Feeding your toddler is not an easy job. When a child develops his or her likes, dislikes and food preferences, that is when a child faces the most crucial times of life. This often leads to inadequate intake which proves one of the most difficult tasks of parenting. Toddler nutrition is extremely important. Inadequate intake results in poor growth and development which can affect the growth of the child. Reading books or taking ideas from fellow parents is not always helpful as each kid has his own preference and interest. My22BMI presents a complete guide which will help you to feed your toddler easily with some super easy hacks. Let's have a look at it!
Before we talk about how to provide proper nutrition to your toddler, we need to know what all foods are essential at this phase of life. My22BMI has created a list of those extremely important foods which play an important role in the growth and development of your child. The list includes –
Whole Milk:
Milk is rich in good quality protein and calcium, both of which are extremely important to support the growth and development of the child during this stage of life. Milk is rich in protein that helps to build up muscle tissue, whereas calcium helps in bone development thus it should be kept at the top of the list while talking about toddler nutrition.
Whole Grain Cereals:
During this phase of life the energy requirement remains very high and to support that, whole grain cereals must be included in the diet. The outer layer of whole grains comprises a good amount of fiber along with multiple beneficial vitamins and minerals making it one of the major components of toddler nutrition. My22BMI suggests to avoid polished and processed grains and incorporate all natural and unprocessed cereal grains like whole wheat, rice, quinoa, maize, oats, millet in a toddler's diet. One can either serve them as porridge or can also prepare fruit smoothie to make it more appealing or interesting to your toddler.
Help your kid eat the right way!
PC: BabyCentre.co.uk
Fruits:
Fruits due to their high content of vitamins, minerals, water, and antioxidant are an extremely important component of toddler nutrition. One can give soft fruits like, melon, papaya, banana, mango, etc can be given in the first year of life. Fruits like apple, pear, and guava can be introduced in boiled and mashed form followed by raw pieces during this time. Chewing them can help in faster teeth eruption.
Veggies:
While talking about toddler nutrition we must talk about those colorful healthy veggies which play an important role in building their immunity. This is the best time when you can build your kid's habit of eating vegetables. One can soft cook colorful veggies like spinach, carrot, broccoli, red cabbage and serve them together. This gives an interesting appeal to the food and helps the child grow with the habit of eating veggies without any issues.
Eggs:
While we speak about toddler nutrition we cannot simply overlook at this powerhouse of protein and fat-soluble vitamins. Eggs are not only rich in protein and good fats but also they are an excellent source of vitamin A which is highly needed for the eye health of the toddler.
Yogurt:
We all know that Yogurt is a probiotic which helps in better digestion. It is also rich in protein that helps in growth and development. Hence, yogurt plays a crucial role in toddler nutrition.
Iron Fortified Food:
Iron plays a significant role in toddler nutrition. During this phase of life along with holistic growth and development, blood volume also increases. A good amount of iron supply is needed for an increase in blood volume and hemoglobin. Apart from dark green leafy veggies, iron-fortified cereals, dates, etc should be included in the daily meal of a toddler.
At times, feeding toddler could be very difficult because of some common malpractices and that can leave a deep impact on toddler nutrition. So My22BMI has come up with a solution which can help you to achieve optimum toddler nutrition –
- Never force feed your toddler. This can grow a strong disliking on the food that you try to force feed and the kid might never feel like eating that. This can lead to poor toddler nutrition.
- Don't feed the same food every day. They can get bored easily as might never feel like eating that food again. This can result in improper toddler nutrition status.
- One should involve the toddler in cooking practices like picking the food or getting the spices etc. This will not only enhance their interest in eating that particular food but also helps in delivering the optimum toddler nutrition.
- The food served to the toddlers should look appealing both look and tastewise. Toddlers have more tastebuds compared to the adults so they may react to any food differently than that of an adult. Toddlers are more likely to accept the foods which look more colorful and creative to them.
Fix a particular time for feeding which also helps to set the metabolism in the right path from the very beginning which is an effective component of toddler nutrition.
Follow these simple rules to feed your toddler in the right way and keep him healthy and happy!
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