Winter baby food
Winter weather changes in the direction of being colder and more humid, accompanied by erratic rain, so it will more or less affect health, especially children. At this time, children are very susceptible to colds, pneumonia... especially children under 12 months old because their resistance is not yet complete. At that time, if parents have appropriate care and feeding methods in winter, they will contribute to preventing the adverse health effects of the weather.
1. How to feed your baby in winter?
To enhance resistance against disease and meet the baby's energy needs, winter dishes for children need to ensure adequate supply of 4 groups of essential nutrients, including starch, protein , fats, vitamins and minerals.
In particular, whole grains have the ability to provide long-term energy, while proteins from meat, fish, eggs, milk, and fats from vegetable oils help children not be hungry and avoid losing energy. .
1.1. Starch group
Winter is a time when children's bodies need more starch (or sugar) than other times of the year. Therefore, winter dishes for children require more starch than usual.
The usual source of starch is from rice (rice), noodles, parents can diversify foods containing a lot of starch such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins... Advantages of these foods is an ingredient that contains a lot of sugar (while confectionery contains only simple sugars) to help children's bodies stay fuller longer, providing more energy.
To increase the appetite and attract children to eat more, parents should prepare a variety of winter dishes for children according to their preferences, thereby providing starch and energy for the body.
1.2. Protein and fat group
Nutritionists say that protein-rich food groups stimulate the body to produce heat better than other foods. Therefore, feeding your baby in winter with foods high in protein will help your baby's body keep warm better.
Besides the protein food groups such as meat, fish, eggs, milk... parents should pay attention to increase another essential nutrient, which is fat from animal fats or vegetable oils (such as vegetable oils and fats). sesame oil, soybean oil).
When making winter dishes for children every day, mothers must remember not to abstain from too much fat, instead add a few teaspoons of vegetable oil when processing. Young children need to be provided with fat in many other forms such as using peanut butter, avocado smoothie or margarine... Sometimes it is also possible for children to use cheese, milk, and whey depending on their taste. little.
1.3. Essential vitamins
Vitamin D: Scientific studies have shown that up to 80% of vitamin D is synthesized by the body through the absorption of UVB rays by the skin. Therefore, sunbathing is an effective method of providing vitamin D for the baby's body. But in winter, most of the day there is very little sunshine, so the baby's sunbathing time will also be limited. Therefore, winter dishes for children must ensure to provide the necessary amount of vitamin D. Foods rich in vitamin D include milk, eggs, fish oil, salmon, cheese and mushrooms... You need to be flexible to make the above vitamin D rich foods into delicious dishes, Nutritious to feed the baby in winter. Vitamins E and C: Vitamins E and C have the ability to improve the body's adaptation to cold weather, and can also strengthen the immune system of young children. These two important vitamins exist a lot in green vegetables (especially dark green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, watercress...), fruits and vegetable oils (such as olive oil, corn oil, peanut oil, sesame oil). Therefore, mothers need to increase feeding in winter with vegetables and fruits to supplement adequate amounts of vitamins E and C, thereby increasing resistance and protecting the body. Vitamin B2: This is an essential mineral to increase the body's resistance and resist the negative changes of the weather. Dairy products such as cheese, yogurt... are considered rich sources of vitamin B2. In addition, mothers can prepare winter dishes for children to provide vitamin B2 from foods such as eggs, hearts, poultry, cereals, fresh fruits, legumes and nuts. However, it should be noted that vitamin B2 easily loses its nutritional content during processing (from 15-20%), so mothers need to increase the amount of foods containing this nutrient when processing and feeding babies. in winter.
2. Increase extra meals when feeding your baby in winter
The winter air is getting colder and colder, the body of young children is difficult to adapt to the sudden change and needs a lot of heat to keep the body warm. In addition to supplementing essential nutrients through main meals, mothers can provide more energy for their children with snacks with attractive winter dishes for children such as soups, hot soups, steamed or fried cakes...
In the cold season, instead of giving your baby fresh milk, please prepare a glass of warm milk for your child. This both provides more energy and increases the child's ability to keep warm.
Another nutritious food that children often use is yogurt. This food provides a lot of protein, fat along with important vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A, D, potassium, calcium, magnesium... In particular, yogurt fermentation has produced many beneficial strains. bacteria, helping to balance the intestinal microflora. This process is very good for the digestive process and strengthens the immunity in the children. No matter the time, yogurt is always a healthy food for children. However, parents need to pay attention to how to feed their children yogurt in the winter to be effective and avoid counterproductive.
Cold weather increases the risk of sore throats in young children, so the right way to feed your baby yogurt in the winter is to remove the yogurt from the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes before using it to reduce the temperature. cold. At the same time, when eating, it is necessary to remind your child to eat slowly, small pieces, not in a hurry.
Besides, parents should only let their children use 1-2 boxes of yogurt per day. Eating too much yogurt in winter can cause digestive disorders. Note that the best time to eat yogurt is after main meals. The way to feed children yogurt in the winter is suitable to support better digestion and promote the absorption of nutrients.
In the baby's nutrition in the winter, parents should supplement their children with supportive products containing lysine, essential micro-minerals and vitamins such as zinc, chromium, selenium, and B vitamins to help meet their full needs. meet nutritional needs. At the same time, these essential vitamins also support digestion, enhance nutrient absorption, help improve anorexia, and help children eat well.
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