Healthy Choices
Creating a healthy life for your two-year-old is a matter of making choices that encourage physical activity and a diet of nutritious foods, as well as fostering his cognitive and emotional development.
Many parents don't realize that what a child eats for breakfast, for example, can affect his energy level and mood throughout the day. Moreover, studies have shown that children who eat a healthy breakfast do better in school. And even if your two-year-old isn't going to preschool, he is busy learning all day long. If he's hungry or tired because he hasn't eaten healthy food, that in turn affects how he thrives during early childhood.
Making healthy choices may seem like a lot of effort, but there are two additional rewards other than experiencing your child's good health. First, if you focus on promoting a healthy life, chances are you will live more healthfully too. In fact, many parents have found their own eating and exercise habits changing as a result of caring for their child's well-being.
The second reward is that healthy foods are less expensive than highly processed treats, and healthy children need less medical care. It saves money to live a healthy life.
Nutrients
Children need a balanced diet, which means eating a proper amount and variety of nutritious food. The nutrients people require contain a combination of protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
At a basic level, protein builds muscle and tissue, carbohydrates provide the body with energy, and fats not only provide long-lasting energy but protect various body parts and help the brain to function properly. Children need all of these essential nutrients and never should be put on diets that mimic the eating fads of adults.
Fact
A balanced diet includes a variety of food types, such as meats, fish, poultry, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. It is less important to worry about nutrients than to be sure you are offering your two-year-old all types of food. Even if he just takes a bite or even refuses it, at least you've given him the opportunity to try something.
Children need balanced diets not just for protein, carbohydrates, and fats but to be assured of eating a range of vitamins and minerals, both of which play a pivotal role in helping the body to function and grow properly.
Whole Foods
One of the most effective ways to ensure that your child is eating nutritiously is to give him whole foods, which are unprocessed foods. These are foods without chemicals, extra fats and sugars, and other unhealthy ingredients. Try substituting the following whole foods for popular processed foods in your two-year-old's diet:
Processed Food |
Whole Food Replacement |
Fruit roll-ups |
Apples, strawberries, bananas |
French fries |
Baked or mashed potatoes |
Chicken Nuggets |
Baked chicken breast |
White bread |
Whole-wheat bread |
Chips |
Carrot sticks, sliced vegetables |
The whole foods listed above are not only more nutritious, having more vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but they have fewer calories.
