Within our Special on Infant Feeding we continue with our series of examples of menus. Today we have to take care of weekly menu for children from three to four years.
At this age the child should already eat in pieces and eat everything. All foods have already been incorporated into your diet so the priority now is to get to know new flavors.
A balanced diet for a three-year-old must include dairy, cereals, meat, vegetables, fruits and, to a lesser extent, fats and sugars as shown in the food pyramid.
It can be said that it is a stage of consolidation in the child's relationship with food, so it is essential to offer a variety of foods and make the meal a pleasant moment, without stress or stress.
At three years it is normal for children to have highs and lows in appetite (at this age and to anyone). It may be that one week they eat much more than another, or they accept a food and reject it a few days later. If this happens you don't have to force him To eat or try some food, just respect their rhythms and have patience. It is likely that after a few days he will accept it again and eat at the rhythm of before.
After three years you can start offering nuts, one of the most allergenic foods, but according to the AEP (Spanish Association of Pediatrics) until five or six years they should not be given whole nuts because of the risk of choking.
When offering nuts for the first time, you have to be very attentive in case they could trigger a allergic reaction. It is also important that you chew them very well and in small quantities, or crushed, or in the form of creams, or mixed with other foods (yogurt, soup, salad ...) to check the acceptance of these new foods.
Eat with family
One of the most important aspects of food from the age of three is the social. It is very important that the child share the family table and that he acquires good manners and a good behavior at the table, although always naturally and without stress.
He is already able to eat in the same conditions as the rest of the family, so with great patience we have to teach them to use the cutlery correctly, put on the napkin, wait for others before starting to eat and other rules that you have at home .
It is essential to convey that meal time is a pleasant moment, of family communication, without interruptions (television, telephone) and parents should lead by example.
The child's menu, since he can already eat everything and in pieces, It is the same as the rest of the family.
After three years of age, children are likely to start eating at school where they will receive a balanced diet that we must supplement at home.
A healthy menu for children three to four years old
The menu you see is a indicative example, so it is not necessary to follow it to the letter. You can replace the food of the meal with those of the dinner or change the portions if any does not feel like it. What we wanted to teach is an example of balanced and varied food in flavors.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and must cover at least 25 percent of the child's nutritional needs. It should include dairy, fruits and cereals, neither too sugary nor chocolate, preferably a cereal mix that includes whole grains. Similarly, bread should be rich in cereals or whole grain. With regard to cookies, avoid chocolate or too sugary. The most recommended are the Digestive or Maria type.
The menu includes five weekly meat portions (veal, chicken, rabbit, turkey, lamb, pork), always lean parts, and three portions of fish, alternating blue fish (sardine, salmon, anchovy) and white fish (hake, sole, cod).
Have been included five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, one at each meal, although obviously for three-year-olds the portions are smaller than for adults.
The menu is complemented by Dairy products and their derivatives (yogurts, cheeses, custard), with a recommended daily consumption of half a liter, as well as cereals and legumes, proteins of vegetable origin with contribution of fiber and carbohydrates.
When cooking food, we must avoid cooking with too much oil, replacing the fritters with grilled or baked cooking. In the case of frying some food, we will use olive oil.
Finally, we must remember the importance of water consumption in the children's diet as well as natural fruit juices, avoiding juices packed with added sugars and preferring those of squeezed natural fruits.
He weekly menu for children from three to four years It is a guiding example that will help you offer your children a varied diet. You can enlarge the table to print by clicking on the image above.
