Importance of balanced diet for school students

As we all know school time is the perfect age for children to learn about healthy foods, bodies and activity. This is the time they start learning about social life. Children of this age adapt new things very quickly and are also influenced by their peer groups and media.

Kids of this age require a wide variety of foods for a balanced diet. They in their growing age , their physical activity increases due to which it is important for us to provide a healthy meal every time. Researches have shown children who are well nourished are able to learn better. Eating good meals has been directly or in directly linked to better performance in studies, alertness, good memory and faster information processing.

As a parent we try to give our child a good amount of food but in this we forget about the nutrition. To get balanced diet you need to ensure that your child is eating from a variety of a food groups. In general these food groups include

Milk and its products like curd, milk, cottage cheese
Cereals which includes all your millets, breads
Fruits
Vegetables which means all green leafy vegetables, and roots and tubers
Beans and lentils
Nuts and seeds
So here i am presenting some tips through which you can inculcate some good eating practices in your child.

• 1. Eating the rainbow



You must have heard about this from so many people but again i am reminding you that allow your child to pick the vegetables and fruits of the rainbow colours which excite them to eat different colour food items.




• 2. Be a role model



As we know child copies us to some extent and behaves the same way. Be a role model yourself. As a parent we need to give examples to make them understand. Eat that entire thing first and show them how enjoyable these food items could be.




• 3. Be creative



We can make food fun. Get creative in the kitchen. Indulge your child in cooking, or helping you in doing peeling or something. Make food in different shapes and sizes, use of different child friendly cutleries. Make your child experiments with different foods and flavours.




• 4. Involvement in grocery shopping



You can also take your child out for shopping the household grocery items. Discuss about from where the fruits, vegetables, grains come from. Let them help in choosing healthy options for eating.




• 5. Decision making



Let them choose what they want for their meal from a chosen food products. They love to be involved in decision making which gives them a feeling of security.





• 6. Grow some vegetables at home



By growing vegetables at home helps them to learn about the different nutrients it provides. They are able to learn about our cultural values and food tradition.



I hope this article will help in inculcating good food practices in your child and does not make them a fussy eater.

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