Develop healthier eating choices

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The holiday season isn’t the only time children consume excessive amounts of sugar and unhealthy fats. Many parents unknowingly allow these dietary patterns to persist throughout the year. Children are eating fewer fruits and vegetables while consuming more sugary, salty, and fatty foods, making balanced nutrition even harder to achieve.

While mandatory front-of-package nutrition labels are being pushed, parents can still make smart choices by checking food labels at the back of every product. With so many baby snacks and convenient, ready-to-eat foods available, this small step can go a long way in keeping children healthy and happy. Here’s how you can make smarter picks at the grocery store.

The serving size tells you how many servings each product contains and how many grams or pieces is considered as one serving. Take note that nutritional information will be based on just one serving. Consider this when serving your kids the product.

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For example, the label might say “4 cookies” but a typical three-year-old needs only about 1,350 calories daily. If one serving (four cookies) contains 160 calories, and your child eats eight cookies for the day, that’s already almost one-fourth of the daily energy needs.

Fats, sugar, and salt are fine in small amounts but should stay low to prevent unhealthy weight gain. When it comes to fats, the type of fat is just as important as the amount. Healthy fats, like those from nuts, fish, and seeds, are important for brain development and energy. They even protect you from unhealthy saturated fats often found in fried or processed foods.

Watch out for hidden sugars in the ingredients list. Often, these are called “sucrose” or “corn syrup.” Take note, as well, that the ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. This means that the first one or two ingredients mentioned in the list are the ones that make up the largest portion of the product.

Children need fiber, vitamins, and minerals (like iron and calcium) to grow strong and healthy. While some snacks add these nutrients, it’s best to find foods that naturally have them, like fruits and whole grains.

Finally, look at the footnote which shows the % daily value (DV) which is based on an adult’s daily nutrient needs. While children need fewer calories, you can still use the % DV to estimate the amount of nutrients in a product. Aim for high percentages (20 percent or more) in nutrients like fiber, calcium, and iron, but keep sugar, salt, and fat low (five percent or less).

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