Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Eat a Balanced Diet?

Just as important as being physically active is eating a balanced diet. This is especially important for children as it is for adults. Eating a balanced diet will make sure you and your children are getting all the essential vitamins and minerals and will keep you and your family feeling healthy. When planning meals, in order to incorporate all the food groups, the food guide pyramid can be a useful tool. The food guide pyramid shows how many servings of each food group you should be getting each day.

A modification of the food guide pyramid has been created to tailor more to the dietary needs of children 2 to 6 years old. The structure of the pyramid is the same, but the servings are slightly different. For example: there should be 6 servings of the grain group, 3 servings of vegetables, 2 servings of fruit, 2 servings of milk, 2 servings of meat and very spare amounts of fats and sweets. However, as a parent, it is your responsibility to help your child adapt healthy eating behaviors. Children who learn healthy eating behaviors at an early age are more likely to continue these patterns as they get older. One way to accomplish this is to encourage family meal time. Many studies show that families that eat together on a frequent basis are more likely to have children with healthy eating patterns. Also, eating as a family will allow parents and children to spend quality time together outside their busy lifestyles.

Source:

• US Department of Agriculture