Developing Healthy Menu for Infants, Children and Toddlers

Developing Healthy Menu for Infants, Children and Toddlers
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Developing Healthy Menu for Infants, Children and Toddlers
Introduction
At a time when childhood obesity has become a major health challenge, parents and caregivers need to develop healthy menus for infants, toddlers, and children. According to Crixell, Friedman, Fisher, & Biediger-Friedman (2014), about 32% of children in the US are overweight or obese. Such a statistic can be changed if parents and caregivers implement a change in the menus of their children. Therefore, it is extremely important that healthy menus are developed to support the dietary needs of children at their various development stages. This is the foundation of a healthy family. This paper examines pieces of literature to uncover the steps that should be taken when developing a healthy menu for infants, toddlers, and children.
Infants
Typically, infant refers to babies below the age of one year. It is extremely important for caregivers to ensure that these children have the right amounts of energy, vitamins, and nutrients in their menus. An infant can either be a breastfed baby or a formula-fed baby.
Breastfed baby
According to the US Department of Agriculture (2019), the best nutrition source for babies is breast milk. Not only is it easy for the babies to digest, but breast milk also helps in boosting the immune system. Breast milk has the right amounts of nutrients, which change as the baby grows. A key step to note when breastfeeding infants is that between 0 and 5 months, they require a minimum of 4-6 ounces of fluid for breakfast, lunch, supper, and snack (US Department of Agriculture, 2019). For older infants, the minimum requirement is 6-8 ounces of fluid at breakfast, lunch, and supper, and 2-4 ounces at snack.
Breastfeeding is not recommended in case the infant has galactosemia or some particular metabolic conditions (Edelstein, 2010). Breastfeeding is also not appropriate when the mother uses illegal drugs or has HIV.
Formula-fed baby
For infants who are weaned from the breast before the age of one year as well as those who are not breastfed, formula feeding is recommended. Many of the infant formulas contain modified cow milk, however, soy-based infant formula is used in case the infant does not tolerate formula with cow milk (US Department of Agriculture, 2019). If the infant has special dietary needs due to a disability, the iron-fortified formula used can be substituted by caregivers and parents. For infants, the following types of milk are not recommended and thus should not be included in the menu: goat’s milk, infant almond milk, cow’s milk, hemp milk, rice milk, soy milk, nondairy creamer, and sweetened condensed milk (US Department of Agriculture, 2019).
Solid foods
It is recommended that solid foods are introduced after 6 months.
Caregivers or parents should introduce dense proteins in the menus later to allow for maturation of the renal system (Burns, et al., 2012).
The menu should contain plain foods without added sugar, salt, honey, or fat. Caregivers and parents should select foods without hydrogenated oils (Connecticut State Department of Education, 2010).
The solid foods that should be included in the menu are fish, meats, poultry, whole eggs, cooked dry peas or beans, yogurt, cheese and cottage cheese, fruits, vegetables, and ready to eat cereals (US Department of Agriculture, 2019).
0.25 milligrams of sodium fluoride should be included in the daily menu (Edelstein, 2010).
Between 6 and 8 months, the texture of the food should be pureed and mashed. Ground or fined chopped foods are introduced in the menu when the infant is 8-12 months old.
A serving of 1-2 tablespoons of food daily is recommended when introducing solid foods. New food...