Preschool nutrition pyramid is one of the very important factors to build a balanced nutrition for children. For preschool age from 3 to 5 years old, parents need to build a reasonable and adequate diet for children. During this period, nutrition is an essential foundation to help children develop both physically and mentally.
1. What is the preschool nutrition pyramid?
nutrition Tower provides information on food groups should and should not be used in daily meals. The main purpose is to help parents build a reasonable diet with adequate nutrients for young children, helping children develop comprehensively and healthy.
Preschool children need to be provided with a full range of nutrients for comprehensive development
Applying nutrition pyramids to children’s diets will help parents easily choose foods for nutritious meals. At the same time, the nutrition pyramid also reminds us of foods that should not be given to children in excess. From there, parents can know how much to feed their children, avoiding the case that children eat too much of a type of food leading to nutritional imbalance.
The nutrition pyramid for preschool children is also different from the nutrition pyramid of other ages. Parents should not apply the nutrition pyramid of adults or other objects to the diet of preschool children. If you want to build a scientific and reasonable diet for preschool children, you can refer to the nutritional pyramid below.
2. Nutrition pyramid for children from 3 to 5 years old
Essential nutrients for children are divided into 5 main groups. It is the protein group, the starch group, the fat group, the vitamin and mineral group.
Nutrition pyramid for children 3 to 5 years old according to the Ministry of Health
Meals for children from 3 to 5 years old should be divided into three main meals and two or three snacks during the day. Breakfast and dinner account for about 25% of the energy density for each meal, the remaining 40% for lunch and 10% for dinner.
Parents should prioritize protein and try to limit fat in their baby’s diet. The fats in fried foods are not good for children’s health. Using too much fried and greasy food can make children overweight and obese.
For milk, parents should give the baby about 200 ml of milk each time and drink it 3 times a day. Besides, it is also necessary to increase the supplement of protein, vitamins and minerals through mussels, vegetables, …
3. Meaning of the Early Childhood Nutrition Pyramid
Kindergarten nutrition pyramid divided into 7 floors with priority decreasing from bottom to top. The early childhood nutrition pyramid can be analyzed as follows.
3.1. Country
In the Nutrition Pyramid for children from 3 to 5 years old of the Ministry of Health, children need to drink 1.3 liters of water per day, equivalent to 6 cups of 220ml water. It is very important to add enough water for the baby’s body, especially in the hot season. Parents can increase or decrease the amount of water according to the amount of milk, fruit juice, vegetable juice that the baby drinks.
3.2. Cereal
Grains are the second most preferred food after water. Young children consume not as much energy as adults, but children need a large amount of starch to convert into active energy during the day. Children 3 to 5 years old need to be given 5-6 units of cereal per day. 1 unit of cereal is equivalent to half a bowl of plain rice about 55g, a loaf of bread about 27g, 95g of potatoes or 84g of sweet potatoes.
Parents should choose foods that provide children with abundant starch such as bread, potatoes, rice, noodles, vermicelli, etc. Because they not only provide energy but also contain very high nutritional content. high that the cakes and sweets with a lot of sugar do not have, even though they also provide the same level of energy.
Parents should balance the amount of food used for children
3.3. Vegetable
Vegetables are an indispensable part of a child’s diet. This is a source of many nutrients from nature without much processing. Children need 2 units of vegetables and 2 units of fruit per day. 1 unit of vegetable or fruit is equivalent to 80g of vegetables.
3.4. Protein
Besides starch, protein is also an indispensable nutrient for the physical and mental development of children. Protein is divided into two types: animal protein and vegetable protein. Animal protein comes from red meat, fish, eggs, shrimp and crab,…
Plant protein is protein from nuts, this protein has better quality than vegetable protein and is better for children’s health. However, parents need to pay attention to the balance between the two types of protein for children to get proper nutrition.
Your baby needs about 3.5 units of protein foods per day. 1 unit is equivalent to 31g of pork, 42g of chicken, 47g of eggs, 35g of fish.
3.5. Milk and dairy products
Milk is an essential food for a child’s development during this period. Children need 4 units of milk per day, each unit is equivalent to 100ml of liquid milk, 100g of yogurt, 15g of cheese. Parents should use skim or low-fat milk for children.
3.6. Grease
In the child’s diet, there should still be fats and oils, but this is not a priority food group. We only need to provide children with 5 units of grease every day. 1 unit is equivalent to 6g butter, 5g oil or fat.
3.7. Sugar, salt
This is the last priority group in the nutrition pyramid. However, that does not mean that this group can be ignored. Salt provides a number of minerals for the body and especially Iodine. Although sugar does not provide nutrition, it is still necessary for the body and makes food more delicious. Children should not use more than 3 units of sugar and 3g of salt per day. Each unit of sugar is equivalent to 5g of sugar.
Scientific meals will help children develop comprehensively physically, mentally and spiritually
Understand Kindergarten nutrition pyramid for children 3 to 5 years old will help teachers and parents build a balanced diet for children.
John Alen was born in 1971 and is a doctor in the healthcare and psychology fields with many years of experience. He is currently working at easyhealthylive.com, a leading health and psychology blog. Having studied at Y1 National Medical University named after IM Sechenov, John Alen is using his knowledge and experience to help improve the physical and mental health of people in the United States.
