Guide to Choosing Healthy Foods for Toddlers

To help you give a natural healthy food for toddlers, keep count of number of calories and nutrients. Do not complicate yourself with numbers. That’s just a general rule because every child is special. Every child has a frame body, physical activity, and eating habits differ so caloric and nutritional needs also vary. Therefore, follow these easy guidelines.

1. Vegetables

Start making a list of vegetables that are easily found at your residence. For example, cabbage, carrots, green beans, spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, mustard greens, cabbage, beans, winged bean, squash (squash), eggplant, yellow squash, leaf of melinjo, red tomatoes, and peas.

Now, group vegetables by color: green, yellow (orange), red, blue (purple), and white. Well, make sure your child gets at least 3 colors of vegetables every day. As a general rule, the portion of time or raw vegetables per day should be spent on toddler (1-3 years) is 1 1/2 cup and 2 1/2 cup for preschoolers (3-5 years).

2. Fruits

Generally, papaya, banana, mango, red guava, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, tangerines, fruit and star fruit is popular among children, and fruits are easy to find. Dig up the potential of local fruits, especially those easily available in your neighborhood, such as soursop, rambutan, longan, lychee, baseball, mangosteen, sapodilla, durian and sapodilla (kenitu).

For imported fruit, especially apples and pears, should be a last resort, given these fruits are generally coated with wax, which are toxic. Therefore, always peel apples and pears when giving it to children with the risk of losing most of the fiber, pectin, and proper nutrition are actually stored in the bottom of the skin. The amount of fruit that should be spent on children, which is 2 servings per day. One serving is equivalent to the large hand grip toddler.

3. Ari-Skinned Rice And Legumes

Brown rice is healthier than white rice because of abundant fiber, vitamins B-complex, healthy oil, and natural sugars. If your family is not accustomed to eating brown rice, start by mixing 1/4 – 1/2 parts brown rice into white rice when cooking rice. To boil a pot of brown rice using an electric cooker (rice cooker) required twice as much water to cook than white rice.

Spaghetti or other pasta products made from the type of wheat flour has the epidermis (whole wheat) is better than similar products from regular wheat flour. However, the fiber content of whole wheat flour to within 1-2% more than regular flour. Moreover, food products made from wheat flour is difficult to digest the body because they contain gluten.

Therefore, serve noodles, spaghetti, and pasta flour is more rare. Substitute with similar products from rice flour or cornstarch. Or, might as well replace it with non-food products from wheat flour, such as noodles and Shahe (from rice flour), suun (from green beans), or udon (Japanese noodles made of buckwheat).

Vary the staple food by mixing other ingredients into the rice, to vary the flavor and increase nutrients. For example, sweet potato red, yellow, or purple, yellow corn, and yellow cassava.

Legumes, such as green beans and nuts Tolo should be part of the daily menu toddler. Begin mixing the rice or vegetable dishes or side dishes. In addition to filling for calorie-dense, fiber-rich legumes and B-complex vitamins are important for intelligence support.

General rule of staple food per day for toddlers, which is 3 servings. One serving is equivalent to 1/2 cup. Read here for more information about healthy food for toddlers

4. Foods Rich In Calcium

Minerals, especially calcium children need to support the growth of bones and teeth. During this time, milk is believed to be the best source of calcium. In fact, calcium milk that can be absorbed by the body not as much as that contained in milk.

Milk is acid forming (acid forming), after being in the body, while the calcium more effectively absorbed by the body in alkaline conditions (alkalize). Therefore, fermented dairy products, especially yogurt, is recommended as a mainstay source of calcium, because it is alkaline-forming (alkalize forming) after being in the body.

Similarly, the cheese, but should be consumed is limited due to the addition of salt on the fermentation process. To get the best calcium, you should choose low-fat yogurt or cheese fat is lost because of the volume occupied by more calcium.

Other sources of calcium that can be relied upon, namely: side dishes are eaten with the bones. For example, milkfish presto, presto chicken, and anchovies. Tofu is also rich in calcium, because it is made with the addition of gypsum (calcium carbonate).

In addition, there are again other vegetable sources of calcium that is often forgotten, that dark green vegetables, like broccoli, cassava leaves, spinach, and kale. Therefore, always insert a dark green vegetables every day into the daily diet of children.

How many servings of healthy food for toddlers sources of calcium for children? The benchmark general, which is 1 1/2 cups per day.

5. Protein Without Fat

Give only source of protein without fat or low-fat to children. For example, cow meat (tenderloin), chicken breast or thigh parts, fish and seafood such as squid, and organic eggs. Low-fat yogurt and cheese are included in the list of protein sources mainstay for toddlers.

In addition, kidney beans and their processed products also include the source of low protein (without the fat that can be seeded. Among others, edamame (soybeans), lentils, beans Tolo, green beans, tempeh, tofu, and soy milk.

6. Fibrous Food

In addition to nutritional intake, consumption of fiber foods are also a thing that should be considered when providing food in infants. Fiber helps prevent constipation because the digestive tract and facilitate working sewers. Adequate fiber intake also reduce the risk of obesity, reduce the risk of heart problems, and reduce the risk of interference with type 2 diabetes in children.

While other types of fiber, ie pectin [belonging to the soluble fiber] help “repel” cholesterol intake of food before they could be processed by the body. Another benefit of soluble fiber, which stabilizes blood sugar levels in children, so kids can still do physical activity freely, because it is not disturbed by avid food (desire to eat even if not hungry).

Author Bio: Hey I'm Rosie and founder of Babyvenue.com. I am a 36-year-old SAHM to an energetic little boy called Andrew. We love reading, Toddler Sense, the library and trips to the park.