While for many — both young and young at heart — wrapping the year includes enjoying festive treats and celebrations, it is still critical to prioritize a healthy and balanced diet to fight against some of the most common viral infections and diseases during the winter season. For young people, in particular, as they get a break from their daily routine and food at school, mixing fruits and veggies with holiday treats will help keep youth healthy and happy as they prepare for the new year and beyond.
Dr. Nia Imani Bodrick, pediatrician and medical director of Early Childhood Innovation Network with Children’s National Hospital, shares helpful nutrition tips to keep children’s health intact during the holidays.
DID YOU KNOW: A balanced and nutritious diet is crucial for fighting off infections and maintaining overall health?
NB: Healthy eating is a foundation for a healthy life, and so it’s important that no matter what the age, that a child has adequate nutrition, and that’s really important for their physical and mental development.
For most children over the age of six months, they should be getting most of their nutrition through food. This includes a combination of foods from different food groups: fruits and vegetables, proteins and complex carbs. Traditionally, we have recommended that half of your plate or a lunch box be colorful fruits and vegetables, whether that’s fresh or frozen or canned in water, not fruit juice, and then to have another quarter of your plate be some sort of protein and another quarter would be some sort of complex carb.
DID YOU KNOW: There are creative ways to ensure proper fruit and vegetable intake for families with restricted access to fresh and organic produce options?
NB: Fruits and vegetables can provide adequate nutrition, including vitamins and minerals, regardless of their form. [Depending on a family’s location], frozen fruit can be more accessible sometimes than fresh fruit. So this can be, getting the pack of frozen fruit and maybe making a smoothie, or for lunch or dinner, getting frozen vegetables, cooking and packing them up for lunch or eating them for dinner.
Yogurt can also be a creative way to not only get fruits and vegetables, but also to get a nice source of calcium and vitamin D.
DID YOU KNOW: Poor nutritional diet negatively impacts a child’s performance and educational experience in school?
NB: For children who are not getting enough food or not enough nutritious food, it can manifest as difficulty concentrating at school, behavioral issues, sleep, and not being able to complete their work assignments. I really encourage families to try to provide as much nutrition as they can. But I also think that’s an important place for school, because many children are getting or have the option to have breakfast and lunch at school at either free or reduced price.
DID YOU KNOW: Including your children in meal preparation can help instill healthy eating habits as they grow older?
NB: I think that for children, it’s nice to include them in meal preparation and making decisions about what they want to eat.
Also, as children get a bit older, teach them how to safely prepare food in the kitchen, so that by the time they’re in adolescence or later adolescence, they’re able to prepare healthy meals for themselves.