Diet for children
The child's menu is the basis on which his health, mental and physical development are based, the state of the baby's immunity depends on him. Therefore, it should be as balanced as possible so that the child's body does not suffer from a lack of vitamins, minerals, macro- and microelements.
Content:
- Principles and rules of the diet for children
- Permitted and prohibited foods
- An example of a menu for a week of diet for children
- Delicious recipes
- Healing diets for children
- Contraindications
Principles and rules of the diet for children
When starting to draw up a menu for a child, you need to adhere to a number of rules. They will make the diet as effective as possible.
- A child needs vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that he can only get from food. It is important that the menu is not devoid of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. A deficiency of nutrients is unacceptable.
- A child should not experience hunger, which is unacceptable to him.
- A child should not be allowed to be completely devoid of sweets, despite the fact that he adheres to a diet. However, they should be helpful.
- Children's diet cannot be rigid. This is contrary to all medical principles. There are no indications for a strict diet for children.
The principles on which any children's diet is built:
- A balanced menu with a focus on protein products. Their, in the daily diet, should be at least 50%.
- Compliance with the calorie content of dishes according to the age characteristics of the body.
- Lack of products in the menu that contribute to weight gain.
In addition to all of the above principles and rules for drawing up a children's diet, the following recommendations must also be taken into account:
- You need to eat 5-6 times a day.
- During the day, you need to properly distribute products:
- At breakfast, the child should eat 25% of the daily diet.
- At lunchtime - 10%.
- Lunch accounts for 40%.
- For an afternoon snack - 5%.
- At dinner, he eats 20% of the entire menu.
- Before lunch, the menu should be dominated by protein products, and in the evening - vegetables and cereals.
- You can not eat a lot without observing the regime.
- Children should eat foods that are gently cooked. Can be steamed, baked, stewed and boiled.
If there is no medical indication, then at the age of 5 years it is impossible for the child to adhere to a diet. Restriction of the food set can lead to a failure in the absorption of nutrients, disrupt metabolism, which means it will provoke a set of excess body weight. A young child should eat right, he should not be offered unhealthy foods and sugary soda.
Permitted and prohibited foods
Foods that are allowed to be eaten during a children's diet:
- Meat: beef, rabbit meat, turkey, nutria, chicken, offal, homemade liver pate.
- Chicken eggs, quail eggs.
- Groats: oatmeal, buckwheat, rice, millet groats, barley, corn groats.
- Legumes, vegetables, herbs.
- Milk and fermented milk drinks and products.
- Berries and fruits.
- Rye bread, bran bread.
- Juices made from fresh fruits, nectars, fruit drinks, jelly, uzvar, cocoa, green tea, herbal decoction, rosehip infusion, still mineral water.
Foods that a child can eat in limited quantities:
- Chocolate, marmalade and marshmallows.
- Vegetable oil used for salad dressing.
- You can add butter to porridge.
Sweet foods should be given to the child in the morning and in small quantities.
Products that are prohibited from using in the preparation of a children's menu:
- Smoked products.
- Canned food.
- Baking, sparkling water.
- Semi-finished products.
- Sausages.
- Fast food.
- Fried pies.
- Croutons, nuts and chips.
An example of a menu for a week of diet for children
The proposed menu is balanced. It allows you to lose 1 kg of weight in a week, while there will be no harm to children's health. It is important during the diet to ensure that the child drinks a sufficient amount of water, as well as exercise.
