Since school age children are in the growth and development period, the daily average calorie measure and the pattern of the nutrients they will receive are of great importance. The most common problem experienced by children in this age group is skipping breakfast meals due to getting up early. Since they do not have a regular breakfast and are influenced by each other, it is another issue that they consume foods that are defined as junk food, with a very low nutritional value and fiber content, but high in calories. These kinds of foods are especially preferred with sauce, so the calories taken are quite high and of poor quality.
Breakfast is the most precious meal of the day for school age children. In order to prevent unhealthy breakfast alternatives at school, breakfast should be made with the family. For breakfast, milk or freshly squeezed fruit juice, eggs, cheese, molasses or honey, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers. Vegetables should be preferred and variety should be provided. When breakfast cannot be made at home, healthy sandwiches can be prepared and consumed. Fruit, buttermilk or milk can be put in the lunch box as a snack. In this way, the breakfast alternatives that we describe as unhealthy at school, doughnut, chocolate, sausage toast, pastry made with puff pastry dough, sweet biscuits, even chips, as well as cola drinks and ready-made fruit juices will be avoided. A child who eats adequately and consistently and consumes as much as he needs from each food set will also be prevented from preparing a place for the obesity disease and the problems that this disease may bring in the future. It should not be forgotten that childhood obesity may mean dealing with weight problems throughout one’s life.
Other issues that families complain about their children are nutritional problems such as choosing food, loss of appetite, and turning to fast food. The most decisive factor in this bet is the attitude of the family in food consumption.
Growth and development occur very rapidly during childhood. For this reason, the vitamin, mineral and power needs of children are different from adults. This situation even shows periodic differences in children. Therefore, feeding should be done according to these special periods.
What is valuable is not how much food the child eats, but how stable he is fed and whether he gets enough power nutrients or not. The child’s normal development should be evaluated by looking at his height and weight. Nutrition education and psychotherapy are of great value in solving the problem of anorexia. Eating problems observed in children are mostly due to the attitude of family members towards food.
If there is no metabolic problem in children, the way to be followed is to prepare a nutrition plan that is suitable for the age of the child, and to ensure that the child acquires physical activity. Nutrition education is the most valuable part of this plan and should cover all family members.
Rapid weight loss and very low power diets are not suitable for children. The important thing is that the child is healthy and loses weight over time. While the child loses weight, he/she should gain correct eating habits and practice this in his/her life. We can count the general treatment elements as follows:
- Strength should be given as much as the daily power requirement of the fat child, no restrictions should be made.
- A nutrition program should be made considering the daily life style and habits of the child and family.
- Malicious eating habits should be corrected, and the foods that should be taken daily should be given with frequent meals (5-6 meals/day).
- In the given diet, 50-55% of the total daily power should be provided from carbohydrates, 15-20% from protein, and 30-35% from fat.
- Sugar and sugary foods, dried nuts, chocolate, pies, muffins, etc. foods with high power content should be excluded from the nutrition program.
- In order to provide saturation in the diet, pulpy foods (such as salad) should be used. Also, fluid consumption should be increased.
- In addition to the nutrition program, it is recommended to do regular physical activities such as walking and cycling, briefly increasing daily movements.
To summarize, for your child’s healthy nutrition;
- Get your child into the habit of having breakfast.
- Sit at the table with your child and remember that your child will imitate you.
- Let your child eat while sitting down, do not try to feed him by running after him while he is playing or doing another job.
- Give your children the opportunity to choose their meals, you can make healthy foods more attractive by playing with their sights.
- Do not reward or punish your child with food.
- Do not ban foods that you think are unhealthy to your child, it may seem more appealing to him.
- Do not put in front of your child hard, non-breakable foods that make it problematic for them to use cutlery. Cook foods that can be consumed more easily.
- Make sure that the television cannot be turned on while you are eating.
- Provide nutritious middle meals to children who don’t eat much of their main meal.
- Make sure that they do not consume sugary foods before meals. This method of food suppresses the appetite, gives empty power.
- Meal times should be arranged very well, the child should not be too hungry or too full.
- Create an alternative to the food you don’t want to consume.
- In the middle course, include low-sugar, low-fat cakes or cookies, but give medium meals mostly consisting of milk and fruit-type foods.
Children mostly prefer to eat less voluminous foods, so you can make a toast with white cheese and tomatoes for the child who does not want to have breakfast. Or a breakfast made with whole-grain cereal and milk can provide a medium variety.
If your child is eating at school, the menu should definitely be checked.
