During periods of intensive growth and learning, children need to eat at least 5 times a day, including three hot meals. The interval between meals should not exceed four hours.
Parents are required to know what their child eats during the day and ensure that the diet is balanced. The calorie content of breakfast should be 25-30% of the daily requirement, lunch – 30-35%, afternoon snack – 20-25%, dinner – 20%.
For breakfast, you can offer an egg omelet with vegetables, greens, whole grain bread, fruits/berries, cheese casserole, cereal dishes with boiled eggs, meat or fish, fruit, and more.
At lunchtime, you can give the first courses - the simplest, not too fatty broths, vegetable and chicken soups. For the second course, the child should eat meat or fish dishes, preferably boiled or baked in the oven. Be sure to supplement the meal with a vegetable salad or just fresh vegetables, which are rich in vitamins and minerals.
The more colors on your plate, the healthier it is for your body. Expand your grocery cart: don't ignore greens and root vegetables. Add greens to salads, and root vegetables are delicious baked and added to stews.
Avoid drinks that contain sugar. Water is the best drink for both adults and children. Herbal teas, water with mint, or pieces of fruit or berries are also good options for quenching thirst. If you are making compote or uzvar, do not add sugar.
Between dinner and lunch, there should be a light snack – for example, kefir, fruits, vegetables, nuts, flour products with low sugar, salt content, etc.
Dinner should be eaten no later than 2 hours before bedtime, but preferably even earlier. Dinner dishes should be prepared taking into account what the child ate during the day. There should be no repetition of dishes. If the child did not receive fruits or juices during the day, give them for dinner, if he did not eat dairy dishes - offer him this option. Low-fat fish and light vegetables, for example, stewed, are perfect for dinner.
Don't try to feed your child something they don't like. Find a compromise - food should be enjoyable, tasty, and healthy.