The right nutrition for children.

After the general introduction in the last post, we now come to the characteristics of individual groups of foods.

Fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables are part of every meal. Both offer abundant vitamins, nutrients and fibre, are low in calories and also fill you up. During selection and preparation, the preferences of the each child should be taken into consideration. The amount is also important: fruit tastes particularly good when it is has been cut down in small pieces or pureed, e.g. a sliced apple as a snack or pureed in yoghurt or curd. Most kids like to nibble vegetables raw with a delicious dip. Even stewed or cooked vegetables, whether fresh or frozen, should regularly be on the table. Here are a few small tricks, so children will reach for more fruits and vegetables more often.

Cereals and potatoes

Bread, rolls, cereal flakes, rice, noodles and potatoes are included as a saturation supplement for almost every meal. Not only are they healthy, but also offer a wide range of options, such as cereal for breakfast, as a pasta or rice dish for lunch or as a bread meal in the evening. Of course, full-grain products are preferred. For potatoes, the variant salted or peeled potatoes should be selected as often as possible; chips, croquettes and fried potatoes, on the other hand, should remain an exception.

The supply of calcium plays an important role for growth and bone density – along with lots of movement in the fresh air. It is an important building block of bones and teeth. Milk and dairy products are the main suppliers of calcium. Alternatives for children who do not like milk are cocoa, yoghurt, milk, kefir, curd or cheese. Milk is recommended as fresh milk or sterilised milk. However, milk also contains fat and calories in addition to calcium. Too much can therefore take away the appetite for other foods and lead to obesity. Therefore, it is useful to use low-fat variants.

In our next part, we will talk about meat, sausage, fish and eggs, as well as fats and oils and beverages.