Top tips for feeding your child

All parents want their children to eat a healthy, balanced diet. But it's easier said than done. Kath Megaw, a clinical paediatric dietician gives us some tips on how to feed your child and keep them healthy.

To begin with she recommends:

• Three meals a day with a between-meal snack – approximately 1½ hours between previous snack and meal.
• Generally meals should not last longer than 30 minutes.
• Encourage eating meals together as a family.
• Avoid giving large servings of fluids just before meals.
• Increase the energy and nutrient density of meals/snacks and of between meal drinks.
• Increase food exposure.
• Introduce theme nights or restaurant themes with foods that appeal.
• Sneak in nutrients and energy.
• Define food responsibility.

Breakfast ideas
For the not-so-hungry:

• Fruit smoothie or drinking yoghurt.
• Add some dried fruit to cereal and milk.

Need something quick:

• Fresh fruit and yoghurt.
• Seed, granola or breakfast bars.

Can be eaten on the run:

• Cheese or peanut butter sandwich.

For those fibre-fighters:

• Increase the appeal of wholegrain cereals and oats porridge by adding chopped fruit, nuts and seeds.

Carbohydrates solutions

• Ensure all meals and snacks include foods that contain carbohydrates.
• Encourage healthy, nutrient-rich carbohydrates.
• Increase the nutrient of a meal/snack by including a dairy product, small amounts of fat and protein and/or fruit and vegetables.

Examples of low GI meals/snacks :

• Breakfast: whole wheat cereal, oat bran, high fibre bran.
• Lunch: nutrient-rich breads (pumpernickel or seed loaf) with a suitable topping.
• Dinner: pasta (durum wheat), or long grain and wild rice, sweet potato, most vegetables, legumes.

Eating to prevent anaemia

• Red meat in your child’s diet three to four times per week.
• Regular intake of chicken, fish and eggs.
• Leafy green vegetables, iron fortified cereals and porridge and dried beans with vitamin C-rich foods to improve absorption.
• Iron-rich snacks.

Help prevent folate deficiency anaemia by including:

• Leafy green vegetable.
• Legumes.
• Organ meat.