The proper portion of food for 5 years old children and not excessive

When a child's appetite is ravenous, sometimes parents take advantage of it by giving excessive portions of food. Even though this is not good for your little one's health. Parents need to know the right portion of food according to the child's age. The following is a guide about eating portions for children aged 5 years.

What are the rules for feeding portions for children aged 5 years?

Feeding at preschool is full of challenges because of the child's erratic appetite. Plus children like food with a fun appearance and an appetizing taste so you need a lot of preparation.

Even though it seems complicated, parents can take advantage of their children's interest in food to provide a variety of other food menus.

Quoting from the book Nutrition for Children and Adolescents, the appearance of an attractive meal portion can be the key for 5 year olds to try new food menus. In addition, children like regular routine times every day, including mealtimes.

We recommend that you schedule three main meals (morning, noon, dinner) and two snacks or snacks.

The main meal portion for children aged 5 years

The main meal times are given three times a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can schedule breakfast at 6 a.m., lunch at 11.30, and dinner at 5.30 p.m. If you already have your own meal schedule, do it regularly and planned.

Regular meal times help children know how hungry and full they are. In addition, this also forms the child's eating habits until he grows up.

Make sure the meal time is not too long, give a maximum of 30 minutes so that the little one who is 5 years old is more focused on the portion of the meal that has been given.

Meal portions for children aged 5 years

Snack or snack is important to meet hunger before the next scheduled meal. Even though they are a snack, snacks should also contribute to children's nutritional needs.

Provide snack portions to children aged 5 years at least 2 hours before their main meal. What if it is given one hour earlier? This snack can destroy your little one's appetite for the main meal.

Types of nutritious snacks for your little one such as biscuits, fruit, juices, or nuts that have nutritional density, are not only about high calories.

When you give your little one a high-sugar snack, pay attention to the nutritional adequacy rate printed on the package.

If the serving size is only two meals and he eats up to 4 times, then your little one gets 4 times the calories and 4 times the sugar, citing Kids Health.

That is, this will have a bad effect on the health of your little one if done continuously.

The ideal portion of food for children aged 5 years

Based on the 2013 Nutrition Adequacy Rate (RDA) issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Health, the calorie needs of children aged 4-6 years are 1600 kcal per day.

When viewed from the calorie requirements, here is an example of how to share the food portions of a 5 year old child:

Carbohydrate

Rice is the staple food of most Indonesians. Based on Indonesian Food Composition Data, 100 grams of white rice or the equivalent of one spoon of rice contains 180 calories of energy and 38.9 grams of carbohydrates.

If your toddler doesn't want to eat rice, you can choose staple foods or other carbohydrate sources that can be fed to 5 year olds, for example:

• 100 grams of potato contains 62 cal of energy and 13.5 grams of carbohydrates
• 100 grams of bread contains 248 cal of energy and 50 grams of carbohydrates

The appetite of children at preschool age does fluctuate, adjust the staple food to the preferences of the little one so that the nutrition is maintained.

Animal protein

In order for the energy needs of 1600 kcal per day to be fulfilled, parents must add animal protein to the meals of children aged 5 years.

There are several choices of animal side dishes that can be given to your little one. In a 100 gram dose, the following animal proteins can be selected:

• Chicken eggs contain 251 cal of energy and 16.3 grams of protein
• Fish (various types) contain 100 cal and 16.5 protein
• Beef contains 273 cal of energy and 17.5 grams of protein
• Chicken contains 298 cal of energy and 18.2 grams of protein

It doesn't have to be fried, the animal protein above can be processed into an interesting menu for your little one. You can make them into rolade, meat balls, teriyaki sauce chicken, or smoked marinated fish.

Vegetable protein

What is the need for vegetable protein for children aged 5 years? The Nutritional Adequacy Rate shows that at the age of 4-6 years children need 36 grams of protein a day.

Apart from animals, protein can also be obtained from vegetable materials, for example, tofu, tempeh, and other legumes (green beans, peanuts, kidney beans).

Vegetable and fruit

Within a day, children need 100-400 grams of vegetables and fruit in their diet. It does not need to be given at one time, this need can be obtained at different meal times.

You can give it at breakfast, dinner, or have a snack while waiting for the main meal.

As an illustration, you could give ¼ bowl of spinach for breakfast, ½ cup of vegetable soup for lunch, and ¼ portion of green bean puree at night for a 5 year old child.

In order not to get bored, give fruit as a fresh snack, for example two pieces of melon for lunch, the next day it is replaced by dragon fruit, apple, or orange.

Milk

Consuming milk only in the form of a drink is boring. As a variation, milk can be made as a cooking ingredient.

You can process it in snacks like cream soup , pudding, ice cream, spaghetti carbonara, or skotel macaroni.

During this growth period, children aged 4-6 years need calcium intake as much as 1000 mg per day and vitamin D as much as 15 mcg per day.

Both can be obtained from special milk for children which can increase the strength of their bones and teeth.

When viewed from the Indonesian Food Composition Data, 100 ml of milk contains 143 mg of calcium. So, if you want to meet the calcium needs of a 5 year old child, you can give 3-4 glasses of milk a day. Then complemented from other dairy products.

Tips for dealing with 5 year olds who do not finish eating

When all the methods have been tried but your 5 year old child does not finish the portion of the meal that is served, of course there will be a sense of annoyance.

Maybe this is some influence from eating habits that have not changed. Quoting from Healthy Children, here's how to fix it:

Reduce consumption of sweet foods

Giving snacks is important to give your child extra energy, but it can cause problems. The reason is, sweet foods can make children full faster and give a feeling of 'fake full'. This condition means that the child feels full but has not actually eaten.

Reduce sugary foods such as chocolate, candy, and drinks containing excess sugar to maintain nutrition in your little one's body.

Turn off the television and screen gadget other

Eating while staring at the screen or having fun playing can make children not focus on their food menu. This is what keeps 5 year olds from spending one portion of the meal that has been served.

Give your little one's rules and understanding that shows should not be given while eating. If so, create a pleasant eating atmosphere so that children don't feel intimidated when eating their food.

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