A well-balanced diet filled with nutritious food choices is important for your preschooler because it helps promote healthy development as well as providing her with the energy she needs to play, KidsHealth states. Offering your child several different kinds of food can encourage her to eat many different healthy foods. Many preschool-age children are resistant to certain foods. Nevertheless, keep offering nutritious choices and chances are that she may change her mind.
Milk
Low-fat or skim milk should be a part of your child's daily diet. Milk is high in protein, calcium and vitamin D, all essential nutrients for proper growth and development. A preschooler should drink about two cups of milk each day to benefit from these important nutrients, Healthy Children recommends. If your preschooler is resistant to drinking milk, include other dairy products for similar benefits. Cheese and yogurt contain calcium and protein just as milk does. Some dairy products, other than milk, don't contain vitamin D, so make sure you speak to your child's doctor to determine whether he needs a supplement if he doesn't drink enough milk.
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables contain many of the vitamins and minerals your preschooler needs to maintain good health. Many preschoolers are willing to eat chunks of fresh produce. But if your child isn't interested, you can offer them in a variety of kid-pleasing ways. Try making a fruit salad with two or three kinds of fruit or thread cut-up fruit onto kabob sticks. Slice larger fruits and use small cookie cutters to cut out entertaining shapes, KidsHealth suggests. Offer some applesauce or yogurt so your preschooler can dip her fruit. Serve vegetables with dips such as peanut butter, salsa or guacamole. You can serve several kinds of chopped vegetables with low-fat salad dressing, as well.
Cereal
Many breakfast cereals are low in sugar and offer several different vitamins and minerals in each serving. Cereals made with whole grains supply several grams of fiber, as well. Healthy Children recommends serving cereal with milk and a sliced fruit at breakfast time. You can offer cereal dry at snack time, as well. Read the nutrition label on your child's favorite cereal to make sure it has five or fewer grams of sugar. The nutrition label will also list the amount of vitamins and minerals that one serving of the cereal contains. Add dried fruit or nuts to the cereal to create a healthy trail mix filled with several different nutrients.
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