Set up a meal schedule so that your child’s meals occur at a predictable time each day.

Before learning about what your child should eat, you need to decide when your child will eat. Your child should not eat whenever they think of food, whenever they happen to be hungry, or whenever they see some food nearby. They should eat on a schedule. Having a schedule for eating means that you do not allow any eating when it’s not the right time. Your child will not learn good eating habits if you do not have a schedule for eating.

Why schedules are so useful

When meals always come at predictable times, your child will learn what it means to feel hungry and what it means to feel full. They learn how to eat the right amount of food at each meal. They won’t over-eat or under-eat. They will find the ‘just right’ amount of food for each meal. Eating on a schedule makes it easier to teach your child how to eat healthy foods. It’s harder to teach children how to eat nutritious foods when eating does not occur on a schedule. With your help, they can even learn about which foods give them the most energy for the longest amount of time. The first step is to teach your child to eat meals on a schedule.

Schedules help with socializing at meal time

In addition to the health benefits of eating on a schedule, the schedule also allows your child to learn about socializing at meals. When you have a schedule, eating can become a social event that’s enjoyable. Enjoyable meals make teaching easier. Enjoyable meals also enhance wellness. The eating schedule should be your first objective when trying to teach your child good eating habits.

Ideas you can use to set up a schedule for meals:

1. Let your child know when breakfast, lunch, and dinner will occur. Schedule these meals by the clock. Do not vary the time, especially when you are first teaching your child.

2. Schedule the meals so that they last 20 minutes. You can stretch out the time to 30 minutes if your child is a slow eater or if you are enjoying socializing together.

3. Use an analogue clock to teach your child about the schedule for meals. An analogue clock has a big hand and a small hand. Use the small hand to show your child when meals will occur. Use the big hand to show your child how long meals last.

Don’t worry about portion sizes or nutrition right away. Set up the schedule first.

Portion sizes

Whether your child is overweight or underweight, you do not need to control portion sizes. Your child will decide how much food to eat during meals. The schedule limits how much they are allowed to eat. Children can only have three meals per day. They have to finish eating each meal in 15 to 30 minutes. You will probably notice that your child does not eat at each meal. Or, you will notice that their portion sizes change, because the foods are healthier. Just notice.

You do not need to make sure that your child eats a certain portion of food, and you do not need to spoon-feed your child. Let your child decide how much food to eat. See the Special Sections on underweight and overweight children if you still have concerns, or speak with your pediatric health care provider.

Healthy food choices.

When first teaching about the schedule, you can leave the food choices up to your child. This means that your child can allow your child their ‘non-healthy’ food choices at first, so that they get used to the schedule. Later, you will teach them about healthy food choices.

Serve your child whatever you and the family are eating

Once your child gets used to eating on a schedule, you can then teach your child to eat whatever food you are serving the family for that meal. This means that you will no longer prepare a separate meal for your child. If you want, serve the family some of your child’s ‘non-healthy’ food choices at first. Over time, eliminate the ‘non-healthy’ foods and replace them with other foods.

Read the Special Section healthy food choices.

When you read the section on making healthy food choices, you’ll learn more about foods that are both healthy and kid-friendly.

Set up a schedule for snacks.

Your child will eat their snacks at a predictable time each day. Here are some ideas you can use to set up a schedule for snacks:

1. Snacks should occur once or twice daily.

2. Snacks should occur at a time that’s scheduled by the clock.

3. Using an analogue clock, show your child when snacks will occur

Portion sizes.

Do take control over portion sizes for snacks. Snacks are limited to one piece or one portion of food. This is different from meals. Even though children are allowed to eat as much as they want during the meal, they are only allowed one serving of food for snacks.

Example snack sizes. A snack consists of one piece of fruit, one carrot, one granola bar, or one half peanut butter sandwich. These are examples. Your child can eat less than this, but should not eat more. If your child is still hungry after a snack, they will have to wait for the next meal before they are allowed to eat again. As time goes by, they will learn to eat enough at meal times so that they don’t need to eat big snacks.

