Pediatric Nutrition for Children of different Age Groups.

1. Pediatric Nutrition for Children
of different Age Groups

2. Why Good Nutrition is Important for our Children?
By ensuring healthy eating habits for children like minimal junk food and plenty of
nutrient rich fresh veggies and fruit, we can:
Poor child nutrition can cause
delayed puberty, stunted
growth, dehydration, irregular
menstruation, poor
performance at school and
eating disorders.
• Prevent Childhood Obesity
• Keep diseases like diabetes, liver failure, heart
disease, joint pain and high blood pressure at bay
• Promote optimal growth, including bone density,
muscle mass, and brain function
• Help them excel at studies, sport and other
activities

3. Nutrition Guidelines for Newborns
The best bet for newborn nutrition: breast milk, without a doubt. Babies can be exclusively
breastfed for the first 6 months. Breast milk contains the following goodness:
Breast milk promotes optimal growth
and boosts immunity. If it’s impossible
to exclusively breastfeed your baby,
you can provide your newborn’s
nutritional needs with baby formula.
• Antibodies
• Antimicrobials
• Essential fatty acids
• Enzymes
• Anti-inflammatory factors

4. Nutrition Guidelines for Newborns
From about 4 to 6 months, you can slowly introduce semi-solid foods.
• Initially, introduce solid food for infants along with breast milk, not substitute it
• Try one new food every 4-5 days
• Watch baby closely and observe if she likes the taste, and is able to swallow
• Watch for any allergic reaction – rash, respiratory infection, GI problem etc.
• Mashed banana
• Cooked and pureed apple, pear, peach
• Rice cereal or well cooked, soft rice
• Soups (lukewarm)
• Pureed veggies like carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, or mashed potato
Foods for infant nutrition:

5. Nutrition Guidelines for Toddlers
Ensuring toddler nutrition may be a tad more difficult as toddlers may become a little picky.
Your toddler meal plan should include 1000 calories, provided through 3 meals and two snacks per day.
• Well cooked and mashed lentils, beans and peas
• Avocados
• More fruit varieties, pureed
• String beans
• Eggs
• Meat, chicken and mild tasting fish
• Don’t force, but encourage
• Allow fats, especially healthy fats
• Ensure mild temperature of food
• Avoid overly oily, spicy, salty, and highly sweetened food
Make sure the food, especially meat, is well cooked, and
chopped finely or mashed to prevent choking, and
remember:
You can introduce many more foods like:

6. Nutrition Guidelines for Preschoolers
Preparing nutritional meals for preschoolers is crucial, as this will set the trend for when they start school. Encourage
healthy eating habits for your preschoolers so that they get a head-start.
Healthy eating ideas for preschoolers:A meal plan for preschoolers should include:
• Plenty of fresh fruit and veggies, egg, fish, meats, dairy and
cereal
• Meals and snacks at set timings
• Avoiding unplanned eating
• A wider variety of foods from all nutrition groups
• Focusing on eating and avoiding play or TV during meals
• Avoiding sugary sodas, limiting overly salted or oily snacks
• Setting healthy examples by eating healthy yourself
• Yoghurt
• Soups
• Sweet potatoes instead of potatoes
• Reduced fat cheese
• Dry fruit bars instead of cookies

7. Essential Nutrients your Child Needs
CALCIUM
• What it does: Builds strong bones and teeth, boosts heart, nerve, and muscle function, helps in clotting blood
• Where you get it from: dairy products, eggs, broccoli, spinach, tofu
PROTEINS
• What it does: fights infections, builds cells, carries oxygen
releases energy from food
• Where you get it from: Beans, lentils, legumes, fish, eggs,
dairy, meat, nuts
CARBOHYDRATES
• What it does: Important energy source; use body fat
and protein to build and repair tissue
• Where you get it from: breads, cereals, pasta, potatoes,
rice, crackers
FATS
• What it does: great energy source, help body use other nutrients
• Where you get it from: Whole milk dairy, meats, nuts, fish, oils
IRON
• What it does: makes blood healthy and helps carry oxygen
all over the body
• Where you get it from: Leafy veggies, whole grains, beans,
nuts, red meats, liver, poultry, shellfish
FOLATE
• What it does: promotes healthy growth and
development of cells
• Where you get it from: Chickpeas, asparagus, leafy
veggies, kidney beans, lentils, whole grain cereals
FIBER
• What it does: ensures regular bowel movements, reduces
risk of heart disease and cancer
• Where you get it from: seeds, nuts, chickpeas, lentils,
wholegrain cereals, kidney beans
VITAMINS
• Help growth and repair of tissue, promotes good eyesight, healthy skin, helps fight infection, strengthens blood vessels, promotes quick healing
• Where you get it from: vegetables like carrots, cabbage, broccoli, leafy veggies, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, fruits like tomatoes,
strawberries, mango, papaya, apples, peaches, oranges, fish oil egg yolks

8. How to Encourage your Kids to Eat Healthy Food
If you want to make your child to make healthy food choices, you need to:
• Avoid buying and stocking cookies, sugary sodas, chips and other junk food
• Set a good example by eating healthy yourself
• Talk to them why healthy eating for kids is important for their well-being
• Have your family doctor talk to them about the dangers of junk food
• Ensure proper meal times and healthy habits during meals
• Make the food look appealing to them
• Mix up the menu now and then so they don’t get tired of eating the same things
• Never force your child to eat something they don’t like, or to ‘clean the plate’.
• Limit dining outside – especially at fast food restaurants
Eat healthy food

9. Thank You
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