Getting Your 10-13 Year Old to Eat!

Children from aged tend to twelve are in a lot of danger of developing unhealthy eating habits. To prevent them from doing things like gulping food you need to make sure that the focus is on eating the meal.

Preteens have all of the feeding challenges and issues that younger play age children do including –
• Mindlessly eating in front of the television
• Skipping meals to socialize or because of emotional upsets
• Eating badly in school cafeterias
• Getting addicted to sugar

This is also an age at which your child might start to show signs of an eating disorder. It more affects teenagers but be wary of such behaviors as –
• Stopping eating and drinking
• Talking constantly about being skinny
• Developing strange eating habits like pushing the food around the plate and never consuming it
• Vomiting after eating
• Losing a great deal of weight

If you suspect your preteen girl is too obsessed with her weight get her help immediately. These disorders can result in everything from tooth loss to organ damage to brain damage if not treated early.
To persuade your teen to eat well you should –
• Discourage eating butter or the 'Golden Topping' found at movie theaters
• Take them grocery shopping with you to learn how to buy nutritional wholesome foods and stick to a grocery list
• Instill the 'never shop when you are hungry' rule
• Teach them how to read ingredient labels so they stay away from toxic
• Substituting teas, home-made lemonades and water for soft drinks
• Buying whole grains
• Eating more fish
• Keeping meats that are bought lean
• Encourage them to cook healthy foods like home made pizza and tacos
• Add more fruit to cereals
• Drink more smoothies full of vegetable or fruit combinations
• Make healthy cakes out of zucchini, chia and carrots

Finally, getting kids of this age to eat vegetables is all about access! If they can reach for a little bundle of celery and carrot sticks with a dip as easily as they can a bag of potato chips then you have won half the battle. Be sure to ready and easy for your child to consume at any time.

Instead of having the media work against you, you can use sources of information online to educate your preadocescent. Good sites for tweens between age ten and thirteen to explore are –

www.empowerme2B.com
This site helps motivate kids to be healthier by joining in polls and forums. It also offers practical tips for parents. It is run by the Alliance for a Healthier generation.

www.nourishinteractive.com
Run nurses and registered dietitians, this energetic site teems with online games for kids, plus blogs, newsletters, health-hint calendars, lesson plans, and worksheets for parents and educators.

Parenting Tips
, , , , , ,

The Nutritional Needs of Preteens

The preteen kid (a child who is between 10 and 13 years of age) has specific nutritional needs. Keeping the prêteen well nourished is essential if you want the child to do well in school.

Feed your child based on the USDA food pyramid and make sure that –

• Half of your children's intake of carbs is grains and that boys are getting 5 ounces and that girls are getting six ounces
• A variety of vegetables are consumed as a source of vitamins and fiber with girls over 10 needing 2 cups of vegetables a day and boys needing 2 and ½ cups of vegetables
• Girls and boys over ten should have between one and one and ½ cups of fruit a day.
• Both boys and girls should have three servings of dairy products every day
• Boys and girls both need five ounces of meat per day
• As is true with younger children, pretends may not be getting enough calcium. Calcium helps ensure the proper formation of bones and teeth.
• The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that children between the ages of 10 and 19 should be getting at least 1300 milligrams of calcium every day.

Children that are allergic to cow's milk protein, or vegan, will need to find an alternative source of calcium. Some great foods high in calcium include cheese, soy milk, rice milk, salmon and broccoli

Vitamin D is essential for proper calcium absorption. 200 IUs of vitamin D everyday will help calcium to be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, ensuring that your child gets the most out of his calcium intake.

As school age kids develop healthy foods adults eat, along with more vitamins and minerals to support growing bodies. This means whole grains (whole wheat, oats, barley, rice, millet, quinoa); a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables; calcium for growing bones (milk, yogurt, or substitutes if lactose intolerant); and healthy proteins (fish, eggs, poultry, lean meat, nuts, and seeds).

Healthy fats are also important at this age as the brain is developing. There are two types that your child should be consuming.

• Monounsaturated fats, from plant oils like canola oil, peanut oil, and olive oil, as well as avocados, and seeds
• Polyunsaturated fats, including Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, found in fatty fish, such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, and sardines, or in unheated sunflower, corn, soybean, and flaxseed oils, and walnuts.

Pre adolescents should also avoid feed with vegetable shortenings, some margarine, crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, baked goods, and other processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Parenting Tips
, , , , , ,