Adequate fiber intake from an early age is one of the important factors to support the process of child growth and development. Well, getting high-fiber foods for babies or children is actually not difficult. You can start giving your baby or child fruit and vegetables when they can eat soft foods or grip solid foods. What are the benefits?
Benefits of eating vegetables and fruit for babies and children
Various kinds of nutrients in fruits and vegetables are needed for the growth and development of babies and children until they grow up.
1. Maintain healthy digestion of children
The digestive system plays an important role in the body of a child or baby. With a healthy digestive system, nutrients will be absorbed optimally to support growth and development.
To maintain the health of the child’s digestive system, mothers need to provide high-fiber foods such as vegetables and fruit. Mothers can also help meet your little one’s daily fiber intake by giving him high-fiber milk for his children.
By consuming daily fiber according to the needs of the child, of course it can support the health of the stomach. When a child’s digestion is healthy, he or she can become more active, cheerful, and able to socialize with the surrounding environment.
2. Increase nutritional intake
Vegetables and fruits are rich in a variety of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other important nutrients to meet the nutritional needs of infants or children.
For example, strawberries are rich in vitamin C to boost the immune system, carrots are rich in vitamin A to maintain eye health, and spinach is high in iron to prevent anemia. Meanwhile, apples contain 16 kinds of polyphenol antioxidants which are good for overall health.
In essence, eating colorful fruits and vegetables is beneficial for keeping your baby or child healthy and fit every day.
3. Reduces the risk of obesity
Begin to get used to giving children healthy snacks in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables instead of sugary foods or ” junk food ” to avoid them from the risk of obesity or overweight.
Obese children have the potential to experience type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, respiratory problems, depression and various other chronic diseases in adulthood.
Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber, which is filling, but low in fat and calories, so they are safe for babies or children to snack on every day.
4. Support your little one’s achievement at school
Adopting a healthy diet since childhood, including eating lots of fruit and vegetables, can help children perform better in school later.
In fact, research published in the Journal of School Health also supports this theory. The study found that children who ate less vegetables and fruit tended to score worse academically than children who used to eat fiber-rich foods every day.
Children who usually eat fiber foods have a 41% lower risk of having reading difficulties, compared to other children.
Indeed, there are many other factors that can affect a child’s achievement in school. However, the fulfillment of nutritional intake is the most important thing to ensure a child’s achievement for the better.
5. Tips for adding fruit and vegetables to a child’s diet
In order for your baby or child to stay healthy and fit, you need to provide a balanced nutritious diet that includes fruits and vegetables every day. Don’t worry, there are lots of interesting ways to make a baby or child want to eat high-fiber foods such as fresh vegetables and fruit.
Here are some easy and interesting ways to apply at home:
- Give sliced bananas, watermelon, strawberries, corn on the cob, or boiled broccoli, as a snack
- Add chopped fruit or vegetables to baby or child porridge
- Make smoothies with frozen fruit
- Try the vegetable kebab menu for kids dinner
- Add chopped mushrooms, olives or carrots in an omelet
Remember that eating fresh fruit is still better than juiced fruit. The reason is, the fiber in fruit is generally lost when juiced and the juice itself can sometimes be added up to 6 teaspoons of sugar as a sweetener.
What about dried fruit? Dried fruits such as apricots, apple chips, or spinach chips are still rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. However, dried fruit also contains a lot of sugar and can cause tooth decay. The sugar contained in dried fruit is often sticky and sticks to children’s teeth.
If you want to snack on dried fruit and vegetables for your baby or child, give it in small portions and make sure they drink a glass of water afterward.