Your kids would be much better off learning to avoid those types of high-calorie, high-fat foods and instead enjoying foods that are high in fiber, low in fat, and have calcium, iron, and other vitamins and minerals. Instead of giving their kids an unpeeled whole apple or a cut up a whole apple, parents often give kids peeled apples, applesauce, or apple juice as alternatives. Peeling the apple makes it lose about half of its fiber, and applesauce is also much lower in fiber than a whole apple and has more sugar and calories. When choosing a breakfast cereal for your kids, try to look for one you can’t simply eat out of the box like candy. Good choices include whole-grain cereal that is calcium-fortified and has added fiber. Depending on the rest of your child’s diet, you may also look for a breakfast cereal that provides extra iron and other minerals and vitamins. In general, some healthful breakfast cereals that many kids like include:
CheeriosMulti-Grain CheeriosShredded WheatTotal Raisin BranWheaties
Add a chopped banana or strawberries to the bowl, and your kids will like it even more. What about cholesterol? Eggs do contain cholesterol, but they do not contain a lot of saturated fat, which is the more important factor in raising a person’s cholesterol level. Still, an egg every other day is fine for most kids. Depending on their age, most kids should drink between 2 to 4 glasses of milk (low-fat milk if they are at least 2 years old) each day, especially if they aren’t eating or drinking any other high-calcium foods. You can combat that trend by serving your kids oatmeal, which many kids love, and more oatmeal foods and snacks (such as oatmeal cookies, oatmeal bars, etc.). Reduced-fat peanut butter is also available, or if you choose a vitamin-fortified brand, such as Peter Pan Plus, it also provides your child with vitamin A, iron, vitamin E, vitamin B6, folic acid, magnesium, zinc, and copper, in addition to being a good source of protein. Although high in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, those are the “good” fats. Sunflower seeds are low in saturated or “bad” fats. Parents seem to be serving tuna fish less often these days because of the concerns about mercury contamination, but it is important to keep in mind that like many things, tuna fish is OK in moderation. Even with the warnings, children are allowed up to two servings a week of canned light tuna or one serving of solid white albacore tuna. To make your child’s tuna fish sandwich even healthier, use low-fat mayonnaise and whole-wheat bread. There are plenty of vegetables that kids do like, such as cooked carrots, corn, peas, and baked potatoes. Remember to introduce your kids to a variety of vegetables at an early age, offer lots of choices, set a good example by eating vegetables as a family and continue to offer very small servings of vegetables, even when your kids don’t eat them. If you keep offering them, they eventually eat them. You may think that your kids are doing well with this one because they already eat yogurt, but if all they eat is a kids’ brand of yogurt with extra sugar and no added probiotics, then they may be missing out on some of the nutritional benefits of yogurt. You may also look for one with added probiotics, although not all studies agree that they are helpful.
