’ element.

Nuts and grains have so many great nutritional benefits. When selecting cereals, opt for ‘wholegrain’ options.

If your little one prefers white rice to brown rice, try and make the shift by gradually mixing in brown rice with the white rice for starters.

Pack a protein punch.

Protein is a building block for healthy and strong muscles. Choose healthy and lean proteins for your kids, and make sure they get at least two servings of fish a week.

Eggs are also a great protein-rich food and can be made in a variety of interesting ways.

Add calcium for bones.

Dairy foods are a good way of getting some calcium into kids. If your kid is lactose intolerant, opt for calcium-fortified soy milk.

You can also find ways to add milk into foods when baking and cooking.

Know your oils and fats.

There are good fats and bad fats, and parents need to know how to differentiate between the two.

Good fats are polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. These are oils such as omega 3 and 6, which can be found in oily fish such as salmon & mackerel, nuts and avocados.

Saturated and trans fats are bad fats. When purchasing products check the packaging for these fats.

Check for salt content.

Processed foods and fast foods contain unhealthy amounts of salt. Therefore it is best to avoid these foods and stick to fresh, home-made food.

When purchasing broths, cans and stocks, opt for the low-sodium options.

It would also be a good idea to rinse out canned vegetables after opening.

Chuck the junk food.

It is widely known how unhealthy junk food is. Foods like packaged potato chips contain empty calories, trans fats and way too much salt – even if the packing claims them to be ‘less salty.'

So be wary about junk food in general. Nip the problem in the bud by limiting your child’s screen time, when they are exposed to so many junk food adverts!

Try healthier (home-made) options.

If your child just LOVES chicken nuggets and fried chicken, then why not try making these at home?

There are great recipes available online and the best part is, you control ALL the ingredients that go into the food you prepare.

Switch to healthier cooking methods.

When presenting kids with food, it’s good to be conscious about how it's cooked. Try and stay away from deep-frying.

Switch to methods such as poaching, baking and steaming.

Check the sugar.

Omit sodas from your kid’s diet. These are loaded with sugar and flavouring, and have absolutely no nutritional value!

Be vary about packaged sweets, candy and ice creams too. I know it is impossible to ban these from your kid’s diet altogether, but you can try to limit them and encourage your child to make healthier choices.

Written by

Minoli Almeida

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