Choose healthy foods for your child’s meals.

Once your child is used to eating meals on a schedule, it will be much easier to teach your child how to eat healthy foods. The schedule helps children learn to make healthy food choices.

Here is some general information about healthy foods. There is more information in the Special Section on Healthy Food Choices.

Healthy foods are mostly not processed foods.

Foods that are not processed are foods that are not yet ready to eat. You have to cook them or prepare them for eating. Even though it takes more time to prepare your own foods, it’s almost always healthier. Healthy eating means that you have to do more food preparation yourself. It takes practice. Try making food ‘from scratch’ once a week, and then build up your habit and make food ‘from scratch’ more often.

Processed foods are often not that healthy.

Foods that are ready for eating include frozen dinners, frozen foods that are already cooked, and most snacking foods such as chips, ice cream, and cakes. They are all processed foods. They usually have too much sugar, salt, and fat. Sometimes they also have preservatives or chemicals. This means that they are less healthy. When you prepare your food yourself, you usually end up eating less salt, sugar, and fat, and preservatives.

A healthy diet balances slow energy foods with quick energy foods.

Slow energy foods. You want to make sure that you offer slow energy foods to your child. Slow energy foods include vegetables, meats, and whole grains. They take longer to digest. You won’t notice the energy they release until 20 to 30 minutes have passed. When you first eat them, it might feel as though you did not eat anything, even though you did. Fast energy foods, which are often processed foods, don’t take that long to digest.

Quick energy foods. Fast energy foods include foods made with white flour or sugar. Pasta, breads made with white flour, cakes and muffins are mostly quick-energy foods. They release their energy quickly.

Mixed slow and quick energy foods. Fruits and fatty foods lie somewhere in between slow and fast energy foods. You’ll notice a big difference when you include slow-energy foods in your meals. Slow-energy foods give you energy for longer. Fast-energy foods leave you feeling hungry more quickly. Your child might not be able to notice these differences, but can learn about these differences if you teach them. Once you notice how slow-energy and fast-energy foods keep your hunger in control, you can start to teach your child to notice them too.

Strategy: Mix slow energy with fast energy foods.

A slow-energy food-eating strategy. One way to eat more healthy foods is to set up an eating strategy. For example, at each meal, it’s best to eat low calorie and slow energy foods first. Eat high calorie and quick energy foods second. If you fill up on slow energy foods first, you’ll crave high energy foods less. Be sure to look at the Special Section entitled “Healthy foods” for more ideas

General information about how to make your meal plan child-friendly.

Most parents struggle to get their kids to eat vegetables, whole grains, and even proteins- All of the slow-energy foods that are so important for a healthy diet. Here are some things to think about:

1. Children often don’t like foods with strong flavors or odors. Be sure to ask your kids about their preferences. They can help you in making food choices that work for them.

2. Children often don’t like foods that take too long to chew and swallow, especially when they are still young. See if your kids respond differently if you chop the foods or make them into smoothies. Chewing is important for dental health, so don’t take away all foods that require chewing. On the other hand, if your child eats more fruits, vegetables, and grains if you blend them or break them down into smaller pieces, then it’s probably worth chopping them up or grinding them, so that they are easier to eat.

Ways to make foods more kid-friendly

Examples of kid-friendly fruits and vegetables. Corn, celery, carrots, cucumber are vegetable choices that are typically more kid-friendly because they have a mild flavor. Broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are very healthy but not always preferred by children because the flavor is stronger. Raw is better than cooked, as long as it does not take too long to chew. You can hide vegetables, raw or cooked, when you serve them in pasta sauce or when you mix them with noodles or white rice. Over time, you can introduce larger pieces of fruits and vegetables and hide them less often inside other foods.

Examples of kid-friendly grains. Grains do not have a strong flavor, but they can require a lot of chewing if you serve them whole. When you cook whole grains for longer, they become easier to chew. You can also blend grains to break them down into smaller pieces. You can buy flour made out of different grains. Use that flour when you make muffins or pancakes. You can put pureed or shredded vegetables into muffins, pancakes or other kinds of baking. You can mix whole grains with white rice or noodles. In all of these examples, you are mixing quick-energy with slow-energy foods. Over time, try to increase the amount of slow-energy foods in your child’s diet. Give less pasta and white rice, give more whole grains or whole kernel rice.

