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Questions about specific food
items need to be taken in the context of the person's total
dietary and exercise picture. A nutritionist friend of mine
was sitting next to a woman at a dinner party who declined
to eat the chicken because she had read in the newspaper that
adults eat too much protein and this is detrimental to our
health. My friend turned to her and asked, "But how do
you know how much protein you are eating?"
We also need to look at your
question in the context of your children's eating habits.
Not knowing what those are, I can give you only general guidelines.
You should not restrict fat in
the diet of children less than two years of age. Breast milk
is 3.8 % fat and that's exactly what babies and toddlers need.
The nervous system needs fat to develop properly. In addition,
if the fat content in a food item is too low, then the concentration
of the other nutrients, such as protein and calcium, may be
too high for very young children's kidneys to handle. And
when fat in the diet is either too high or too low, calcium
is not properly absorbed. For all these reasons, children
should drink full-fat milk until the age of two but they should
not exceed three cups of milk a day.
Some people believe that limiting
fat for children over two may prevent cardio-vascular disease
later on in life. This has not been shown to be true except
where there is a known family history of cardio-vascular disease
or risk factors such as high cholesterol. Assuming a varied,
healthy diet, there is no reason to restrict children to low-fat
milk if the children are of normal weight and there is no
family history of cardio-vascular disease.
STRUCTURED
SNACKS
The level of fat in children's
diets should be considered from about the age of six or seven,
but this goes beyond what kind of milk they drink. It's a
good idea to get your children into the habit of not snacking
on high-fat snacks like potato chips or Cheetos in front of
the television, and to make sure they get enough physical
activity. It's important to have a framework for snacks. For
example, you can tell them they can have ice cream three times
a week during the summer and once a week they can go to the
store and buy whatever snack they want. Some families make
candy a special weekend treat and don't allow it during the
week.
Of course you should make sure
that your children eat a healthy, balanced diet in general
and that means following the food pyramid:
- Six to eleven servings of
bread, grain or cereal including pasta; (one slice or bread
or a half a cup of rice is a serving - less for younger
children);
- Three to five servings of
vegetables;
- Two to four servings of fruit,
and I would recommend including a source of vitamin C and
a source of vitamin A (e.g. dark-green leafy or orange fruits
and vegetables have vitamin A; vitamin C is found in all
citrus fruits as well as strawberries, melon, broccoli,
cabbage, and peppers);
- Two to three servings of
milk, yogurt or cheese;
- Two to three servings of
protein such as meat, poultry, fish, beans or nuts (a serving
of meat is about 2-3 oz. of cooked meat i.e. a small hamburger
patty.)
- Fats, oils and sugars should
be eaten sparingly. You only need a couple of tablespoons
a day of vegetable fat to fill your dietary needs.
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