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Breakfast is vital for growing minds and
bodies. Healthy snacks can keep hungry children happy in-between meals.
Lunch and dinner keep them going. But whatever the meal, making
nutritious food choices can make a big difference to your child's
overall nutritional well-being.
Healthy Breakfasts and Nutritious Snacks
Many children miss or settle for
'make-do' breakfasts just because of the morning rush. Breakfast is not
just about filling your child's empty stomach, but also feeding his
brain and body with the right nutrition. It will make him more alert,
have better memory and better able to pay attention in class. All these
help he learns more effectively.
Always serve breakfast with a nutritious beverage that is high in
protein, vitamins and minerals. Good choices include milk and fruit
juice.
Healthy and nutritious breakfast foods include:
* Breakfast cereals or oatmeal with milk
* Bread/crackers with cheese/margarine/jam
* Scrambled eggs on toast
* Baked beans, omelet and toast
* Tuna/egg/sardine sandwich
* Stir-fried noodles with chicken and vegetables (less oil)
* Fried rice with vegetables (less oil)
* Banana pancake
Nutritious Food for Main Meals
By the time your child is 4 years old, he
should be encouraged to eat together with the family, consuming the
same food but in smaller portions. Help him learn that meals are just
not complete without vegetables. Try to serve both the green leafy
variety (e.g. spinach) as well as the brightly colored types (e.g.
cabbage and carrots). Easy ways to prepare vegetables include
stir-frying in a little oil or cooking them in soups.
End each meal on a sweet and nutritious note with fruits as desserts.
Fruits that are rich in vitamins and minerals include apple, pear,
oranges, and grapes. These can be cut up and served, or incorporated
into desserts (e.g. fruit jelly or pudding).
Here are some delicious main meal ideas for the family table:
- Spaghetti/macaroni with chicken, vegetables and cheese in tomato
sauce
- Fried rice with vegetables and chicken (less oil)
- Noodles in soup with lean chicken and vegetables
- Mashed potatoes, carrots/tomatoes with grilled chicken
- Homemade chicken burgers with whole meal bun and vegetables
Healthy Snacks
If snacks are required, keep them
healthy. This is because a lot of unwanted fat and calories can creep
into your child's diet through snacks. Serving nutritious beverages
such as milk, fruit juices and soy bean milk together with snacks helps
improve the nutritional value and palatability of snack foods.
Below are some healthy snack choices. The breakfast foods listed
earlier are also suitable for snacks, but should be offered in smaller
portions.
* Animal shaped crackers
* Semi sweet biscuits
* Sponge cake/muffin
* Sweet corn custard
* Tuna/sardine/chicken/egg sandwich
More suggestions on healthy snacks and
nutritious food are available at
Healthy Recipes for Children.
Tips! for the Parents
* A hungry child may find it hard to
sleep soundly at night. A glass of warm milk (rather than something
heavier) is preferable as a bedtime snack.
* Certain cooking methods (e.g. steaming, boiling, baking, broiling and
microwaving) require less oil to be used.
* Avoid serving bony fish; use fish fillet, instead.
* Cutting food into appropriate sizes before serving to younger
children.
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