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Nutrition can affect you and your child’s overall health. A balanced diet can help with child growth and lower the chance for obesity. For babies and children, a healthy diet can make their immune systems stronger and improve their learning. It can also lower the chance of diabetes and heart problems when they are adults.
What’s Nutritious?
While it’s important to eat from each food group, what falls into these groups? When grocery shopping, go for whole foods rather than packaged, processed, or canned goods.
Whole foods are foods that are as close to their original state as possible. That means there hasn’t been a lot (or anything) added to them. For example, a bag of chips you see at the store can have a lot of added ingredients — and you might not know what they all are. An apple you pick from the produce section is just that: an apple. You know it grew on a tree; there’s nothing extra added to it. If you can’t get fresh vegetables and fruit, buy frozen. It is just as healthy as long as there are no added ingredients.
Whole foods include:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Legumes — beans, lentils, and peas
- Nuts and seeds
- Milk
- Proteins — like fish, poultry, meat and eggs
- Whole grains — grains without anything stripped away, like brown rice, rolled oats, whole wheat breads and rye
Learn more about each food group here.
You should include a specific amount of each food group on your child’s plate at every meal. The amount of each food group they should eat depends on their age, weight, and sex. Talk to your child’s provider to learn what’s best for them.
There are a bunch of ways to add nutritional food to your families’ diet. Try these fun and nutritious recipes at home:
Sources: Nutrition | WHO & Healthy Foods for Kids | Help Guide & What are Whole Foods | Delighted Cooking & Nutrition | CDC