„Mama, I want chips!“ – Healthy Nutrition for Children and Adolescents

Eating healthy with fun and pleasure – who wouldn’t want that for oneself and their family? Not only the uncontrollable food supply in the supermarkets makes parents wonder about what is healthy for their child.

In particular, children often have their own idea of what is good for them. The right diet plays an important role in the optimal development of children and adolescents. In the growing years, the body makes very special demands. For now, the cornerstone for physical developments is laid, the consequences of which reach into old age.

As a rule, a child is well taken care of when a nice varied mix of food is offered to him. If possible, it should be freshly prepared, as varied as possible, and of course, plenty of fruit and vegetables. The diet should also be designed so that being overweight is not a possibility.

A good nutritional guide to understand this is the AID nutritional pyramid, which we briefly presented in the last article on this topic. In addition, the Research Institute for Child Nutrition in Dortmund has prepared recommendations for the so-called “optimized food mix” (optimiX). “optimiX« does not represent a dietary plan, but is intended to provide a framework within which families can achieve healthy nutrition in everyday life. The recommendations can be summarized in three simple rules:

1. Plenty of beverages and vegetable foods (cereals, nuts and especially fruits and vegetables)
2. Moderate consumption of animal origin food (dairy products, eggs, meat and fish)
3. Limited fatty foods and confectionery

For detailed information on both orientation aids, the respective Internet sites are recommended:

Research institutes for child nutrition

You’ve already noticed that the guidelines for children and adults strongly resemble each other. Therefore, in our next article, we’ll provide a detailed overview of what foods should regularly be a part of the diet of children and what should be taken into consideration when feeding your sweet little ones.

Thanks to Franzi from our quality unit for the article. Franzi studied nutritional science and is currently working as a Quality Trainee at SanLucar.