Eating becomes a social activity in this stage of life. Your kids are probably spending more time in school than they do at home; eating meals at friends’ houses; and adopting eating habits from their peers. It can be difficult to ensure they are getting adequate nutrition when you are not always around to monitor their choices.
For kids aged 5-12, the key word is variety. Creative serving ideas will go a long way towards maintaining the healthy eating habits established in the first years of life.
Because children are so impressionable at this stage, it’s very important to instill healthy attitudes toward food. One of the best ways to do this is through family mealtime. Studies suggest that children who eat regular family meals are more likely to eat fruits and veggies and less likely to fill up on unhealthy foods. Eating as a family also gives you the opportunity to catch up on your kids’ daily lives. During family meals, you can “teach by example” by eating a wide variety of healthy foods, keeping your own portions in check, not overeating, and sharing feelings of fullness and satisfaction. Refrain from obsessive calorie counting or commenting on your own weight, so that kids don’t adopt negative associations with food.
Nutrition guidelines for school-age kids
As children develop, they require appropriately sized portions of the same healthy foods adults eat, along with more vitamins and minerals to support growing bodies. This means whole grains (whole wheat, oats, barley, rice, millet, quinoa); a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables; a source of calcium for growing bones (milk, yogurt, or substitutes if lactose intolerant); and healthy proteins (fish, eggs, poultry, lean meat, nuts and seeds).Contrary to what many parents believe, kids don't need large amounts of fat because they're "burning it off" by being active. But the kind of fat they're eating does matter. Butter on vegetables, avocados and corn chips (made with sunflower or safflower oil), pecans or walnuts are far preferable to French fries, donuts, candy bars or fast food cheeseburgers.
See Healthy Fats for more information on “good” and “bad” dietary fat.
| Dietary guidelines for school age children | |
| Vegetables | 3-5 servings per day. A serving might be one cup of raw leafy vegetables, 3/4 cup of vegetable juice, or 1/2 cup of other vegetables, raw or cooked. |
| Fruits | 2-4 servings per day. A serving may consist of 1/2 cup of sliced fruit, 3/4 cup of fruit juice, or a medium-size whole fruit, such as an apple, banana or pear. |
| Whole Grains | 6-11 servings per day. Each serving should equal one slice of bread, 1/2 cup of rice or 1 ounce of cereal. |
| Protein | Two to three servings of 2-3 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry or fish per day. A serving in this group may also consist of 1/2 cup of cooked dry beans, one egg, or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter for each ounce of lean meat. |
| Dairy products | Two to three servings per day of low-fat milk or yogurt (1 cup=one serving), or natural cheese (1 1/2 ounces=one serving). |
| Zinc | A new study indicates that 20mg of zinc five times a week may improve memory and school performance, especially in boys. Good sources of zinc are oysters, beef, pork, liver, dried beans and peas, whole grains, fortified cereals, nuts, milk, cocoa and poultry. |
