If there is a child in the family who is in the growth stage, worrying about what he eats and whether he eats well every day has become the most important thing for parents.
Recently, many friends around me have been talking about the Chinese Nutrition Society’s announcement of the “Dietary Guidelines for Chinese School-Age Children (2022)”, which is a guideline that specifically explains the dietary patterns and exercise patterns of children aged 6 to 18 years old.
This guideline is based on the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)", which has been further refined and elaborated on the specific group of school-age children.
It must be understood that children in the period from elementary school to high school are growing rapidly, and their brains are also developing rapidly. If the nutritional supply is insufficient at this time, it will not only affect the current height and weight, but also affect the overall health status throughout life.
The more critical point is that this age is the golden period for cultivating eating habits. Master the way to eat well when you are young, and when you grow up, you will not be easily led astray by those messy snacks and drinks.
Today I will sort out the essential information in this new guide and explain it clearly one by one.
Actively participate in food selection and preparation to improve nutritional literacy
Many parents think that cooking is an adult's business and children only need to eat.
But the new guide specifically emphasizes that children should actively participate.
For example, go to the supermarket during the weekend and take your child to check the food labels, and then teach him to identify where the sugar, salt and fat are hidden in the ingredient list.
When you get home, ask him to help wash the vegetables, beat the eggs, and set the dishes. Don't think he is causing trouble.
This process is actually the best food education lesson.
The meals that children personally participate in cooking will taste more aromatic and rich. Gradually, they will also understand that food does not grow in the refrigerator. Behind this lies hard work and the combination of ingredients.
When he enters middle school, he can even be asked to take on the task of arranging the menu for a meal every week, and participate in the entire process from buying ingredients to putting the meal on the table.
Children who have been raised in this way can rely on themselves to take good care of their stomachs when they leave home to go to college or join the workforce, rather than ordering takeout all day long.
Eat a good breakfast, choose snacks wisely, and cultivate healthy eating behaviors
Don’t have the idea of “just have breakfast”. The guidelines make it very clear that breakfast must be “eating well”.
To form a qualified breakfast, it is best to collect at least three of the four types of food. These four types of food are cereals and potatoes, such as whole wheat bread and sweet potatoes, vegetables and fruits, animal foods, such as eggs, milk, and a few slices of soybean, and milk, soy and nuts.
A survey found that the number of children who skip breakfast is not large, but the nutritional quality of breakfast is poor, accounting for half of the total.
Children who have been eating makeshift meals are particularly prone to drowsiness during the next two classes in the morning, have difficulty concentrating, and have slow brain movements when doing math problems.
As far as snacks are concerned, if you feel hungry between meals, you can eat them, but you must choose clean and nutritious ones, such as pure milk, original nuts, and fresh fruits.
Try to buy less spicy chips, potato chips, and sugary drinks that are high in salt and sugar at home.
Especially drinks containing sugar, if you drink too much, are not only very likely to cause tooth decay, but they can also become one of the main reasons for the appearance of chubby little ones.
Get plenty of outdoor activity and at least 60 minutes of moderate to high-intensity physical activity every day
Nowadays, children who are under great academic pressure will relax on the sofa in a paralyzed state as soon as they get home from school, and then hold their mobile phones or tablets without letting go. This is a very common state in many families.
The guidelines clearly state that for school-age children, a total of at least 60 minutes of moderate or high-intensity physical activity must be carried out every day. For example, brisk walking, running, skipping rope, and playing basketball are all included.
There need to be three times of high-intensity exercise per week, as well as three times of resistance activities, such as push-ups and pull-ups, and bone-strengthening activities, such as jumping and running.
At the same time, the time spent looking at electronic screens should be controlled within 2 hours a day. The less, the better.
Parents should not just urge their children to move, they must also move themselves.
After dinner, the whole family goes out for a brisk walk for half an hour. On weekends, they invite their classmates to go hiking and playing ball. They sign up the child for a sports class he likes and help him master one or two sports skills that can last a lifetime.
With a good physical foundation, you will have more energy to study.
Regularly monitor physical development to maintain appropriate weight gain
There is a common misunderstanding that needs to be corrected. Many elderly people believe that children must be fatter to be strong and healthy.
In fact, overweight and obesity are essentially a form of malnutrition, that is, excessive energy intake, but physical activity cannot consume these energy, and micronutrients such as calcium, iron, and vitamins may be deficient.
So don’t just focus on the number on the scale, look at the growth curve in conjunction with your height.
Measure the child's height and weight at home, preferably every month, and then compare it with the standard to see if the growth rate is normal.
For children who are already a bit obese, do not go on a diet blindly, but adjust the structure of the diet, replace polished rice and white flour with half of whole grains, reduce the amount of oil and salt when making dishes, resolutely abstain from sugary drinks and fried foods, and at the same time increase the amount of exercise.
If your child is on the thin side, don’t just let them eat more meat. You must ensure a balanced intake of grains, vegetables and protein. You can increase the number of meals and eat smaller meals more often.
Home and school build a healthy environment together, parents should be role models
The guide emphasizes one word in particular: healthy food environment .
What does it mean?
Simply talking to children about truth is ineffective. The refrigerator, dining table, and snack cabinet at home must be transformed into a "base" full of healthy elements.
On one side, the parents hold milk tea in their hands every day and eat barbecue at the same time. On the other side, they ask their children to eat more vegetables and drink more water. How can the children be convinced by this?
Therefore, the first step for parents is to improve their own nutritional literacy. When cooking, they should use steaming instead of frying. They should lead their children to watch nutritional science videos together and learn together how to pair foods with a meal.
Regarding schools, you can make relevant suggestions to teachers, whether it is possible to ensure one hour of outdoor activity time every day, and to reduce the sale of high-sugar drinks and puffed foods in canteens.
If some fitness trails and basketball courts can be added to the community, children will naturally tend to go out for a run.
If the whole society works together, it will be a matter of course for children to develop good habits.
To put it bluntly, this thing called the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese School-Age Children (2022)" is not only for children to read, but also a list of actions for parents, schools and the entire society.
Eating a good breakfast, choosing appropriate snacks, achieving sufficient exercise time, and properly controlling weight may seem like trivial matters at first glance. However, if you persist in doing them, your children will gain a strong body, a flexible and intelligent mind, and healthy living habits that can be used throughout their lives.
Don't be anxious today. Don't wait until the red light comes on in your child's physical examination. Starting from today's dinner, try to get your baby to step into the kitchen and lend a hand to help. After dinner, let the whole family go out and walk around together. Maybe you will find that this change is actually not that difficult.
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