Kid-friendly Meat, fish, and eggs. Some people say that a diet that’s 100% plant-based is the healthiest diet. That said, if your child is a picky eater, you might want to serve them some animal proteins. It can be hard to find enough plant-based proteins for your child’s overall nutritional needs. You’ll have to find the right balance for you, your child, and your family.

Most children eat meat successfully, though you may need to cut the meat into small pieces if your child is still young. Fish and eggs are usually also acceptable to most children. Keep the total amount of animal products to less than 35% of your child’s diet. Even 25% animal products or less is sufficient for a healthy diet.

The overall healthiest diet for your child.

The purpose of the IEP for Home can only share some good ideas about healthy food choices in general. What’s right for your child and your family will vary.

The recommendations listed above were made for children living in Western countries, where there’s a big problem with overweight. Most children will feel better with the diet suggestions listed above.

The suggestions above might not work for children who are underweight, or for children who have a medical condition. If you are not sure what’s right for your child and your family, be sure to speak with your child’s pediatric practitioner. Also be sure to speak with your kids! Bring them along for a grocery shopping trip. Or, ask them to help you prepare the meal that you are going to eat together.

Choose healthy foods for your child’s snacks.

Most kids want to eat some sugary or fatty foods each day . May adults are the same. When you first start thinking about changing your child’s diet to include healthy foods, be sure to remember Objectives #1 and 2: The first step towards making healthy food choices is to schedule the times when your child is allowed to eat. Snacks should only occur at their scheduled time.

Once you have set up the schedule for meals, you can schedule times when your child is allowed to eat high-sugar and high-fat snacks. Once you control when your children eat sugar- and fat-containing foods, you can start to control how often they eat those foods. You can limit foods with a lot of fat, sugar and salt to once a day.

As your child gets more skilled at eating healthy foods, you’ll be able to reduce high-sugar and high-fat snacks even more. For example, you can reduce then to weekends only, once a week only, or only on special occasions.

Here are some examples:

1. Soda and cake are never a necessary part of your child’s diet. You can reduce soda and cake to special occasions only. Start doing that right away.

2. You can offer sugary snacks if they are made with some slow-energy grains. An example is cookies made with almond flour, or another type of flour that’s not white flour. You can offer these low-sugar snacks once daily. After a while, reduce them to once weekly or less.

3. Offer fresh or dried fruits instead of cookies or candies. You could offer these daily.

4. Gradually replace all sugar-containing snacks with snacks that are slow-energy. For example, carrot sticks are a good snack that’s slow-energy.

Buying tip: Quick energy or slow energy?

It’s kind of obvious but worth saying: The less high-sugar snacks your child eats, the more low-sugar, slow-energy or healthy foods your child will eat. Reduce sugar, increase your child’s appetite, and then see see what foods they end up eating!

Consider the following:

1. If you are buying pre-packaged foods, pay attention to how much quick energy and how much slow energy you can expect from the snack.

2. If the first ingredients on the package label are white flour or sugar, then you have a quick-energy snack in your hands.

3. Sometimes, the food industry will tell you that their product includes fiber or whole grains. If there’s only a tiny amount, you are probably still purchasing a high-sugar snack. If the package label says that the snack is made with almond flour or oat flour and has some added sugar, then you have a mixed slow- and quick-energy snack. On the other hand, if sugar is the first ingredient, then the amount of almond or oat flour no longer matters that much: It’s probably a quick energy food.

4. If the snack contains no white flour or sugar, it might be a slow energy snack.

The best way to know if a food is slow energy or quick energy is to start to eat more foods that are slow-energy foods. You will start to notice the difference. It will takes some days or weeks before you notice how slow-energy foods make you feel. You’ll also notice that most of the pre-prepared foods in your grocery store won’t give you energy slowly. Once you realize the difference, you’ll stop buying quick energy foods and you won’t be fooled by the package labeling. In fact, you might start preparing your own foods instead.

