A correct and balanced diet is essential for the healthy development and growth of children, and therefore it is one of the greatest concerns of parents since our children are born.
Do you eat a lot, eat a little, what do I give you, what should I keep in mind to grow healthy, which foods are better, which ones to restrict ...? Anyway, the doubts are many, so today we want to give you an article synthesized which are the most important keys you have to know to feed your children in a healthy way.
1) Breastfeeding, the best start
If you can choose, breastfeeding is the best you can offer your baby to start feeding. It not only protects against diseases, but also provides the nutrients it needs at each stage of growth and prevents childhood obesity, as it offers the benefit of regulating the baby's weight. In addition, the movement made to suck the mother's breast prepares the child for chewing and for the introduction of solid foods.
WHO recommends breastfeeding exclusive up to six months and then supplemented with solid foods for at least two years.
2) Complementary feeding, from six months
Introducing solid foods before six months has no benefit for the baby, since their digestive system is still immature to process certain foods. Therefore, the introduction of complementary feeding is established from six months.
Babies who are breastfed will continue to drink breast milk, and those who do not have artificial milk, and will incorporate solids into the baby's diet so that they begin to try new foods, new flavors and new textures. The idea is that you become familiar with them.
Before it was recommended to delay more allergenic foods, but it has been shown that the late introduction of food into the baby's diet could predispose to develop food allergies, so if there is no medical recommendation for it, the ideal is to introduce virtually all foods at six months.
3) At six months, practically everything
A few years ago, the timing of food incorporation in children was much more established, but the latest recommendations for early childhood are now much less restrictive. Virtually all foods can be introduced after six months, including some for which more time was previously expected such as blue fish or egg.
At six months they are ready to start trying all kinds of foods, with the exception of some that can be dangerous in babies under one year of age, and always monitoring if there is an allergic reaction to any food when offering it.
As for nuts, they can be offered after six months but always ground and never whole until five six years because of the risk of suffocation.
4) Food is on demand
Just as breastfeeding, whether maternal or artificial, should be on demand, complementary feeding follows the same goal. The idea is that the baby begins to get acquainted with the food, but the main food of the baby is still milk, so breastfeeding should not be substituted for food. As for the quantities, on demand. You have to offer them varied and healthy foods to try, but they decide what and how much they want to eat.
5) Let him eat with his hands
The Baby Led Weaning, or the introduction of food guided by the child, advocates that children begin to eat food cut into pieces with their hands. In this way, they begin a relationship with food much more natural than with the porridge offered crushed, in a directed way, and camouflage the taste of food. When they eat with their hands, they experiment with the flavors of food and choose what they eat.
In Babies and more The AEP says yes (for the first time) to the BLW in its recommendations for complementary feeding6) Essential foods and to avoid
The key is a varied and healthy diet, with priority to healthier foods that can not be missing in the diet of the smallest as they are cereals, vegetables, fruits and proteins (present in meat, fish, eggs, milk and its derivatives, legumes and nuts). The recommended proteins should be 65% of animal origin and 35% of vegetable origin, so you have to compensate the first, restrict eggs, meat and fish and also offer legumes or cereals with high protein content such as lentils, soybeans Quinoa
However, although there are no prohibited foods, you have to avoid superfluous as much as possiblesuch as sweets, sugar, pastries, cookies and other foods that seem healthy but are not like cereal porridge, breakfast cereals, vegetable drinks, and baby yogurts, all with a high added sugar content .
7) Five servings of fruit and vegetables a day
The recommendation of "5 a day", at a minimum, also goes to the little ones. The consumption of fruits and vegetables help to have an adequate supply of vitamins, nutrients, minerals, fiber, as well as to prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes or obesity.
8) Prefer homemade food to processed
It is a bit obvious to say, but homemade food is always healthier than what we can buy already made. It is a big difference for the health of our children, as it helps prevent obesity, as well as chronic diseases that are related to poor eating.
Offer your children varied and healthy homemade recipes that encourage the child to consume a wide variety of foods.
9) Cook with the children
In addition to having fun, putting children in the kitchen and getting them in contact with food, handling and preparing them also contributes to a healthier diet.
10) Cook food well
Never offer these raw or cooked foods (especially meats, fish and eggs) at less than 70º, at which temperature the pathogenic microorganisms are destroyed, to avoid the presence of bacteria such as salmonella, listeria or Escherichia coli.
11) If you eat little
It is very tiring for parents to have "bad eaters", but above all tranquility and common sense. Whenever the pediatric review proves that the child is healthy and gains weight, the key is patience. There are children who go through stages in which they have more appetite than others and in which their energy needs vary.
In Babies and more Supplementary feeding: complete guide12) Avoid fruit juices
Although they are homemade fruit juices, it is preferable offer the piece of fruit in pieces or crushed. Juices increase the risk of tooth decay and provide "non-nutritive" calories contributing to inadequate weight gain, as well as displacing milk consumption.
13) To drink, water
As we say above, avoid both homemade and processed juices, as well as soft drinks, artificial drinks and of course, energy drinks. Water is the healthiest to quench thirst, as well as to accompany meals.
14) Eye with salt
There is much talk about sugar, but not so much about the danger of salt. Before the year, do not add salt to your baby's meals, as it is not suitable for your kidneys in the middle of the ripening process and increases the risk of obesity by encouraging you to eat more. Sodium is necessary, but in its proper measure.
From the year on, if we want to add some salt to your meals (always in small quantities and the later the better) that is iodized. They are not recommended either pickled vegetables and certain preserves, salted meats and sausages, diced broth or powdered soups.
Beware of the seemingly harmless foods we give babies, such as chicken or turkey meats. They are not a recommended food for them, first because it is processed meat and second, because they usually carry a lot of salt.
15) Do not force, cheat, or blackmail
Forcing children to eat is counterproductive, as well as resorting to strategies to deceive how to make the plane or how to camouflage food flavors. If your child refuses to try new foods, don't push him; It is believed that after trying a new food about 10 or 15 times, only there can a child accept it. So be patient.
16) Eat as a family without screens
Sharing the table with the family is essential for healthy eating and so that eating time does not become a mechanical act. The time of the meal should be nice, no hurry and no screens. Well sitting at the table, parents will teach children to eat slowly, chew well and enjoy food. In addition, it encourages family communication by making lunch or dinner a meeting time.
17) Do not use food as prizes or punishments
If we give a prize for eating something they don't like, or on the contrary, we punish them by forcing them to eat something they don't like, the child will unconsciously associate the intake of certain foods with something sacrificed, ugly and unpleasant. In addition, there is the nutritional danger of using unhealthy foods such as candy or candy as a reward or reward.
