In its "Practical Manual of Nutrition in Pediatrics" the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) offers a selection of topics to better understand how adequate feeding of babies and children should be and to promote healthy habits.
This is, in principle, a document prepared with the intention of resolving doubts in the daily clinical practice of pediatricians and other health professionals interested in these issues. However, parents also find guidance on many topics and information to develop healthy menus, for example.
In the section dedicated to "Feeding from 2 to 6 years old" we find a lot of information and advice about the feeding and health of preschool children. These are the recommendations to develop a healthy children's menu:
- Minimum intake of processed foods. Whenever possible, fresh, seasonal and locally sourced food should be ingested.
Preferably choose plant foods: vegetables, fruits, cereals, legumes, nuts and seeds.
Use olive oil as the main fat, using as little fat as possible from animal origin. Reduce the intake of fried foods and, if used, fry them in olive oil. Do not use to fry oils of different origin, as they have different heating points.
- Ensure daily milk consumption (500 ml / day).
- Eat low-fat meats (remove poultry skin and visible fat) and, if possible, better reds than white ones (richer in iron) and stimulate the intake of polyunsaturated fat-rich fish with ω3 (salmon, tuna, etc.) .
- Increase the intake of foods rich in complex carbohydrates, rich in fiber (bread, legumes, pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.) and reduce the consumption of sugars, sweets, pastries and snacks.
- Maintain our gastronomic traditions.
- Reduce salt intake and, whenever possible, use iodized salt.
- Stimulate water consumption instead of sugary drinks with high glycemic index.
Many of these tips we see in our journey through infant feeding, which occupies so much space in our blog, so we refer you to the links for more information.
As a complement to these points, we add the nutritional pyramid that appears in the same document, along with the previous ones recommendations for the elaboration of the healthy children's menu.