Choose a range of food flavors and textures for the picky eater.

Before you decide that your chid is a ‘picky eater’ and needs special considerations, read the information shown here.

Information about “normal” picky eating habits of children

Most children are picky eaters. They need to get used to new food flavors and textures and don’t always know how to enjoy different kinds of foods. If they never learn to try out new foods, they will stay picky. Don’t think that your child’s picky eating behaviors are due to something that’s wrong or different about your child. A clinician would have to confirm with you if your child is truly unable to tolerate certain food flavors or textures.

Most of the children who end up being labelled as “picky” eaters simply haven’t developed good eating habits yet. These children are not born to be picky eaters. They have just not developed good eating habits yet. Objectives 1 to 4 are the right steps to take for these “normally picky” eaters.

Review the prior objectives. Most children who are picky eaters show the following:

1. Not yet eating on a schedule

2. Eat excessive snacking foods containing sugar and fat

3. Graze all day long, and get picky about what they are willing to eat. Children who ‘graze’ all day tend to be more picky about what they eat. They don’t ever feel hungry enough to try out new foods.

Why do some children end up becoming picky eaters?

One of the reasons that poor eating habits persist is because parents of the picky eater only ever see their child eating small portions of food. They become concerned that their child is not eating enough, and they end up giving their child preferred foods (usually, high sugar and high fat foods). They are not comfortable challenging their child to eat new foods. When they offer new foods or healthier foods, their child continues to refuse and ends up not eating at all.

As discussed earlier in this chapter, hunger is the first step to trying out new foods. Start by first establishing a good eating schedule. As the child gains hunger, there’s a much higher chance that they will try out new foods.

Now that you have been reminded of how to build good eating habits, you can review strategies for the ‘true picky eater.’

Some of the strategies listed below, for the ‘true’ picky eater, might be useful for the child who has not yet gotten used to new foods. Check with your pediatric health care practitioner to find out which strategies are best. Your child’s normal growth is the first and most important aspect to any nutritional program. Most children who seem to eat poorly are still growing normally. Make sure your health care provider agrees with you and with the suggestions listed here.

Information about the “true” picky eater who may have sensory sensitivities

Some children truly are picky eaters. They often have oral sensitivities. What this usually means is that they have oral sensitivities. They struggle much more than other children to accept new foods or non-preferred foods. They might find the taste or the smell too strong. You might need to go slowly in trying out new foods with your child. Follow the steps below and see if they are helpful

1. Make a list of the foods that your child eats. It’s important to do this step well. You might be surprised. Sometimes, there’s more variety in your child’s food choices than you at first thought. Even if you are accurate about the few foods that your child accepts to eat, write out the list. It will help you to think of alternatives.

2. Share the list with your child. If your child has good language skills (they can listen and understand what you say and can tell you their thoughts and opinions), make sure that they know which foods are their preferred foods. When you start to make changes to their preferred foods, you will want them to understand why your choices will probably work. See next paragraph.

3. Find foods that are similar to the foods that your child already eats. For example, if your child eats only a certain brand of chicken nuggets, find another brand. Or, make the chicken yourself, using fresh chicken. If your child only eats a certain brand of yogurt, find another brand. Or, find other dairy products that could replace the yoghurt. If your child only eats pasta, find another shape for the noodles, another brand of noodles, a brand of noodles made with non-wheat flours, or change noodles for bread.

4. Start with very small bites. Using your new list of foods, try out by giving small portions only. Your child should eat meals and snacks on a schedule, and start the meal with one of the new foods that you’ve selected.

5. Fast or slow? Here is where you will have to be creative: Decide how fast or how slowly you will go. Typically developing children can be served new foods, and will usually refuse. As they get hungry enough over the coming hours or the coming day or two, they will start to change their eating habits. The picky eater with oral sensitivities, on other hand, will not be able to change their diet so quickly. They will need to try out a spoonful at a time, maybe as little as one spoonful of new foods per meal or snack. Hopefully, they can chew and swallow more than one spoonful. Or, they can be asked to swallow one spoonful of new foods per meal, and then two spoonfuls of new foods per meal the following week, etc. You should see definite progress within a few weeks of persistent trials and new food exposures. Only offer preferred foods once they have tried a new food first.

