Healthy Diet for Toddlers

If you have seen Baby’s Day Out, you would learn it is not at all easy to handle kids. Ask the mothers how difficult it gets for them to feed their child, especially if their kid is a toddler. Babies grow at lightning speed - 3 inches every 3 months, but after a year or so they grow only 2 to 5 inches a year. While growth process slows down, nutrition remains the top priority. This is also the time when the kids are learning to eat and drink food other than bottle milk. This is the period of transition for the kids and, hence they require more attention with regard to their diet. If they get adequate intake of proteins, iron, vitamins and carbohydrates now, they will grow up to be a healthy boy or a girl. Even a little negligence at this stage will cost the kids their entire life. So it becomes necessary for the parents to plan out a proper food intake for their babies so that they can get the required amount of nutrition on a daily basis.

Healthy Toddler Diet Tips

Chocolate Milk
Milk is an important part of a kid’s diet. Milk provides calcium and vitamin D to build strong bones. Children will gulp down plain milk without any complain, but it is better to add in some flavor to make it appealing and not boring. Why chocolate? Because there is a popular belief that chocolate does not hinder calcium absorption.

Baked Potatoes
Baked potatoes are rich in potassium and fiber. It is any day better than greasy and oily fries. It is lower in fat than any other form of potatoes.

Baby Carrots
For babies and toddlers, steam the carrots until soft and then cut them into small pieces and feed them.

American Cheese
One slice of this cheese has about 125 milligram of bone building calcium. Children between 1 to 3 yrs need 500 ml a day while 4 to 8 yrs old need 800 ml a day.

Cereals
Fortified cereals are another rich source of numerous vitamins and minerals, including iron and vitamin B, which build blood cells. There are two brands of cereals: ones with less sugar content and ones with normal sugar content. You can choose depending upon your baby’s taste.

Broccoli
Broccolis are rich in vitamin A and C and with every bite, your child will get healthier and stronger. Many kids like it raw or lightly steamed. You can use the vegetables in other dishes as well.

Eggs
Eggs are packed with protein and vitamin D. They help in building muscles and provide calcium to the body. So an egg a day will complete your kid’s diet requirement.

Mixed Vegetables
Mixed vegetables include a combination of different vegetables with different vitamins and proteins which the body requires on a daily basis. Peas for e.g., provide proteins and foliate and vitamin B. Green beans on the other hand provide potassium. You can either serve them all together in a bowl or toss them all in a soup.

Beef
If you are comfortable with non-vegetarian food then beef is the best food to feed your kid. It is a rich source of protein, iron and zinc. But choose beef which is at least 90% lean to keep fat consumption on check.

Ketchup
Usually you might get worried with the fact that your kid eats everything with sauce. Let them continue eating ketchup as it contains a natural cancer fighting compound called lycopene.

Kiwifruit
This has more vitamin C than orange. It is rich in fibers and antioxidants that help protect the body’s cells from getting damaged.

Orange Juice
Out of all the natural juices, orange juice is the most nutritious. It contains lots of vitamin C, foliate and potassium. The calcium, fortified one is the best for kids who don’t want to drink milk.

Sweet Potatoes
Slice it into strips, use little oil and bake into fries which will be serving all the vitamin A that a kid requires in a day.

Whole Wheat Bread
It is rich in fiber. Start with wheat bread first. When your kids transform into toddlers, get them used to whole wheat bread. Other such options may be brown rice, whole wheat muffins etc.

Tortillas
These are low in fat. Roll them up with ham or turkey, slice into wheels, cut them into wedges, and then bake to make low-fat chips. You can also top with chopped vegetables and melted cheese.

Cantaloupe
It is one of the rare fruits containing both beta carotene and vitamin C. It is a great substitute for kids who are not vegetable eaters.

Peanut Butter
Peanut butter has become very popular among kids. It is rich in protein and a good source of fiber. Spread on bread or thin with water to make a tasty dip for your toddler.

Parmesan Cheese
Each serve of this grated cheese provide close to 10% of daily requirement of calcium. You can sprinkle it on top of pastas, pizzas, vegetables, salads and eggs.

Yogurt
8 ounces of yogurt provides around 250 to 450 milligrams of calcium. While purchasing, look for ones that are low in fat. These beneficiary bacteria in yoghurt boost the health of your child’s intestine.