| Diet day | Breakfast | Snack | Dinner | Dinner |
| Steam omelet with 1 egg, skim milk and rice, apple fresh | Whole wheat toast with butter, low-fat cheese, cucumber, compote with dried fruits |
Steamed potatoes, steamed chicken liver, greens, fresh carrot |
Muesli, salad with boiled beets and walnuts with sour cream dressing, cocoa | |
| Pancakes with semolina, apple, green tea with lemon | Greek salad, boiled egg, orange fresh | Soup with meatballs and buckwheat, whole grain toast | Cabbage-morokovaya salad with grated apple and sour cream, fruit jelly | |
| Salad with boiled rice, egg and squid, pomegranate juice | Steamed fish balls, milkshake with strawberries and bananas | Ukha, stewed cabbage with chicken hearts, berry juice | Rice porridge with raisins, fruit salad with yogurt, orange fresh | |
| Steamed omelet with mushrooms, chicken fillet and celery, whole grain toast, green tea | Cottage cheese with fruit | Chicken borscht, vinaigrette, apple fresh | Muesli, berry jelly and pear | |
| five | Pumpkin porridge and uzvar | Baked apple, berries | Green borscht with beef, salad with fresh vegetables, orange fresh | Corn porridge with raisins, yogurt |
Delicious recipes
Pilaf with dried fruits
- You can take any dried fruit in the amount of 150 g. It can be prunes, dates, dried apricots or raisins. You will also need 0.3 kg of nuts - cashews, almonds or walnuts.
- Rice should be chosen long-grain, its volume is 0.7 kg. Soak the rice for an hour in salted hot water.
- When the rice can be easily crushed with a fingernail, it is ready for further processing. If the groats are too hard, then drain the water and pour boiling water over the rice again.
- While the rice is being cooked, the carrots are finely chopped, the onions are cut into feathers.
- The onion is fried in vegetable oil until golden brown.
- Carrots are fried in butter.
- Put onions, rice, carrots in a cauldron, pour water over it so that its level rises above the rice by one finger. Salt the dish, add barberry and cumin.
- The cauldron is not covered with a lid, pilaf is boiled over high heat until all the liquid has evaporated.
- Dried fruits and nuts are fried in a frying pan with butter, put them in a cauldron with rice and cover it with waffle towels, and then a lid.
- After 30 minutes, the pilaf will be ready, it needs to be mixed and served.
Minestrone
- Finely chop a red onion and a clove of garlic.
- Cut 2 carrots, 2 celery trunks, fennel tuber, 1 potato into cubes.
- Divide the leek into 2 halves, wash it thoroughly and cut it into 1 cm thick slices.
- Use a blender to grind 0.8 kg of canned tomatoes in their own juice.
- Zucchini, leeks, garlic, carrots, celery, 1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano are fried in olive oil. Then cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Potatoes, tomatoes and vegetable broth are added to vegetables in the amount of 1 liter.
- The soup is boiled for another 30 minutes.
- Cut 1 tomato, 1 zucchini and 1 sweet pepper into cubes, add them to the soup 10 minutes before the end of cooking. Together with vegetables, add a can of canned beans to the dish.
- The soup is salted and pepper, served with basil leaves and grated parmesan.
Soufflé with rabbit meat
- Boil 0.2 kg of rabbit meat.
- 80 g of white bread crumb is soaked in milk.
- Pass the meat and bread through a blender, add 4 chicken eggs to it and grind again.
- Fill the muffins with minced meat, put them on a baking sheet with water.
- Bake in the oven for a quarter of an hour at 180 ° C.
- Soufflé is eaten both hot and cold.
Fish dumplings
- Grind 0.35 fillets of low-fat white fish in a meat grinder.
- Dry flour in a pan (2 teaspoons), pour milk into the pan, stirring constantly so that no lumps form, salt.
- Add this sauce to the minced fish. Yolk and separately whipped protein are also introduced there.
- Form balls from minced meat and cook them until fully cooked.
- Separately, a sauce is prepared for the dumplings: peels are peeled, pitted, onions, garlic and dried paprika are fried in olive oil. After 5-8 minutes, add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of sugar to the onion, salt and pepper, fry for another 5 minutes, then add peaches to the pan and cook for 5-10 minutes. If the sauce is very thick, you can dilute it with water.
- When the sauce is ready, it is passed through a blender and served to the dumplings.
Soba noodle soup
- Soak 2 sheets of dried seaweed in 4 glasses of cold water for 20 minutes, boil the water and reduce the heat.
- Add 30 g of fish shavings to the pan, cook for a few more minutes, filter the broth through cheesecloth.
- Boil soba noodles separately, following the instructions on the package, wash the finished noodles in cold water.
- Eggs are boiled, peeled.
- Chopped mushrooms, a bunch of bok choy, and shrimp are added to the boiling broth left over from the algae.
