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Diet For Children - Part I By Mumtaz Khalid Ismail
More Links How to make eating enjoyable? Food for 0 - 3 months Food for 3 - 6 months Food for 6 - 12 months Recommended Dietary Allowances
One of the common worries of a mother is about the adequacy of her child's diet. A child requires more calories and protein for growth and tissue repair. If the child does not get adequate nutrition during this period, overall growth of the child is affected. Eating habits are always set in the first few years of life. That is the time to ingrain a healthy eating pattern in children. Velocity of growth varies in different age and sex group. Child's nutritional requirements do vary accordingly.
How to make eating enjoyable?
There must be regularity in meal times. In between munching must be discouraged. There is no need to worry about occasionally not eating a meal properly or about over eating. It is perfectly normal. There must be some changes in the menu and the environment, other wise it will become monotonous. Try to make food more appealing by using appropriate flavoring agents and syrups. There is no point in forcing a child to eat; this will make a child rebellious. Try avoiding discussing about each ones likes and dislike regarding food while eating. The difficulty to make your child eat vegetables can be over come by catering to the taste in colour and texture. When introducing new foods try offering one at time and give small amounts at first. It is a good idea to try out new foods at the beginning of the meal while a child is still hungry. A little imagination in preparation and serving can be very rewarding. When you do all this, you must be cautious not to encourage your child's pranks.
The best food for the newborn baby is mother's milk. Breast milk is free from contamination and adulteration and supplies nutrients in almost correct amounts and propositions needed by the infants. It also provides an opportunity for close contact and emotional satisfaction of both mother and child. Breast milk contains immunoglobulins (protective proteins) that protect the child to some extent against infections.
Some mothers practice giving boiled water, fruit juices or glucose water, which is not essential. With breast milk there are less serious illness and allergies. Babies who were breast-fed have lesser chance of developing asthma in later life. The infant of less than 34 weeks has poor sucking and swallowing reflexes. In such cases expressed breast milk can be given.
During the first 3 months the mothers diet should be given great importance. She must have a well balanced diet. Major handicap of breast milk is deficiency of iron. Till three months of age iron store in the baby is sufficient for the requirement. After three months iron has to be supplemented.
Nutritional supplementation starts during this period .The infants diet pattern is gradually changed from exclusive breast milk to breast milk with cooked solid foods. One can start supplementation with cereal foods provided the food is cooked soft and mashed to a thin consistency.
The new foods should be first introduced at lunchtime and extended gradually to other meals. When you start any food item give for at least one week, preferably two weeks before starting any another food item. Initially there may be mild indigestion.
Ragi powder, suji, and raw plantain powder can be cooked in milk with sugar and can be given. Make sure not to feed these in bottles, which will delay the child to eat the solid food and have more chances to develop lose motion. Rice can be cooked soft and mixed with curd and can be given. When child gets used to this, khichdi (rice and moong dhal) can be given. Soups and strained vegetables and fruits may be gradually introduced during the supplementation period. The fruits and vegetables will correct the deficiency of iron in breast milk. Fruit must be fully ripe.
The well nourished infant doubles his birth weight by 5 months of age.
Group months Energy kcal / day Protein gm / day Calcium mg / day Folic acid ug / day 0 - 6 118 / kg 2.05 / kg 500 25 6 - 12 108 / kg 1.65 / kg 500 25
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First teeth of the baby erupt during this period. They will have irritation of gums and will like to put anything which they can get hold in their mouth. This will lead to higher incidence of lose motion during this period. To minimize this, a toast or biscuit can be given to the baby to suck at it and chew at it with their bare gums. 
By 9 -10 months, you can start giving fish, chicken, liver and meat. It should be cooked very soft and mash the pieces with your fingers to be sure there are no bones. Milk intake will go down with the introduction of solid foods. As long as the baby takes at least 500 ml of milk and is active and gains weight satisfactorily there is nothing to worry.