Importance Of Healthy Food For Young Children: An Essay.

You are required to visit a child care or preschool nearest to your housing area. You need to observe what is served to the children during meal times (breakfast and lunch) and write a short report on your observation.

The report should consist of the following components:

1. Description of the food served at the child care or preschool.
2. Discussion on its values in relation to good nutrition for children.
3. Recommendations on improving good nutrition at the child care or preschool.
4. Suggestions on how to educate parents on promoting good nutrition to their children.

The Significance Of Healthy Food

Nutrition plays an essential role in the lifestyle of every individual. Food is the major source through which the individual can inhale nutrition. Food is important things in the life of every individual besides water (Mann & Truswell, 2017). Moreover, strong consumption means eating the diversity of foods that help in giving the nutrients which are required to maintain the health experience good quality and have energy. Nutrients include fat, water, carbohydrate, vitamin, as well as a mineral. When united with being physically active as well as maintaining a vigorous weight, eating healthy food is one of the brilliant manners to help the body to stay physically powerful and healthy. According to the analysis of Consumer Food Service Market Research 2011 in Malaysia, the population of individuals eating unhealthy food is more than people who are eating healthy food. After recovering the economic crises in 2008-09, Malaysians spent more amounts on eating out in 2011 (Branca, Piwoz, Schultink & Sullivan, 2015).

In the following part, there will be a detailed analysis of the importance of healthy food among young children and how they can enhance their habits to live a healthy lifestyle.

Eating healthy food and maintain diet in regular play a prominent role in making the young generation healthy. There is certain importance of adopting healthy food as they are explained in the below points:

Prevent diseases and illness

The consumption of healthy food plays a significant role in ability of the body to prevent as well as recover from the illness and diseases. At the situation, when the body of an individual is healthy due to the reason of healthy eating properly with regular exercise diseases the risk of illness among the young generation. An individual is less likely to become sick when there is the existence of a healthy life in their life. Therefore, healthy food and diet prevent the young generation from serious diseases and illness that help in developing their body in a more effective manner (Hawkes et al., 2015).

Nourishing Body

A healthy diet and eating habits nourish the body that helps the individual to perform at optimal levels. According to the requirement and need of body when an individual consumes the vitamins as well as minerals then it helps in enhancing the energy level of the individual. The healthy diet lowers the risk of colon problems, diabetes, as well as heart disease. A properly nourishes body can also resist the germs as well as microorganisms better than a corpse that is majorly dependent on an unhealthy diet routine (Perkin et al., 2016).

Preschools Approach To Providing Meals

The consumption of healthy food and diet would help the individual to enhance their concentration power that directly links to their growth of career and life. It has been proved by the researchers that the individual who is healthy has a great concentration power as a comparison to the unhealthy people due to the reason their body is weak that resist the bran to learn something new or recognize the things in an effective manner as a comparison to the healthy people. The healthy diet helps in stretching the brain that creates sharp memory that has a direct to the growth of the young generation in a more effective and efficient manner (Todd et al., 2015).

Boosting level of Energy

By eating a healthy diet as well as combining this with the exercise could end the routine of an individual with a more vibrant life. Eating healthy food boosting the level of energy among the young children and improve the bodily functions that help to improve the immune among the children. The body of young children is weak as a comparison to the mature generation that needs to be protected through immune. Therefore, a healthy diet boosts the energy level among young children that is greatly required on their overall development of body and brain.

Mood and Cognition

A well diet can guide to the overall presentation of the intelligence and body. According to the analysis of researchers, food with elevated in antioxidants can help in promoting the generation of neurons into old age while enhancing the aptitude to exist cells of the mind to converse with each other that result in cognitive performance.

The healthy diet also pals an essential role in frame of mind and psychological healthiness. According to the Journal of psychoanalysis, a well diet is linked with a inferior occurrence of nervousness disorder, depression, as well as dysthymia (Kelder, Hoelscher & Perry, 2015).

Malaysia has taken various steps to promote a healthy lifestyle among people. They have taken initiates from the preschool, where the young children spend their half time at that place. Some of the preschools follow the healthy chart and some of the preschools do not follow such a chart. The Malaysian schools mostly prefer non-spicy foods for young children in their schools which are mainly served by them. They have not a particular diet chart that they followed strictly

• In the breakfast, are divided into vegetarian and non-vegetarian as they mainly serve fruits to the vegetarian and omelet to the eggaterian. They start their diet chart with fruits and juice that made the day healthy of their children.
• The lunch is the main course for preschool, in which they majorly focused on rice products such as Nasi Lemak, Dosa that made the day of their children lighter. They also serve fish to the non-vegetarian children that made their life healthier (Lee & Lee, 205)

Other than that, most of the children bring snacks with them such as saluted chips, cookies, bread sandwich that can be eaten by them in the schools in the break secession.

Ways Parents Can Contribute To Promoting Healthy Nutrition

According to the analysis, it has been observed that there was lack of knowledge on healthy eating as well as it would be a relevant topic for a dissertation. They majorly focus on rice that suggested that a lack of knowledge of different food groups. The endorsement of well consumption in school is one of the mainly essential chances to make sure that children can decide a strong diet at the present and afterwards in life. Therefore, preschools majorly focus on proving nutrition to young children (Balachanthar, S., Zakaria & Lee, 2018).