- Put soba noodles in a plate, an egg cut into 2 parts, pour broth, complement bok choy.
- Garnish the soup with sesame seeds and green onions.
Healing diets for children
Diet for children with allergies
If a child suffering from allergies grows up in the family, then he needs to follow a certain diet. Otherwise, the baby will be haunted by such health disorders as: urticaria, allergic rhinitis, diathesis, conjunctivitis.
However, despite the fact that the child needs to adhere to a diet, his diet should be complete. Parents should be aware of which foods are more allergenic and which are less allergenic.
So, the products that most often cause allergic reactions include: eggs and milk, citrus fruits, berries (raspberries, strawberries, strawberries), wheat and rye, chocolate, coffee, honey, cocoa, nuts.
Foods with medium allergenic potential: potatoes, legumes, beets, apricots, peaches, bananas, blueberries, black currants.
The allergic child's menu should be based on such products as:
- Fermented milk drinks and products.
- Meat: low fat pork, lamb, turkey, rabbit, horse meat.
- Green apples and pears.
- Dill and parsley.
- White and cauliflower, cucumbers and zucchini, yellow cherries.
The foods on this list have minimal allergenic potential and can therefore be offered to a child with allergies.
Read more: Diet for allergies
With rotavirus infection
Rotavirus infection (intestinal flu) is a disease that can affect not only a child, but also an adult. However, young children are most often infected. Intestinal flu is indicated by symptoms such as: disturbances in the functioning of the digestive system (diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain), high body temperature.
Child nutrition rules for rotavirus infection:
- It is important to ensure that the child does not become dehydrated. To normalize the electrolyte balance, the baby is offered Regidron, but often children refuse to take it, since it has a specific taste. Therefore, you need to give your child as much water as possible, weak tea, you can drink compote, decoctions of mint and chamomile.
- If the child does not ask for food, then there is no need to force him. The main thing is that he drinks enough.
- You need to drink in small portions so as not to provoke vomiting.
In the first 2-3 days, you need to make every effort to normalize the child's stool. Therefore, you can offer him lean rice porridge, stewed apples.
In the future, the menu is expanded by introducing the following products:
- Galette biscuits, crackers.
- Vegetable broth. Fish and meat broth is given only low-fat, for this, after boiling, the water is drained, poured clean and the products continue to cook.
- Soup with cereals, which must be boiled thoroughly.
- Steam omelet.
- Steam cutlets from chicken or turkey meat, boiled fish fillet. You can use fish such as pollock, cod and hake.
- Mashed potatoes. No oil is added to it.
After 3-4 days from the stool normalization, fermented milk drinks can be introduced into the child's diet. Any products that could provoke disturbances in the functioning of the digestive system should be removed from the menu. You cannot give your child milk, cheese, sugar, honey, black bread, pastries, pasta, dumplings, dumplings, legumes, fatty fish and meat, sausage, smoked products, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, black tea of strong brew.
Only after 10 days can the child be transferred to the usual menu. Until then, until all the symptoms of rotavirus infection are eliminated, he must adhere to a diet.
Read more: Intestinal infection in children: what to do?
With vomiting
If the child is vomiting, he will lose a lot of fluids. Against the background of rising temperatures, the situation is getting worse. On the first day, the child is not fed, but it is necessary to water him often. You can give herbal tea, rosehip decoction, unsweetened mineral water without gas. The child should drink in small portions, but as often as possible.
When the vomiting stops, you need to start feeding your baby. A gentle diet should be followed. Products to be excluded from the menu:
- Fried foods.
- Fresh fruits and vegetables, natural juices.
- Oils: butter and sunflower.
- Sausage and smoked products.
- Rolls, confectionery, sweets and baked goods.
- Soda water.
- Egg, pearl barley and millet.
In order for the gastrointestinal tract to recover faster, the menu must be based on foods that are easy to digest:
- Baked apples.
- Bananas.
- Compote with dried fruits and rosehip decoction.
- Boiled grated vegetables. Preference should be given to carrots and apples.
All meals should be warm. Food that is too hot or too cold will irritate the stomach and slow down the healing process.
