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IMPORTANCE OF HEALTHY EATING HABITS IN KIDS

Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”  —Jim Rohn

When a child is born, right from the moment it enters the world eating habits play important role in his life. According to some cultures they give gold by rubbing on grinding stone with honey and ghee along with other Ayurvedic brain tonics. Many more such traditions are followed in different parts of the world.  Reason behind following these patterns is for the overall and healthy growth of a child.

Family and parents play a vital role in developing eating patterns for children. Relaxed environment and healthy cooking ways always show up in health of a child. If a child is brought up with defined eating patterns, it is likely to fall less sick.

To start with such healthy patterns let us begin with water the most important part of our life, We all should know the importance of how and when to drink water, as it helps to keep our body properly hydrated. If following thumb rules are followed daily, it can be very helpful in long run:

The first thing to do is to have a glass of water when kids get up in the morning to start their day along with breakfast and this is applicable for all age-groups. It is important to have a glass of water 30 minutes before having meals to aid the process of digestion and one hour after having your meals so that essential nutrients can be absorbed. Drinking soon before or after your meals with dilute the digestive juices.

However the amount of water that a child requires varies depending on age, weight and gender. According to the sources available recommended daily amount of water is:

5 glasses (1 litre) for 5 to 8 year old

7 glasses (1.5 litres) for 9 to 12 year old

8 to 10 glasses (2 litres) for 13+ years 

Proper chewing and slow eating of food with required portion size is another important factor a child has to be taught. Also how and what to eat for proper digestion for this you can include salads in your daily diet along with fiber rich food and also probiotics like home made fresh curd or glass of buttermilk. Cut down on excess of oily food, maida, bread and high in fats food, to help in maintaining proper digestive system.

As we all know today’s generation is very fast and it is always not possible to keep up with pace of defined patterns because as and when a child grows habits keep on changing.  But we can do our bit by inculcating these healthy habits for our healthier future generations to come.