Table of contents:
Speaking of fruit, avocado is a popular type of fruit because it contains a myriad of health benefits. Not only for adults, this super fruit is also good for supporting children's growth and development, you know. Even so, parents should not just give avocados to children, especially before it's time. So, when can children start eating avocado and how much should it be? Come on, see the complete information below.
Benefits of avocado for children
Avocados are one of the best types of fruit for consumption by all ages, including children. Avocados contain the best source of fat, namely unsaturated fats, which are useful for optimizing children's brain function in their infancy.
What's more, about 25 to 30 percent of a child's calories come from unsaturated fats. This means that eating avocado alone can help meet children's fat needs.
Not only that, avocado is also rich in vitamins and minerals that can support children's growth and development while preventing infection. Every 100 grams of avocado contains one percent of vitamin A which is useful for sharpening eyesight, 14 percent of vitamin E for sharpening children's memory, and 11 percent of vitamin C for maintaining children's skin health.
Meanwhile, when viewed from the mineral content, avocado contains calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc. The calcium and potassium content in avocado serves to build strong children's bones and teeth. While iron is useful for preventing anemia in children. So, there is no doubt that avocado is very good for child development.
Avocado dosage for children
Basically, children should only be given breast milk until the age of six months. This is because every drop of breast milk contains complete nutrition that is easily digested by the baby's small and sensitive stomach. That is why, breastfeeding alone can meet the nutritional needs of your little one.
After six months of age, your little one begins to need additional food to supplement their nutritional needs. This is the right time for you to start giving complementary foods (complementary foods) which are nutritious and soft in texture, so that they are easier for the baby to digest.
Well, at this time you can only give avocado to children as one of the complementary foods. Avocado has a soft texture and a sweet taste. The combination of these two things will certainly be very liked by babies who are just learning to recognize the taste of food, one of which is sweetness.
Based on the Nutrition Adequacy Figures issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Health, children aged 7 to 11 months need 725 kilocalories. To meet this need, you can make a bowl of avocado puree with 2 medium avocados (weighing about 136 grams each).
A bowl of this avocado puree contains 436 calories and 14 grams of fat. This means that eating a bowl of avocado puree can meet half the daily calorie and fat needs for children every day.
Choosing a good avocado for children
Because the child's stomach is still small and sensitive, you must pay attention to the texture and type of fruit before giving it to your little one. Likewise, when you want to give avocado to children.
Make sure the avocado you choose is ripe enough, usually marked by a dark green skin color. Avoid avocados whose skin is bright green because they are usually not ripe, also too brown because they are usually too ripe.
After that, try to hold the avocado and press it lightly. Ripe avocados tend to feel tender when pressed. If it's still hard, the avocado may not be ripe yet, so it shouldn't be given to your child.
When you find a ripe avocado, cut the avocado in half and remove the seeds. Take the yellowish green meat, then put it in your little one's bowl. You can serve it as puree (puree) or small pieces of avocado if your child wants to eat alone.
x