Consult with professionals if you are not making good progress, or for general advice about how quickly you can expect your child to make progress.

Information about the extremely picky eater.

Extremely picky eaters also tend to find the taste and smell of foods too strong. However, they might gag or vomit when they try out new foods. They might not be able to tolerate a spoonful of new foods. They might start to refuse to eat altogether. It’s rare that these children actually lose weight, but if they are already underweight, you may wish to go slowly. You may need to train these children very very slowly. For example, you may need to put new food on their plate, without asking them to put it into their mouth. You might ask them to put the new food to their lips, or in their mouth, and then spit it out again. It’s rare that children have to undergo this kind of training to tolerate new foods, but it does happen from time to time. When the training starts out with very small steps, you will probably need to work on taste- and texture-training for a year or more before you see progress.

Children who have the degree of sensitivities usually have a medical condition and are likely to need professional supervision of their diet. Be sure to consult with your child’s health care practitioner to learn more about a balanced diet for the very picky eater. Health care professionals can help you to select the right pace for training your child. They can also help decide how often to check your child’s growth. They can help you decide how many calories are needed per day to assure good growth.

What do I do if my child does not eat, or seems to not eat enough?—

Portion size is not worth worrying about.

Many parents express concern that their child ‘does not eat.’ This is very rarely true. Children eat if they are offered food. They might not eat as much as you think they are supposed to eat. They might even skip some meals. But that’s not the same thing as ‘not eating.’

Your child is allowed to skip meals. Sometimes, they will only eat one or two meals per day. As long as you follow the eating schedule, and offer your child food at predictable times, they will show you what’s the right portion size for them.

Growth is more important to worry about.

Instead of worrying about portion size, focus on your child’s growth. Your pediatric health care provider can help you here. Pediatric health care practitioners are usually not concerned about the child’s food portion sizes. They are more interested in your child’s growth.

Make sure that your child’s growth is normal. Ask you pediatric health care provider to show you your child’s growth curve. It’s the best way to know that your child is eating enough.

Children who “don’t eat” do tend to eat a lot of snacks

Very often, children who ‘don’t eat’ at meal times eat a lot of snacks. They tell their parents they are hungry when they want snacking foods. Or, they go to the cupboard where the snacks are located and they help themselves.

If your child gets hungry before the next meal, don’t offer any snacks or ‘in-between’ meals. Just offer a meal, at the time that you chose for meals. Making your child wait until the next snack or meal is part of the learning process. It helps them to learn about what it means to feel hungry. It also teaches them to eat enough food so that they feel full. Gradually, they learn what’s the “just right” amount of food for them.

Schedule meals and snacks.

Don’t be flexible with the schedule when you are first teaching your child. The consistency of the schedule is needed to train them to notice when they are hungry. The consistent schedule also lets them know for how long they feel full. You will need to have a precise schedule for several weeks. It will help your child learn this new skill.

If you are worried that your child usually gets too hungry in between meals, change the timing of the whole schedule. If needed, you can add a snack. But don’t be fooled. Your child might be telling you they are hungry because they want a snack, not because they want a meal. The point is for them to learn how to manage their hunger by eating the right portion size.

When can I loosen up on the schedule?

Young children, and children with disabilities, may need a rigid schedule over the long term. It will help them maintain good nutrition and will also help with their self-regulation skills. Don’t give up on the schedule too quickly. That said, once your child and your family have established good eating habits in general, it’s OK to loosen up on the schedule. You might find that you don’t want to do that, especially if you find that you and your chid get cranky. Discover for yourself what will work best for you.

Level of support.

