Parents want to make sure that their child is eating healthy foods. With all the nutrition research available it can be hard to determine what you should feed your child, and what foods you should limit. The Food Chart Pyramid for children, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, can help to answer that question, teaching both kids and parents what a healthy diet should entail for any particular child.
Function
The Food Chart Guide for Children is meant to illustrate the dietary guidelines for Americans as they apply to children. Many people find it easier to understand a visual representation of these recommendations, and thus find it easier to follow these recommendations when looking at an illustration such as the pyramid.
Design
The new design for the pyramid was created in 2005 after getting recommendations and feedback from the public as well as nutrition professionals. The different-colored stripes represent the different food groups, with the width of the stripe representing the relative amounts of how much you should eat from that food group. The person going up the stairs represents the need for exercise, and to take things one step at a time.
Significance
The new 2005 version of the Food Chart Pyramid for kids is interactive. You enter in the information on the age, height, weight and activity level of your child and you can get recommendations meant just for your child, rather than the previous generic recommendations. This will make it easier to figure out just how much of each food group you should be giving to keep your child at the proper weight.
Considerations
The Food Chart Pyramid normally tells you about how many servings of food you should feed to your child. This requires you to know exactly what a serving size is. You can look on the MyPyramid website to get information on just what constitutes a serving size since these might be smaller or larger than you think, and you don't want to give your child too much or too little of any type of food.
Expert Insight
Wendy Kane, a registered dietitian at the William W. Backus Hospital, recommends checking out the MyPyramid website for the advice to parents on getting your child to eat a healthy diet. It includes information on what you can say (or avoid saying) to convince your child to try foods that are good for her. There are even ideas for healthy meals that you can try. These are very valuable resources for parents.
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