Importance Of Nutritious Food For Child Growth And Development

Importance Of Nutritious Food For Child Growth And Development

In this article, You will learn about importance of nutritious food for child growth and development. By giving your child a healthy balanced diet, you are ensuring that they are getting all the essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that children need for healthy growth and development. Children require a variety of nutrient-dense foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meat, fish and adequate calories in order to grow and develop properly. It’s crucial that your child is consuming the essential nutrients she needs to grow. Calcium is of particular importance for children.

An adequate calcium intake promotes optimal bone density which will assist teen growth and reduce the risk of bone loss in later life. The way children eat influences their growth and health during childhood, during adolescence and for the rest of their lives.

The choices that children and parents make early on regarding nutrition and lifestyle can affect children for the rest of their lives. As most people reach their peak bone mass at age 20, it is important to build muscle and bone mass during the early stages of childhood. Children who are overweight tend to have fatigue and irritability that can lead to depression.

Children that are overweight have difficulty with physical activity and often cannot participate in physical activities alongside their peers. This can cause emotional isolation and can set the groundwork for poor social interactions and low self-esteem. Overall, a well-balanced and healthy nutritional diet is of paramount importance in developing children.

Here’s the Importance of Nutritious Food for your Child’s Growth and Development –

Better Brain Function

A healthy diet really fuels the brain, making kids more likely to focus easily and perform well at school. Foods especially helpful for children’s brain function are the same ones that benefit adults. They include fatty fish, such as salmon; eggs, for the memory-supportive choline in the yolk; and peanut or almond butter, both of which supply vitamin E. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps the brain use glucose as fuel.

Affects Academic Performance

It seems bizarre to think that what your child consumes at, say, 4 months will affect their learning ability years later. Research has proven this true. Throughout their early childhood, it’s important to monitor your child’s nutrient intake for the sake of their later performance. For instance, breastfeeding appears to lead to higher IQ, while iron deficiency correlates with reduced cognition and achievement at school age. More obviously to the layman, since under-nourished children get sick more often, they miss more school and fail to keep up with peers. Research has made the link even clearer: school-age children who eat breakfast do better in tests than those that go without.

Improves the Moods of Children

At our child care center, we believe a healthy diet and plenty of fun outdoor physical activities can stabilize energy, sharpen the mind and improve the overall mood of children, which then allows them to maximize their potential inside and outside of child care, preschool, and school.

Avoiding Health Problems

Eating healthy foods can also reduce the health problems faced by children. Children served healthy foods regularly may experience fewer cavities. Many chronic health problems, such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer, have roots that trace back to an unhealthy childhood diet.

Cognitive Development

Good nutrition is important for cognitive development. Emerging science shows that many nutrients are needed for healthy brain function. Essential fatty acids – ALA ( Alpha-linoleic acid) & LA ( Linoleic Acid) are known to support brain development. Iron is an integral part of hemoglobin which supplies oxygen for the brain to function. Choline helps in the formation of neurotransmitter. Iodine helps in cognitive development.

In conclusion, here’s why you should never overlook nutrition when it comes to your child’s diet. In today’s competitive world, parents not only want their children to be intelligent but also healthy and fit. Preparations start even before conception such as keeping a check on the pre-pregnancy weight of the mother, iron and folic acid status of her body etc as these determine the pregnancy output.

At each stage, from infant to toddler to teenager, body’s demand for various nutrients change as children grow and develop through each stage differently. Not only is the caloric intake increased, but servings from each food group vary. Good nutrition is very crucial during the growing years due to rapid muscle and bone development in children as strong muscles allow us to stand, walk and even talk – functions that are vital for a good quality of life. Therefore, it’s important to maintain a good balance in the consumption of carbohydrates, protein, and fats as a part of their diet.

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