How to provide nutrition for children

Today's parents are always worried about their children's healthy eating. Although life has improved and the quality of food has become higher, the wide variety of food often makes many parents worry. Which foods should they choose to supplement their children's nutrition? To prevent nutritional deficiencies in children, they should have a balanced, comprehensive diet.

In the nutritional dietary structure, among the six major categories of nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins and water), Chinese children are particularly lacking in minerals, especially essential trace elements for the human body (copper, selenium, iodine, zinc, iron, chromium, cobalt and molybdenum). Research data shows that the two main trace elements that children lack are iron and zinc.

The Chinese Dietary Reference Intake of Nutrients suggests that there are recommended daily intakes of trace elements for children. For example, for school-age children, the appropriate daily intake of iron is 12 mg and zinc is 13.5 mg.

Clinically, it has been shown that deficiency can be completely avoided through a comprehensive and balanced diet. Therefore, the best way to supplement is a balanced diet. Animal blood, liver, red meat, beans, black fungus, and sesame paste are rich in iron; red meat, shellfish, animal offal, dried fruits, peanuts and other foods are rich in zinc. In daily life, children should be taught not to be picky eaters or to not be anorexic, which can effectively prevent the deficiency of trace elements such as iron and zinc.

Taking zinc and iron as examples, phytic acid and tannic acid in plant foods are not conducive to the absorption of zinc and iron. What needs to be noted at this time is that when eating foods with high phytic acid content such as spinach, rapeseed, and bamboo shoots, blanch them in boiling water first to reduce the phytic acid content, thereby reducing its negative impact on the absorption of zinc and iron. You can also supplement animal meat appropriately because its absorption and utilization rate of zinc and iron is higher than that of plant-based foods. In addition, too high a fat content in food can also affect the absorption of iron. Keep your children away from high-fat foods such as fried chicken nuggets, potato chips, etc.

However, parents must not always fall into the misunderstanding of nutritional supplements. It is not the case that the more trace elements a child supplements, the better. Once the amount is excessive, the child will be in danger of trace element poisoning. As long as you pay attention to a proper diet, your child's nutrition can be balanced. If there are no typical symptoms of nutritional deficiency, there is no need for special supplements.