Diet for children: 3 or 5 meals a day?
3 Meals a day or 5 meals? The recommendations on the number of meals that children should make throughout the day are 5: at least 3 main meals and two smaller ones, lunch and snack. The size of these meals obviously depends on the child's age and nutritional needs, and when we talk about main meals
3 meals a day or 5 meals? The recommendations on the number of meals that children should make throughout the day are 5: at least 3 main meals and two smaller ones, lunch and snack.
The size of these meals obviously depends on the child's age and nutritional needs, and when we talk about main meals we do not necessarily mean a first course, a second and a dessert, but a nutritionally complete meal.
3 or 5 meals a day in childhood, what is healthier?
There will be children who have enough with three meals a day, even if they are relatively small, and there will be others who need that even lunch and snack are substantial, and, as the food must be on demand, we must respect their wishes, offering, always, healthy and balanced meals.
We usually meet with several situations, depending on the child's demand:
- With obesity on the lookout, how do we deal with the situation of that child who needs 5 large meals in his day-to-day life? The answer may seem complicated but it is not so: offering healthy meals. If we avoid sweets and highly processed foods, if we offer healthy breakfasts, meals and snacks, we should not worry because we are doing the right thing, our son will be eating what he needs.
- Due to lack of time, snacks snacks may not be entirely healthy . Unfortunately, like adults, children are particularly attracted to foods with unhealthy fats and full of sugars, as can be the options that can be found in the supermarket for the snack of our little ones. Industrial buns, chocolates, sausages and patés, sliced bread ... they are full of trans or saturated fats and sugars, but they love them, and many children, knowing what they can get at snack time, prefer not to eat and they turn into children who only eat breakfast (cookies, cereals, sweets, chocolates ...), have lunch and snack. Parents, desperate to see them eat, give in to their demands, becoming a vicious cycle. To avoid this, it is better to always offer healthy options, and, if time is short, get hold of something quick like a piece of fruit, a handful of nuts or a piece of bread stick.-
Pawn us in that they should eat 5 times a day, nor do we do them any favor sobre, especially if they do not need it, since we are forcing them to eat, with the risk that this implies. In this case, we must focus the diet towards full dishes and high nutritional density, can be single or combined dishes, and try to offer fruit between meals if the child does not eat it during meals. All recommendations always return to the same point, torespect the needs of our children
and trust that they know what they need. Our job will be to control that the offer is appropriate for them to make their choice.
