Leading a fit, healthy life begins with a healthy diet as a child. This means eating nutritious food at optimum daily amounts in order to avoid malnutrition and obesity, explains MedlinePlus, a service of the National Institutes of Health. Your nutritional needs vary as you age, so you will need to regulate your intake of calcium, calories, carbohydrates, fat, fiber, protein and sodium, MayoClinic.com notes. Your gender will also affect your nutritional needs.
Benefits of a Healthy Diet
A well-balanced diet helps a child stay healthy. Eating healthfully means your bones are able to store calcium at optimum amounts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes. Receiving the right amounts of nutrients from your diet makes your skin glow and keeps your energy levels up. By eating nutritious food you lower your risk of developing dental caries. You also lower your risk of developing conditions such as osteoporosis or diabetes in your adult years. More importantly a healthy diet means you will grow and develop at a normal rate. Regardless of your age or gender, you should generally limit your intake of junk food and eat a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables. You will benefit from eating five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, MedlinePlus explains. Instead of eating frying your food, consider broiling, grilling or steaming it instead.
Recommended Daily Diet Intake
You will need to eat between 1,000 to 1,400 calories per day between the ages of 2 to 3, regardless of your gender. Your daily caloric is between 1,200 to 1,800 calories between the ages of 4 to 8 if you're a girl. By the time you are between 14 and 18 years old your daily caloric intake should be between 1,800 to 2,400, depending on your growth rate and overall activity level. You will need to eat between 2,200 to 3,200 calories daily between the ages of 14 to 18 if you are a boy, MayoClinic.com explains. Your body needs 5 to 20 percent of your daily caloric intake to be composed of protein between the ages of 2 to 3. This percentage increases to 10 to 30 percent protein by the time you are between 14 to 18 years old regardless of your gender. You need mostly 45 to 60 percent carbohydrate in your diet between the ages of 2 to 3. You will need about 38 g of fiber and 1,300 mg of calcium daily by the time you are 18 years old. You can generally draw these nutrients from fruits, vegetables, lean meat, cereals and whole-grains, MedlinePlus notes. Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, and consider consuming lean meat instead of fattier kinds. Water is also preferable to sodas because it won't elevate your sugar levels and also helps your body expel waste.
Malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when you are unable to eat the nutrients your body needs to remain healthy. Malnutrition can occur over both long and short durations of time in varying degrees of severity, KidsHealth.org explains. In addition to illness, malnutrition can stunt growth and effect your overall physical and mental development.
Childhood Obesity
Obesity is the result of eating too many calories without expending them through physical activities. The prevalence of childhood obesity has become three times more common over the past 30 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains. The health risks caused by obesity can cause children and adolescents to develop conditions normally associated with adulthood such as diabetes and heart disease. Obesity can even elevate the risk of developing cancer among the young.
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