The schools are expected to serve healthy food choice to help the growth as well as maintain the health of children that help in reducing the future risk of diet-related chronic disease. The food served in preschool is according to the guidelines and recommendations. It has been analyzed that fatty foods dominate the foods riches with protein. A very small proportion of food menu is served with vegetables; products of milk as well as the category of fruits. Most of the schools have different values towards good nutrition. According to the analysis, most of the preschool in Malaysia mainly focus on rice in lunchtime for the children. They believe that rice will be light for their body with full of nutrition therefore, they mainly focus on rice products such as Nasi Lemak, Dosa that been served by them in preschool to the children (Kumar,Singh & Kumar, 2016). According to the Malaysian population, the fruits contain high nutrients that help them in developing their body, therefore, they suggest eating one fruit on a regular basis that helps in promoting the health of the children in a more effective and efficient manner. Moreover, the fishes are the major source for the Malaysian people to enhance their health; they believed that fish has a number of nutrition that enhances the power of brain in children that help in the development of the children in the early age. Fish contain vitamins that nourish the body of an individual in a more effective manner (Nor, Latif, Ismail & Nor, 2016)

The national council for curriculum as well as an assessment of Malaysia states that developing health-promoting practice through their time in school can encourage the child to take increasing control over their own health that helps to establish as well as maintain the healthy behaviors from an early age of the individual (Tan, Chai & Min, 2017).

There is a great need to concentrate on healthy nutrition that helps in developing and strengthening the health of children. There are certain manners through which they can enhance their good nutrition which is explained in below points:

• The children are needed to eat a diversity of foods in order to have a sufficient nutrient intake. Stick on one food would not cover all nutrition that is needed in the body. Therefore it is highly recommended that they should eat a variety of food according to the season that helps in covering all the nutrients that are actually required in the body.
• Choose a diet that is moderate or balanced in sugar as well as sault. There should be proper avoidance of giving a large number of sweet desserts, flavored drinks, sugar-coated cereals, chips or candy, soft drinks to the children due to the reason, it contains low nutritional values and high calories and fat which is not healthy for the children that affect their health at a greater level (Ritchie et al., 2015).
• Eating breakfast every day would help the children to maintain concentration in class. A healthy breakfast should be provided that would able to generate a third of the total daily energy requirement. A typical breakfast includes a cereal such as bread, oats, rice, protein-rich food such as vitamin C rich fruits, a glass of milk.
• The diet of mass loss are not suitable for children therefore, it is most excellent to offer plump children a diversity of well food, right portion sizes as well as opportunities to be active. Following these practices will help children grow into a additional usual mass (Gordon, 2012).
• The preschool should teach the children how to study when they are starving and when they are full. Permit toddlers to go away the foodstuff on their tableware, it the child ask for the moment serving then serve a little section even if you consider that the child has eaten sufficient. They can also comprise low-calorie food in their meals as well as refreshments and tender such foods when children ask for extra (Whiteley & Matwiejczyk, 2015).
• The preschools have the same routine of food and insist on the children on eating similar food every day that increase the attraction and preference among the children for a particular dish or food, the children feel resist to eat other food on a regular basis, therefore, persist contribution a assortment of foods even if a teenager eat only one thing. With the time as well as tolerance, the children would able to start to eat a wider diversity of foods in an effective manner that would help them in taking the nutrition from other foods as well.
• Preschool, should certainly not power a kid to eat more. T is usual for the children to eat a lot of food one day and approximately not anything on another day. Of, preschool offers choices from each one of the food groups every day, and then the children would able to adjust and eat an appropriate amount of food over several days. Deciding how much to consume at a specified food or snack it the job of the child. It is the responsibility of preschool to serves a variety of nutrition as well as tasty food to the children.
• Preschool should respect as well as value the educational consumption differences. They should bring in the kids to foods from a diverse culture and should hearten the children as well as their families to split the stories about their variety of cultures to enhance the knowledge about healthy foods according to the different culture among children (De Marco, Zeisel & Odom, 2015).

The parents play a prominent role in providing nutrients food to their children. They are the main source through such the children can develop in a more effective and efficient manner. There are certain ways through which the parents can contribute to providing nutrients food to their consumers. These are explained in below points as they are:

Secession and training

The programs can be arrange for the parents in which dietician or any other nutrients professional can take secession of the parents in which they can give training to the parents related to healthy diet and a chart they can follow for their children that would help in enhancing the knowledge and awareness about the healthy foods among the parents.

Social media is one of the effective platforms which can be used for any purpose. Most of the individuals are using social media. They are mostly available on Facebook, YouTube and other media therefore, a small clip can be prepared about the healthy foods and nutrition in which the foods or recipes can be share to prepare healthy food or in which fruits or vegetable has which nutrients that enhance the skills of parents that can give them chance to experiments with the food to make them more nutrients and taste that can be easily eaten by their children (Larsen et al., 2015)

Contest

The contest can be arranged for the parents in which, the game can be held about the nutrition food that would help the parents to know about how much they have knowledge about the nutrition food and how much they lag in knowing the importance of nutrition food. The contest creates completion among the parents that would force to know about such things in an effective manner. The winning parents will be gifted by the contest runner that would motivate other parents as well to gain their knowledge for such foods. They can apply such learning and knowledge in the dieting of their children that would enhance the development of children in an effective manner (Nepper & Chai, 2016).

Motivate Parents to buy fruits

The motivational programs can be arranged by the preschool or government in which the parents can be suggested to buy fruits for their children rather than snacks that made their life healthier. It has been observed that if parents emphasize how important these are in the diet, the children would able to eat more often, compared to parents who are more about relaxed it. According to the views of Kleinman “You do not want to be rigid about it, but you must insist (Loth et al., 2016).

Counseling

Counseling can be arranged for the parents to educate them towards good nutrition food. In the process of counseling, councilors will take secession of individual parent and force them to share issues related to the health of their children, according they should provide diet char to their parents. It increases the satisfaction level among the parents and would able to guide them properly towards the steps of a healthy lifestyle. Parents are the role model of children therefore; it is the responsibility of the parents to take care of the diet of their children to prove the huge level of nutrition that made the life of the children healthier (Sandell et al., 2016).

References

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