Best meals and snacks for early years nursery children
Introduction
We all know the importance of proper diet and nutrition for toddlers and growing children. Healthy eating at Nursery School is in the minds of all parents. However, there is often confusion about what food to give your child and when. If you are wondering whether snacking is good and what are the best snacks to give to your toddler, then this article is for you to read.
In this article, we will delve into a proper diet, nutrition, healthy snacks, and ideal timing for meals for your toddler. We will also look at what types of foods are good for your child and what is best given in moderation. So let us get started by looking very briefly at the relationship between diet and how it impacts our toddler’s health.
Diet and Health
Growing children need a well-balanced and nutritious diet that provides them with all the minerals and vitamins that they need for their growing bodies. Poor nutrition in the early years can lead to developmental delays and cause physical, emotional, and cognitive problems. Such children have low immunity and are more susceptible to illnesses and their recovery is also slower than children who have a healthy and nutritious diet.
A healthy and nutritious diet in the early years encourages good and proper growth while decreasing the chances of developing chronic or lifestyle diseases.
A good and proper diet provides energy to your child. This helps the child to be more attentive and alert at school and thus, perform better. Healthy eating at Nursery School has a close bearing to children's behaviour.
Now the question is what constitutes a healthy diet and how can parents ensure that their children eat healthy and nutritious food.
Balanced Diet for Pre Schoolers
A balanced diet includes foods from all the different groups of food. This ensures that the child is getting all the essential nutrients from each meal. A balanced diet should include the following
- Carbohydrates –are found in starchy foods such as rice, bread, potatoes, pasta, grains, etc.
- Proteins –are found in foods such as beans, eggs, poultry, fish, meat, pulses, seeds, nuts, tofu, etc.
- Dairy and Fats – these are foods such as milk, yogurt, cheese, butter, oils, etc.
- Fruits and Vegetables – these are foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals. They also provide fiber which is important for healthy digestion.
Including foods from each of these food, groups ensure that the child gets a balanced and nutritious diet. The next question here is what is an ideal meal and whether snacking is good.
Healthy eating at Nursery School, Is Snacking Good For Preschoolers?
While some people may advocate the benefits of three meals a day, preschoolers need to have meals in between to keep hunger pangs at bay and prevent them from getting cranky. Snacks are a good way of adding extra nutrition to their diets. Snacking not only controls hunger it also prevents the child from overeating and the problems associated with it.
Children cannot eat a lot at one meal and this is where snacks come in to balance out the diet and ensure that the child gets all the necessary nutrients he or she requires. In short, snacking is good for children, and giving a small meal in between the main meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner is a good habit to develop.
However, there is always the case where the child is given too many snacks and is then unable to eat a proper meal. Too much snacking on the wrong kind of food or high calory food can cause obesity and also prevents the child from knowing whether they are hungry or not.
The parents and caregivers should know what food to include in the snack, how much to give and how many times a day. Controlling the portion size and the timing of the snacks will help overcome the chances of overeating and munching all day long.
Healthy eating at Nursery School, what are the Best Snacks for Pre-schoolers?
Now that we have established that snacking is good if done in moderation, let us take a look at the best snack foods for preschoolers.
There are a wide variety of healthy foods and snacks that you can make for your preschoolers that are tasty, healthy, and nutritious. Here are some foods that will not only satiate those hunger pangs but are also very healthy for children.
Fruits like blackberries, raspberries, grapes, and strawberries, come in perfect bite sizes and are an excellent option for a quick snack. If your child is too young, it is best to cut the berries and grapes in half to prevent choking. Making the serving both interesting and easy to consume is part of healthy eating at Nursery School.
Fruits like blackberries, raspberries, grapes, and strawberries, come in perfect bite sizes and are an excellent option for a quick snack. If your child is too young, it is best to cut the berries and grapes in half to prevent choking. Making the serving both interesting and easy to consume is part of healthy eating at Nursery School.
Crunchy Vegetables – Fresh uncooked vegetables like cucumber, radishes, carrots, beetroot, celery, sweet capsicum, etc, cut into sticks and served with dips like guacamole, yogurt, cream cheese, or a lemon dip is another delicious option. You can use them to make tasty sandwiches.
Juices and Smoothies – fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies, yogurt smoothies, and milkshakes are also excellent options for a quick and filling meal. It is best to make them fresh at home as then you can control the sugar intake. If you are buying these, make sure you pick a no added sugar juice or smoothie.
Healthy eating at Nursery School can cover a wide range of food groups. Dry Fruits, seeds, and Nuts – a handful of dried fruits like raisins, sultana, figs, apricots, plums, and blue-berries, along with seeds like – melon, pumpkin, sunflower, and nuts like almond, walnut, cashew, and pistachios also make a tasty and filling snack. The seeds and nuts contain fats and minerals and vitamins. Bars made with dried fruits and seeds are also a good option for kids.
Aside from these foods, there are a host of other healthy snack options available for parents and caregivers. These would include – boiled eggs, cheese and crackers, peanuts, sandwiches, breadsticks, etc.
Conclusion
Healthy eating at Nursery School is about balance, while there is no harm in giving your child chips, cold drinks, ice-creams, and cakes occasionally, too much of it can lead to health problems and obesity. Getting your child into the habit of healthy snacking from an early age is key to healthy living for life.
Healthy eating at Nursery School can cover a wide range of food groups. Dry Fruits, seeds, and Nuts – a handful of dried fruits like raisins, sultana, figs, apricots, plums, and blue-berries, along with seeds like – melon, pumpkin, sunflower, and nuts like almond, walnut, cashew, and pistachios also make a tasty and filling snack. The seeds and nuts contain fats and minerals and vitamins. Bars made with dried fruits and seeds are also a good option for kids.
At Green Grass Nursery, we ensure that our children eat at the proper times and get healthy snacks and meals. We encourage our parents to include healthy foods in their children’s diet and keep them away from over-processed snacks with too much fat, sugar, or salt.
We promote healthy eating and ensure that each child is receiving a nutritionally balanced diet.
We also value the family eating time by providing the food in the same family traditional way. All the children and the class team are eating at the same time .
We cook daily meals by our nursery chef in our kitchen using fresh produce. Children are given the opportunity to explore different cuisines, textures, and tastes through our balanced two-week rotating menu.
Healthy eating at Nursery School is written by Green Grass Nurse
Some reference links to Healthy eating at Nursery School:
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/snacking.html
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/preschool-snacks.html
https://www.eatright.org/food/nutrition/dietary-guidelines-and-myplate/when-should-my-kids-snack
