Childhood Nutrition Part 2: Nutrients Children Are Commonly Missing

Children need a balanced diet to grow healthy, but many times parents struggle with serving their children the type of nutritious meals they need. Here are some nutrients are commonly missing. Lack of these can lead to various healthy challenges.

childhood nutrition

Commonly Overlooked Nutrients

Many people, especially doctors and other in the medical field, would agree that far too many children are consuming too many calories and not enough healthy foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables. This is exactly what is contributing to the problem of childhood obesity. It is highly important that you begin teaching your child from a young age to eat healthy and to consume all of the nutrients they need in order to maintain good health and be strong.

There are some forms of nutrients that are more common to be missing from a child’s diet than others. The following are some examples of these

Calcium

Many children do not have enough calcium in their diet. The problem with this is the fact that calcium contributed to children developing strong bones. New research also suggests that there are many other benefits from calcium that were previously unknown.

For example, it is now believed that calcium can prevent breast cancer as well as other forms of cancer. With as high of a rate of heart issues and breast cancer as there is we should be doing everything that we can as a parent to help ensure that our children will not have to go through health issues such as these later in life.

One way that you can get your child to start consuming more calcium would be to have them eat a bowl of fortified cereal with breakfast. For school you may want to consider giving yogurt for a snack. [Read: Importance of proper nutrition]

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is another form of nutrient that is extremely important for the growth of healthy and strong bones. It is absorbed through the skin and it provided by sunlight. Children are spending less and less time playing outside and more and more time sitting on the couch watching TV.

Limit the amount of time that your child can play video games or watch TV each day and this will surely contribute to them getting out in the sun much more often.

There are other ways you can get vitamin D other than the sun. A few examples would be tuna, or vitamin D fortified milk.

Potassium

Potassium is a very important part of anyone’s diet, but this is especially true when it comes to the diet of a child. It is a little known fact but a lack of potassium in a diet can result in high blood pressure and other undesired medical issues. You need to make sure that your child is consuming enough potassium because it is extremely important.

Potassium can be found in many different types of food. A few examples would include beans, spinach, potatoes and tomatoes. Tasty fruits such as bananas also contain high amounts of potassium.

Fiber

Many people are not aware of just how important fiber is in their child’s diet. Consuming the proper amounts of fiber daily is a great way of preventing certain issues such as heart disease and type II diabetes. Fiber is an indigestible part of plants that we eat in our food. It helps digestion and other parts of your health.

You can give your child a lot of fruit or vegetables to help them get the right amount of fiber or you can try feeding them nuts or cooked dry beans.

Vitamin A

Making sure that your child gets enough vitamin A is very important for many different reasons, however many children are still lacking when it comes to the intake of this vitamin. The problem with this is the fact that vitamin A contributes to healthy eyesight. Vitamin A also contributes to a healthy immune system and is also involved with tissue growth. I am sure that you do not want your child to have to wear coke bottle thick lenses on their glasses by the time they are in their teens so make sure they are getting enough vitamin A.

You can get your child to consume more vitamin A by feeding them food such as sweet potatoes, romaine lettuce, as well as dark and bright colored vegetables.

Lets keep our children healthy by providing them with a balanced diet and all the nutrients they need.

Download a Sample Meal Time Table for your family here

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