5 Parenting Tips to Maintain a Healthy Diet for Children

(for the age group between 5 - 16 years)

• Serve a variety of vegetables, whether fresh, canned, frozen, or dry. Each week, try to include a variety of veggies, such as dark green, red, and orange vegetables, beans and peas, starchy vegetables, and others.

• Instead of fruit juice, encourage your youngster to eat a variety of fresh, canned, frozen, or dried fruits. If your child drinks juice, make sure it's 100% juice with no added sugars and restrict the amount he or she consumes. Look for canned fruit that is labeled as "light" or "packed in its own juice," indicating that it contains little or no added sugar. Keep in mind that a quarter cup of dried fruit is equivalent to one cup of fresh fruit. Dried fruits can add extra calories if consumed in excess.

• Provide foods with no added sugar or sugar alternatives. Sugars that have been refined (sucrose, glucose-fructose, white sugar), honey, molasses, syrups, and brown sugar should be avoided. They all contain similar amounts of calories and contribute to tooth decay.

• As often as possible, provide your youngster with healthful, low-sodium foods. Sodium is commonly found in processed and pre-packaged meals. Too much sodium in childhood can lead to a taste for salty foods later in adulthood, which has been linked to obesity and/or disease.

• Encourage your child to consume low-fat or fat-free dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cheese, and fortified soy beverages.