Non-negotiable Nutrition

Some nutrimental practices are so important, you can't bargain them away in your child's diet. Here are those few items you should work hard to incorporate and sustain.

1. Variety: Kids need lots of different nutrients to meet the demands of maintenance, activity and growth. There is no one food that can do it all, nor is their one food group that can do it all. Make sure your child is getting wide variety of food amongst the food groups. Variety within a food group is second most important after that. Over the course of a few days kids should be getting something from each of the food groups. For more information see the USDA For Kids web page.

2. Iron: Iron is the mineral most likely to be deficient in the diets of older babies and toddlers. Yet it is very important in brain and nervous system development. Best food sources are beef and dark meat poultry. Other good sources include fortified cereals, raisins, prunes, wheat germ, and blackstrap molasses. Most likely even with these foods, a child's daily vitamin and mineral supplement will be necessary to meet recommended intakes.

3. Calcium: Bones are in their growth and formative stage for the first two decades of life. Enough calcium is critical to that growth. Giving children more calcium when they are younger will build stronger bones that may be more resistant to debilitating bone fractures from osteoporosis when they get older. Many children don't get enough. Children up to the age of three need 500 mg/day, and from the ages of 4 to 8 need 800 mg/day.

4. Breakfast: Breakfast eaters have a better overall diet and have less trouble concentrating and fewer behavior problems in school. Breakfast eaters are more apt to get their daily requirements of iron, calcium, and fruit.

5. Fruits and Vegetables: More and more evidence is linking fruit and vegetable intake with a reduced risk of chronic disease and is linking them to proper growth and development in children. The vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protective substances called phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables are what provide the multiple benefits.