An unhealthy diet can lead to numerous health consequences for a child. One of the best things you can do for your children is to serve them a variety of healthy, nutrient-dense foods at meals and snacks, even if you have limited time. A healthy diet gives kids the proper nutrition during this critical time of growth and learning, and it teaches them good eating behaviors at an early age.
Breakfast
It is well understood that eating a healthy breakfast helps a child to be more focused and alert at school. There are several quick and healthy meals you can serve a child for breakfast. An example is oatmeal with raisins and nuts, such as sliced almonds or walnuts. Serve with slices of bananas, apples or oranges. Other quick and healthy ideas are bananas with peanut butter, scrambled eggs with whole grain toast, and whole grain waffles or pancakes made with mashed bananas or pumpkin.
Lunch
An example meal plan for lunch is a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole-grain bread with sliced bananas. Some stores offer pumpkin butter, which is a great alternative to honey or jelly. Serve with a glass of low-fat milk, almond milk or rice milk. If your child gets tired of sandwiches, try making a tortilla wrap with peanut butter and pumpkin butter. Simply spread the peanut butter and pumpkin butter on a tortilla and roll up.
Dinner
Dinner provides a good opportunity to serve healthy foods to your child and to be a role model for healthy eating. An example of a quick and healthy meal plan for dinner is burritos served with corn. Give your child a variety of healthy options to add to the burrito, such as brown rice, low-fat cheese, black beans, avocado, tomatoes and chicken. You can prepare all these foods quickly; you can buy brown rice and chicken already cooked, cheese already shredded and canned black beans. You can also use these healthy foods to make tacos or enchiladas.
Snacks
Snacks are a great way to incorporate additional healthy foods into your child's daily meal plan. Quick and healthy snacks are yogurt, cheese and whole-grain crackers, trail mix, whole-grain cereal and cut-up fruits or vegetables dipped in peanut butter. Fruits and vegetables are great snacks because they provide your child's body with energy and key nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fiber and water. Trail mix is a fun snack because your child can make her own using her favorite combination of nuts, dried fruits and dry cereal.
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