Good nutrition for schoolchildren

Every caring mother wants her child to get as many nutrients as possible with food. This is doubly important for schoolchildren, because strenuous learning activities require a constant supply of energy, vitamins and minerals for productive brain function and support for the nervous system.

According to nutritionists, the diet of students should be built in such a way that it meets three important principles: variety, balance and moderation. Let’s talk about how to put all of these recommendations into practice by highlighting the 7 rules of a healthy school diet.

A hearty hot breakfast

It does not necessarily have to be a liquid dish – as part of the morning meal are relevant cereals in the form of porridge, pasta, boiled or baked potatoes. These products are good because they contain starch, and it is known to be processed very slowly. During digestion of starchy food glucose is released, which is responsible for the body’s tone, so the schoolchild is guaranteed to have enough energy for the entire school day. You can drink tea, fruit or vegetable juice (fresh fruit and vegetables, by the way, are also approved), as well as coffee with milk.

Mandatory school snacks

Every student needs snacks between meals. For example, you can eat a cookie, a crispy bread or a sandwich with juice (it is very important that it is a natural juice, not a nectar or a juice drink with an excess of preservatives and sugar). Again, all kinds of fruit are welcome – apples, pears, peaches, bananas, etc.

Here are a few options for healthy snacks:

Pita rolls filled with cottage cheese (or cottage cheese in the form of pasta), slices of baked chicken and vegetables. Sweet rolls can be made from the same cottage cheese or cheese with slices of banana, pear, nectarine, plum, persimmon.
Cheesecakes made from a mixture of wheat and oat flour, baked in the oven.
Waffle / baked pie with cabbage or apples.
Rolled omelet filled with slices of boiled chicken, herbs, grated cheese, and bell pepper slices. You can wrap the omelet in a baking sheet of Peking cabbage for convenience.

Short intervals between meals

This aspect is important for the health of the gallbladder – when food does not enter the stomach for a long time, bile begins to stagnate. Children need to eat every four hours or more often; adults, without consequences for their well-being, can tolerate 5-hour breaks. If a pupil eats in the canteen, where hot meals are served, it is enough for him to take from home a fruit (apple / pear), a couple of cookies and a small bag of juice. In the absence of organized meals, the student should be provided with a more impressive set, and the traditional sandwiches with sausage (which clearly does not belong to the useful products and risks poisoning due to rapid deterioration) should be preferred to a piece of boiled chicken or beef, supplemented with some vegetable like cucumber and low-fat cheese (pack food better in a special lunchbox – a convenient sealed container with sections). You can wash it all down with liquid yogurt – it’s very nutritious, varied and delicious.

Categorical “no” to fast food

So-called fast foods such as hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, saltine crackers and croutons upset the metabolism and are permanently addictive to unhealthy foods. The same applies to the constant consumption of rolls, cakes, candy bars and, of course, soda water. If you get addicted to these products, the body will insist on consuming them in large quantities and, as a consequence, will develop a mechanism for increased production of insulin (which is what assists in the breakdown of sweets). This is how hyperinsulinemia occurs – a condition that has all the chances to lead to the development of diabetes. Do not think that only obese adolescents are at risk – excess insulin is often seen in thin-skinned schoolchildren, who are hard to suspect of abusing junk food. These kids have a kind of attacks – episodes of hypoglycemia, during which blood sugar drops sharply, there is an exacerbated feeling of hunger, and when the stomach is completely empty, you may feel very dizzy. The best way out of the situation teenagers find repeated intake of sweets or muffins, which in the long run only aggravates their situation. On top of that, a tendency to accumulate excess fat appears.

A three-course full meal

In the middle of the day a pupil should certainly eat a hot liquid meal (chicken, meat, fish or vegetable soup with greens, necessarily low-fat), a second meal consisting of boiled/stewed meat or fish with vegetables on the side and some tasty dessert. Large portions do not need to be – let everything be a little, so that the child will eat everything with appetite.

A “strategic” afternoon snack

If from lunch to dinner time passes quite a long time, the pupil needs a light, but nutritious “recharge” in the form of natural yoghurt with fresh berries / fruits, dried fruit mix, walnuts or almonds. Tea with a cheese sandwich will do; you can eat a whole-wheat flour bun with milk. Such a simple meal will provide effective support for a tired brain and be a source of additional energy, which in the afternoon is not superfluous.

A light dinner

For evening meals, nutritionists advise to choose a fish, egg or vegetable dish, curd dishes are also approved. It is very good if the bread is whole grain or rye. Other cereals and all kinds of sweets should be kept until the weekend and holidays – in the daily menu of schoolchildren, they will be superfluous. Of drinks preferred tea, milk and juice.