Child Nutrition: Essential Nutrients for Healthy Growth & Development

Good nutrition helps kids pay attention and do better in school. Here's how to make sure children get the nutrients they need.

Things You'll Need

• Fruits And Vegetables
• Whole-grain Breakfast Cereals And Skim Milk
• Children's Multivitamins
• lean meats, fish, peanut butter and other protein-rich foods
• nonfat dairy products like milk, kefir and yogurt

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Instructions

• 1

  Start every day with breakfast. A quick bowl of cold whole-grain cereal or instant oatmeal with raisins is a nutritious start. Breakfast is a great time to add fiber, calcium, iron and zinc to your child's diet.

• 2

  Dish up two servings of protein-rich foods every day. Four- to six-year-olds need 24 grams of protein a day, and seven- to ten-year-olds need 28 grams.

• 3

  Add calcium and strength to kids' bones by offering three to four servings of calcium-rich foods every day. Children four- to eight-years-old need 800mg of calcium. Nine- to thirteen-year-olds need 1,300mg.

• 4

  Send kids out to play. A few minutes of sunshine on the skin produces vitamin D. Vitamin D is also found in milk. Kids need 5mcg of vitamin D per day.

• 5

  Dig into iron-rich lean meats, poultry, fish, dried beans and whole grains. Kids need 10mg of iron every day.

• 6

  Serve sweet, vitamin A-rich veggies. Carrots and sweet potatoes are some kids' favorites. Children ages four to six need 500mcg, and seven- to ten-year-olds need 700mcg of vitamin A per day.

• 7

  Fall back on fruit. Serve vitamin C-rich blueberries, oranges, kiwi, cantaloupe and strawberries. Kids need 45mg of vitamin C a day.