You should not provide much support when teaching your child how to eat. You will not need to use any physical support. Your child has to eat on their own. Do not spoon feed your child. If your child is not able to use a spoon, you can use hand-over-hand support to feed them. Make sure they choose how many spoonfuls of food they will eat. Your child mostly just needs visual support. They need to see you eating with them. You will have to make sure that screens are off. If you eat later, just sit next to them. That’s enough support. If you like, you can provide some words of encouragement. You can make suggestions for which food to eat first. Or, tell them what the foods taste like and why they are good to eat. Then, talk about other things. After 15 to 20 minutes, the meal will be over and you can clear the food away.

What do I do if my child eats too much?

Large portion sizes.

Some parents who worry that their child eats too much. Excess eating and overweight are a very important concern too. The schedule can help here as well. Here are some suggestions for you to consider. They will help you manage excess eating and overweight. Be sure to ask your pediatric health care provider about what’s best for your child.

Eliminate snacks.

If your child’s pediatric practitioner agrees that your child has excess weight, you can eliminate snacks and only allow eating at meal times. Focus on objective #1, and set up a schedule for meals. Don’t have a daily schedule for snacks. instead, offer snacks (especially, high calorie snacks such as snacks with sugar and fat) on weekends only, or on special days only. When you eliminate daily snacks, your child might end up eating more at meal times. That’s OK initially. Don’t try to control portion sizes. Your child needs to learn what’s the “just right” amount of food for them.

Reduce calories for the whole family.

The best way to control excess eating in your child is to control excess eating for everybody in the family. Usually, children eat too much food because they are eating too many snacks. They same is often true for other family members. Usually, children don’t reduce their eating and their snacking unless the whole family reduces their eating and snacking.

The first step you will need to take is to stop buying snacking foods during your grocery shopping trip. If there are no cookies, chips, or soda in your house, your child will automatically have fewer calories to fill up on. It can be a big change for everybody. If it’s too hard to stop snacking all at once, try stopping slowly.

Examples:

1. Only allow one snack per day instead or two or more snacks.

2. Don’t allow any snacks during TV time or screen time.

3. Change the snacks and only offer low-calorie foods like vegetable sticks.

4. Only buy snacking foods once per month, not every week. There will be days here and there when there are no snacking foods in the house.

5. Gradually, get rid of snacks (and snacking foods) altogether. It could take you several weeks to make this change. But each time you reduce snacking foods in your house, you are eliminating extra calories that your child does not need.

6. Replace snack times with other activities. Screen time and snacking often go together. If your child spends a lot of time on the screen, they are more likely to eat more calories. If possible, remove your child from screens and take them away from food. You may wish to look at the Content Page on Schedules for more ideas.

7. Replace screen time with activities. Eliminating screen time is easiest if you leave the house go to for a walk, or if your child participates in an after-school program where no snacks are served. If your child goes to an after-school program, ask the after-school program staff to limit or reduce snacks there. Sports activities are an even better way to get kids away from food- and burn up their excess calories.

Pay attention to why you are eating foods.

Many people eat foods because it makes them feel better emotionally. They use food as a reward or as a comfort, and don’t eat because they’re hungry. Pay attention to how you and your child use food. Are you and your child eating because you are hungry and because it’s time to eat? Or, are you eating because you or your child had a stressful day and need some comfort? It’s important for you and your child to find a way to relax, reduce stress, and get comfort when needed. Use conversations or talk about your feelings with family members or friends. Don’t use food to help reduce your child’s stress, worries, or sad feelings. Don’t offer food when your child is bored or not does not know what to do with their time.

Don’t use food as a reward.

It’s important to celebrate successes and make your child feel rewarded when they have done something good. But, you don’t need to use food as a reward. Show your child how proud you are of them by spending extra time with them. You can have a conversation, play a game, or go on a special outing. When you read the chapter on Rules, you’ll learn more about privileges and rewards and how to celebrate your child’s successes. Food is not the best way to show your child how proud you are of their success.

When are extra calories allowed?