Read more: Vomiting in a child without fever and without diarrhea
With urticaria
With urticaria, the child's menu should be based on hypoallergenic foods. At the age of up to 1.5 years, the child's nutrition should be "rejuvenated", that is, if an allergic reaction occurs, his menu is transferred back to the previous stage. In this way, you need to act until the moment in time, until a full recovery occurs.
Remove foods such as:
- Citrus.
- Chocolate and all products containing cocoa.
- Mushrooms.
- Nuts.
- Smoked products.
For hives, your child may receive the following foods:
- Sour milk drinks and products with a low percentage of fat: kefir, sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese. It is important to purchase only natural products that do not contain dyes, additives or preservatives.
- Cereals: corn, rice, buckwheat. You need to cook porridge in water.
- Boiled meat: beef, poultry. It's important to choose lean meats.
- Baked vegetables and apples.
- Vegetable soups.
- Green apples, pears, grapes.
In addition to the fact that the child is brought to a specialized menu, he must receive drug therapy. Only a doctor can prescribe treatment. If you ignore the medication, the urticaria will become chronic.
Read more: Hives - Causes and Symptoms
With atopic dermatitis
Atopic dermatitis requires refusal to eat foods that contain dyes and food additives. If it has been established which nutritional components lead to an allergic reaction, they must be discarded. Provided that the child feeds on breast milk, a nursing mother should monitor her menu with special care.
The baby should eat according to the regimen, but you cannot overfeed him.
Products that may be present in the child's menu:
- Dairy products. You can offer your child one-day kefir.
- Gluten-free porridges: rice, corn, buckwheat.
- Vegetable soups, broths based on beef tenderloin.
- Baked apples.
- Boiled potatoes.
- Black bread,
- Dill and parsley.
Doctors strongly recommend removing all baked goods from the child's menu. On an industrial scale, margarine is used for their production, which is strictly forbidden to eat in this form of dermatitis.
Read more: Atopic dermatitis in adults and children
With pyelonephritis
Pyelonephritis treatment is aimed at removing intoxication from the body. Therefore, the child should receive as much fluid as possible. It is allowed to drink it with fruit drinks, compotes, herbal decoctions, weak black tea, rosehip, mountain ash and black currant infusion.
You should also introduce fruits and vegetables into the child's diet, which have a diuretic effect. These can be zucchini, melons and watermelons.
You can offer your child dairy products, pastries, cereals, sugar, dried fruits.
The ban includes:
- Smoked products.
- Coffee and cocoa.
- Chocolate.
- Fried dishes.
- Spices and condiments.
- Spinach and cauliflower.
- Mushrooms.
- Meat and fish, as well as broths prepared on their basis.
Gluten-free diet
A gluten-free diet requires the rejection of all foods that contain gluten - these are oats, rye, wheat, barley. It is imperative for children with autism to stick to a gluten-free meal plan.
Also, the ban is imposed on chocolate, on any bakery products. When a child enters kindergarten, parents should warn his management about the problem.
Read More: List of Gluten Free and Gluten Free Foods
Contraindications
Before transferring a child to any diet, you need to consult a doctor. There are diseases that parents may not know about, and they, in turn, will be a contraindication to a particular menu.
Contraindications to a diet for weight loss in children are:
- Exacerbation of diseases of the digestive system. It can be gastritis, enteritis, colitis, chronic pancreatitis and more.
- Diseases of the heart and blood vessels. A cardiologist should select a diet for children with such problems.
- Type 1 diabetes mellitus. In this case, insulin injections are shown to the child, which allows you to break down fats. Children with diabetes cannot adhere to a diet, they are transferred to specialized nutrition, where it is constantly necessary to count bread units and carbohydrates.
- Tumors of benign and malignant nature. In this case, the menu should consist of products that help increase the body's defenses. It is compiled together with an oncologist.
Healthy and Unhealthy Food - School of Doctor Komarovsky:
The author of the article: Kuzmina Vera Valerievna | Endocrinologist, nutritionist
Education: Diploma of the Russian State Medical University named after NI Pirogov with a degree in General Medicine (2004). Residency at Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, diploma in Endocrinology (2006).
