 Healthy Diets Overview
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| Christopher Duggan, MD, MPH |
Watch gastroenterologist Christopher Duggan, MD, MPH, discuss the challenges of getting children to eat healthfully.
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- For growing children and adolescents, it is generally recommended to watch total fat consumption in the diet, rather than counting calories.
- Eat balanced meals.
- When cooking for your child, try to bake or broil instead of frying.
- Decrease your child's sugar intake.
- Eat fruit or vegetables for a snack.
- For children over 5, use low fat dairy products.
- Decrease the use of butter and heavy gravies
- Eat more chicken and fish.
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The food guide pyramid is a good guideline to help you and your child eat a heart healthy diet. The Food Guide Pyramid can help you and your child eat a variety of foods while encouraging the right amount of calories and fat.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Department of Health and Human Services have prepared the following "food pyramids" to guide parents in selecting foods for children 2 to 6 years of age, and for children over age 6.
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The pyramid below applies to anyone 6 years of age to adulthood. However, remember that a serving size for a 6-year-old is going to be much smaller than an adult serving size. Do not attempt to make small children eat adult-sized portions in order to comply with this pyramid. Also, when a range of serving numbers is given (such as 6 to 11 servings of bread, rice, or pasta), it is more appropriate to ensure a 6-year-old has the lesser of the two amounts (6 servings rather than 11).
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- Yellow represents oils: Know the limits on fats, sugars, and salt (sodium). Make most of your fat sources from fish nuts, and vegetable oils. Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening, and lard, as well as foods that contain these.
- Blue represents milk: Get your calcium-rich foods. Milk and milk products contain calcium and vitamin D, both important ingredients in building and maintaining bone tissue. Use low-fat or fat-free milk
after the age of two years. However, during the first year of life, infants
should be fed breast milk or iron-fortified formula. Whole cow's milk
may be introduced after an infant's first birthday, but lower-fat or
skim milk should not be used until the child is at least two years
old.
- Purple represents meat and beans: Go lean on protein. Choose low fat or lean meats and poultry. Vary your protein routine - choose more fish, nuts, seeds, peas, and beans.
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Activity is also represented on the pyramid by the steps and the person climbing them, as a reminder of the importance of daily physical activity.
To find more information about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 (the most recent guidelines) and to determine the appropriate dietary recommendations for your age, sex, and physical activity level, visit the Online Resources page for the links to the Food Pyramid and 2005 Dietary Guidelines sites. Please note that the Food Pyramid is designed for persons over the age of two who do not have chronic health conditions.
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