We need to plan healthy and nutritious meals so that they can get all the required nutrients for growth, said nutritionist Nidhi S

Today’s children have access to all kinds of packaged and processed foods that can make them prone to various lifestyle disorders like obesity. Instead of reaching out to packaged foods like instant noodles, and cold drinks, it is important to incorporate healthy and nutritious snacks as well as meals, experts say.

In a post on Instagram, nutritionist Nidhi S explained how many children tend to feed on processed foods in between meals that makes them constantly hungry.

Do your kids keep asking for food all the time? In olden days, we were told not to say not to children if they asked for food. However, this is not true now. With 14.4 million obese children, India is second highest in the world. Major reason behind this is the processed food which we feed to our children any time they ask for food between their meals,” she opined.

*Biscuits are treated like a must for kids?
*Kids have easy access to processed juices & cold drinks at home?
*And if you are not giving chocolates, ice creams to kids, you may be branded as cruel parents.

So, what should be done?

*School-aged children (ages 6-12) need to eat 4-5 times a day (including snacks). We need to plan healthy and nutritious meals so that they can get all the required nutrients for growth.

Encourage your child to have a proper meal, sit with them, and help them finish their meal. Most children avoid finishing meals and feel hungry after 30 minutes and look out for unhealthy snacks. A gap of 1.5-2 hours after a meal is a must. Eating snacks just after a meal might reduce their appetite for next meal. They will snack throughout the day which leads to weight gain and interferes with absorption of nutrients.

Don’t keep biscuits, chips and processed drinks at home

If your children have easy access to these, they might not like to finish their meal, saying they are full and ask for snacks later. As most of you have limited time, you end up giving them these.

Ensure proper protein items and vegetables

Add good amount of legumes, paneer, tofu and vegetables into their meal. Keep good variety. That is the key.