The Best Balanced Meal Plan for Kids
Explore the Pyramid
It is always a good rule of thumb to have a guide. Thankfully, the United States Department of Agriculture has put together a nifty visual for people to understand how to create a balanced diet. When you want to create a balanced diet for your child, consult the chart at https://www.choosemyplate.gov/kids. This site has fun games to teach children and adults about the food pyramid, a kid’s pyramid poster, tips for families, menu planner and a pyramid tracker. It simplifies eating by using a color-coded pyramid that quantifies food in categories of grains, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and beans, as well as fat and sugars. This pyramid is relatively easy to understand for adults and children. This site is entirely free of charge and a great resource for caregivers who want to try to create a balanced diet for their child.
2. Keep it Fresh
Kids can get in a rut of eating, especially young children, so it is important to establish a wide variety of food choices early on. Research shows it can take up to 20 times to introduce a new food to a child and make it stick. So keep your food servings fresh. That means if you offer your child a new food like, say, jicama, and they don’t like it, try serving it a new way, like shredded in salad or dipped sparingly in caramel sauce. That goes for offering new foods on a regular basis. Sandwiches for lunch day in and day out can make for a picky eater, so look for new and interesting foods/preparations to offer. If you already have a little eater who demands cheese pizza for lunch everyday, don’t despair, you can still make change. Start offering small portions of new foods in a way they like the favorites. For example, make your own pizza and offer your little one the chance to add their own toppings like vegetables or pineapples. Make sure you lead by example and try the new foods, as well.
3. It’s All About Meal Planning
We are always running here and there with little time to come home and make a "home-cooked meal,” but that does not mean the alternative is fast food or your go-to “out of the box dinner." Both are usually low in nutrition and can throw your balanced diet out the window. Take the time while you are at the grocery store to shop by meals. That is, if you shop for a week at time, think about seven different breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Keep balance in mind, and refer to the pyramid. That way, when you come home late after a long day, you don’t have to search for what you are going to make because you already know. In the beginning, this does take more time, but once you become use to this method, it will be quick and easy, and your whole family will have a nutritionally balanced diet thanks to you.
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