As parents, our responsibility to nurture our children requires a holistic approach – taking into consideration the whole child. Healthy living for your child requires that you place equal importance on your child’s physical, developmental, emotional and social wellbeing.
Africans, like Asians, are known for placing a lot of emphasis on the academic development of their children. This parental focus on academics is not necessarily a bad thing but can become an obstacle to the overall wellbeing of a child, if other areas of development are ignored.
The ABCs
- Healthy Nutrition
- Fitness
- Dental Health
- Emotional Health
In addition to well child doctor visits to make sure his overall development is on track, your child should receive all the recommended vaccinations. The ABC’s of child health are the health basics you need to pay careful attention to at home on a daily basis.
Helping Kids Eat Healthy
Good nutrition is essential to good health for all kids whether they’re babies or teenagers.
Infants
- Breast milk only until 6 months of age + vitamins
- Begin Iron-fortified cereals, pureed fruits and vegetables at 6 months
- Add lean meats and eggs when the above are well tolerated (8 months)
- Begin table foods at 9 months (avoid small hard foods that can choke the baby)
- Continue breast milk until 12 months if possible
Toddlers (1 – 3 years)
- Growth and appetite come in spurts at this age so they’re often picky eaters
- 4 -5 servings of fruit and vegetables daily for fiber and valuable nutrients
- Fiber is essential for digestive health and is good for the heart
- 2 – 3 servings of whole milk daily for calcium
- Avoid the juice trap – it’s mostly sugar. Give Water! Water! Water!
- Avoid the junk food trap because you’re desperate for him to eat anything!
Elementary school age (4 – 10 years)
- Eat most nutritious foods from all 5 food groups
- 4 -5 servings of fruit and vegetables daily for fiber and valuable nutrients
- 2 – 3 servings of low fat milk daily for calcium
- Avoid the sugar trap – juice, soft drinks, candy, cookies, cakes, starchy foods
- Watch out for fats and salty foods
- Water! Water! Water!
Preteens and Teens (11 – 18 years)
- More calcium needed at this age for bone mass
- Menstruating girls need more iron, boys need more protein for muscle mass
- 4 -5 servings of fruit and vegetables daily for fiber and valuable nutrients
- 2 – 3 servings of low fat milk daily for calcium
- Avoid the sugar trap – juice, soft drinks, candy, cookies, cakes, starchy foods
- Watch out for fats and salty foods
- Water! Water! Water!
In the next blog post we’ll review fitness, emotional and dental health for your child.
