School Age Nutrition, 7-10 Years Old

School Age Nutrition, 7-10 Years Old


7-10 Years Old

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Your 7-10 Years Old Child's Nutrition

Ensuring your child is getting the right nutrition is critical for their growth and development. Professor Joe Millward, Emeritus Professor of Human Nutrition, University of Surrey, attributes good growth to a healthy balanced diet, physical activity and sufficient sleep. Prof. Millward shared that some nutrients are more important than others in terms of the linear growth of the bones, and we can separate individual nutrients into two types:

Type 1 Nutrients
Deficiencies of these nutrients lead to reduction in bodily function.1

  • These are nutrients like, iron, folic acid, calcium, selenium, vitamin C, vitamin D, the B vitamins, and several others.
  • Dairy foods and leafy vegetables like spinach and legumes are also the best sources of calcium.
  • Vitamin A deficiency leads to poor immunity, and hence indirectly affects growth in the case of infections.

Type 2 Nutrients
Deficiencies of these nutrients lead to reduced growth.1

  • These include protein, zinc, potassium, magnesium and they are crucial for the formation of new tissue during growth.
  • Protein (amino acids) and zinc have direct roles in stimulating bone length growth.
  • Type 2 nutrients are important for children recovering from illnesses to allow for catch-up on growth, so dairy foods, eggs and legumes are particularly important for their provision of protein and zinc.

Did You Know?

Your eating habits and feeding styles can affect your children’s relationship with food. Abbott Nutrition interviewed expert Dr MacLean, clinical professor from Department of Paediatrics at The Ohio State University. Dr MacLean shared, “It’s not a parent’s job to control a child’s food intake. The parent’s job is to provide balanced meals, make the eating environment positive, and respond to children appropriately.”

There are 4 feeding styles, and the healthiest style is called ‘responsive feeding’. To read more about this click here.

School Age Nutrition and Diet – Top Tips

What Should Your Child Eat Now?

The daily schedules of primary school kids are packed with school, co-curricular activities, enrichment classes, tuition and homework. As parents, we must not forget that some of the best lessons in life still happen outside the classroom. Solving problems, developing social skills, and enhancing their ability to communicate better are some of the important life skills that children can develop through play!

As your child learns through school, classes and play, great nutrition is vital to fuel daily activities.

Changes You Will Begin To See In Your 7-10 Years Old

You’ve made it through diapers, through potty training, through preschool and learning to read. Now, your child is ready for more independence, homework, and friendships.

By age 10, your child is likely to show signs of:

  • Greater independence from parents and family
  • Stronger sense of right and wrong
  • Beginning awareness of the future
  • Growing understanding about one’s place in the world
  • More attention to friendships and teamwork
  • Growing desire to be liked and accepted by friends
  • Rapid development of mental skills – continues to improve reading and writing
  • Greater ability to describe experiences and talk about thoughts and feelings
  • Less focus on one’s self and more concern for others
  • Stronger, more complex friendships and peer relationships (greater importance on having friends of the same sex)
  • Experiencing more peer pressure
  • Becoming more independent from the family
  • Becoming more aware of his or her body as puberty approaches (be aware that image and eating problems sometimes start around this age)
  • Facing more academic challenges at school

References:
1 Golden MH. Specific deficiencies versus growth failure: type I and type II nutrients. SCN News. 1995;(12):10-4.

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