School Age Period And Nutrition

Healthy, sufficient and balanced nutrition is very important especially for children just as at every age. The need of the school-age children for many nutrition is more in proportion to other periods of the life due to fast growth and development and the eating habits to be gained in this period continue for a lifetime. Children who form the society itself and who are in a continuous growth and development process form one of the groups which is affected by the undernutrition and wrong eating habits gained in the childhood period create the main risk factor for sicknesses such as heart diseases, hypertension and being overweight.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF HEALTHY NUTRITION FOR SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN

The children in the school-age grow slowly but continuously. For the persistence of the growing, the energy and nutritional elements that need to be taken in a day should be at an adequate level. A very special nutrition program is not needed, the meals cooked in the house are suitable for your child but the amount they need to consume differently from the parents is different. Positive eating habits need to be developed in this period.
In general; they should be fed in 3 main meals and 3 small meals regularly. The fact that the period when the growth is fast is especially the one when the increase in length is seen should be kept in mind. Therefore, the foods and beverages such as milk, yogurt, kefir, cheese, ayran which are calcium sources should be consumed sufficiently.

* Creating variety in the foods
* Keeping the healthy body weight
* Frequently consuming the foods rich in fiber
* Limiting fat and sugar
* Consumption of vitamins and minerals in a sufficient amount
* If your child will consume at least one main meal and two small meals at school, more attention should be paid into this issue and healthy menus that s/he can carry should be created.
* Consuming fast foods from the cafeteria every day may cause medical problems such as obesity, vitamin, and mineral deficiency and infection in the long term at the beginning.
* You should definitely explain the benefits of the foods to your child, it is very important explaining that sometimes s/he can buy toasted sandwiches, fruit juice, and ayran among the foods being sold in the cafeteria and why s/he shouldn’t eat the foods other than these and helping her/him to become conscious about these.
* If the lunch is served as the menu at the school, check the meals and menus. If necessary, remind the school management that the menus must be planned and inspected by a dietician.
* If there isn’t an option to have access to the food, make your child take the lunch from the house to the school. You can prepare chicken, tuna fish sandwich for her/him and give salad, ayran, milk or fruit juice.
* Remind her/him to eat the small meal that you put in her/his bag in the breaks, check her/his bag every day. You can give foods such as ayran, milk, fruit, nut, walnut for the small meals.
* There might be a class called feeding time at the school and most of the teachers prepare weekly lists for these classes. If there are unhealthy preferences in the lists, definitely do not hesitate to contact the teacher and give suggestions.
* Children don’t like to eat the same foods and they get bored of them. Foods with different recipes must definitely be cooked by creating varieties in the kitchen to prevent this situation.
* Prevent your child to consume coke and carbonated beverages and to gain this as a habit. Pay attention to put the fruit juice or milk you prepared as fresh for this.