Extra calories, such as high-sugar or high-fat foods are allowed. You just have to decide how often. For example, special occasions can include cake or ice cream. As part of having fun as a family, you can go out for an ice cream sundae with your child. Try scheduling high-sugar or high-fat foods. For example, you could say that you’ll take your child out for an ice cream sundae only on Sundays. Or, only offer an ice cream Sundae when it’s your child’s birthday. That way, your child knows they can have high-calorie foods foods some of the time. You can schedule high-sugar and high-fat foods. Offer them once a week, every few weeks, or every few months.

Here is some specific information about healthy foods

Fresh vegetables and fruits. Fresh vegetables are low calorie and slow energy foods. Try teaching your child to eat fresh vegetables first. Vegetables can fill you up, make your stomach feel a bit more full, and reduce hunger signals. It takes a bit longer to notice that you’ve eating something when you only eat vegetables. They have energy to offer, but they release their energy slowly. The reason for this is because it takes a while for the stomach and digestive system to break them down and release their energy into the bloodstream. They are a ‘slow’ form of energy.

Why vegetables are important. There is more information on ‘slow’ energy in the section on carbohydrates. Vegetables release their energy slowly. They give you energy over longer time intervals. They are also important because they have fiber. Fiber is important because it allows for normal stool production and reduces constipation. Fiber is also important because it helps remove chemicals and preservatives from your body.

Why complex carbohydrates are important. Carbohydrates are made up of long chains of sugar, starches, and cellulose (fiber). it might be surprising to learn that complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains and vegetables, contain sugars. Here’s the difference between complex carbohydrates and simple carbohydrates: It takes a long time for complex carbohydrates to break down and release the sugar into your bloodstream. On the other hand, foods made with white flour or sugar release the sugar into your bloodstream quickly. Complex carbohydrates are slow energy foods. They have more fiber than quick energy foods. They give you a trickle of energy for a longer period of time, instead of a rush of energy that disappears too soon. Quick energy foods, such as sugar, give you energy for a shorter amount of time.

Examples of complex carbohydrates. Oats, barley, buckwheat (it’s not a form of wheat!) rye, and whole wheat kernels are all examples of complex carbohydrates. Whole grain rice that still has the fiber coating is also a complex carbohydrate. Other slow energy foods include nuts, beans, and lentils. These foods are also complex carbohydrates, but they include fat and protein too. They also give you energy more slowly and for a longer period of time. They also give you more fiber! You might not notice the slow energy difference after the first time you eat these foods, but you will notice the difference if you keep practicing. You won’t get hungry as quickly after meals if you eat slow energy foods that include the foods listed in this paragraph. If you notice the difference, you’ll start sharing these healthy foods with your children too.

Dairy. Dairy is healthy for children. Milk, cheese, yoghurt are usually well tolerated. Limit milk intake to less than 24 ounces per day (that’s about 4 glasses). Choose dairy products that don’t contain too much sugar. For example, yoghurt is a very healthy food choice. However, it’s often flavored with sugar-containing fruit sauces. It’s OK to eat yoghurt that also has sugar, just keep in mind how much sugar you and your child are eating, and when is the best timing for eating that sugar.

Meat, fish, and eggs. There is more and more evidence that a plant-based diet is more healthy than a meat-based or animal-based diet. You might not want to eliminate meat and other animal products, but you can reduce them. Before you reduce how much meat you and your family eat, try buying and cooking only fresh meat, dairy, and eggs. Cook them yourself, instead of buying processed types of meat, dairy, or eggs. Processed meats, such as sausages or salami, contain a lot of fat, salt, and preservatives. They are not the healthiest choice of meat. Be sure to also eat fiber if you are going to eat processed animal products. In western countries, we eat a lot of meat, fish, and eggs. This diet is is low in fiber and high in fat.

Information about a ‘balanced’ or ‘healthy’ diet.

A healthy diet includes mostly vegetables, fruits, and grains, with some dairy, meat, fish, and eggs. Most of your foods should be vegetables, grains, beans, and nuts. only a portion should be dairy and eggs. A smaller amount again should be meat and fish. Your diet would be very healthy if you eat 65 to 75% vegetables, grains, beans and nuts, and only 25 to 35% dairy, eggs, meat, and fish.