Make your child eat right

Are the children eating the right diet? The incidence of childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate in urban India. Approximately 20 per cent of children are overweight or obese in the urban areas of India.

Obesity is a disease. While parents love to pamper their children and give them the best of nutrition are they giving them the right diet.

Dr Preeti Sharma, consultant pediatrician at KIMS Cuddles explained, "Natural fruits are being replaced by processed fruit juices. These processed juices have extremely high sugar

content. The traditional Indian diet of vegetables, daal, rice, chapati, salads, fruits,

curd, milk is a very wholesome and nutritious diet. There has been a major shift from these natural foods to 'fad foods' which is leading to this condition in children."

Parents add additives to milk thinking they will increase the nutritive value of milk, but what it actually does is to add more calories.

 A child's diet should roughly have a good quality protein (daal/ egg/ chicken/ fish/ paneer), 400 -500 ml of dairy (milk/ curd), at least one fruit, whole grains, vegetables and adequate water.

The focus has shifted from the simple traditional food to fancy cuisines, preference for organic foods and in this process some parents ignore the more important aspects of a child's diet

Lack of outdoor play and increased screen time on mobile phones, computers and television contributes to obesity and vitamin D deficiency.

Diet chart for children:

Calories

 From birth to age 3: about 100 calories per kg

 Age 4 to 6: about 90 calories per kg

 Age 7 to 11: about 70 calories per kg

Protein

 From birth to age 3: about 1.2 grams per kg

 Age 4 to 6: about 1.1 grams per kg

 Age 7 to 11: about 1 gram per kg

Seven to 11 years of age eating habits are formed and children eat according to their appetite.