Your toddler is building bones, are you giving him/her the right nutrition?
Your little child is growing fast, and during these growth years, your kid needs a healthy diet plan to ensure strength and robust growth and development. Bones are an integral and essential component of the human body, as they form a robust structure to protect our soft organs. From their tender walks to their playful running around the house, it all depends on the overall bone structure of your little ones.
Calcium is what you should focus on. Calcium is one of the most important components in building your toddler’s bone structure. Hence, it is essential to feed your child with adequate amounts of Calcium in order to build harder and stronger bones. Consequently, ensuring enough calcium in your child’s daily diet helps in prevention of fractures.
"Calcium is one of the most important
components in building your toddler’s bone structure"
This essential nutrient is present in body muscles, in blood and in between cells, thereby regulating the release of hormones and entire nerve functioning of your kid’s body.
It is advised to provide at least 600 milligrams of Calcium to your kid every day. Here are some common sources of Calcium that can be included in your child’s daily diet:
- Milk, milk drinks and milk products for toddlers consist of high levels of calcium. Adding nutritional flavours or fruits to the milk can make it tastier to drink. A 250ml glass of milk can provide 417mg of calcium and other nutritional supplements to your child.
- Sesame seeds are another source of calcium that can be roasted and mixed in porridges or dal. 1 tsp of sesame seeds provides 73mg of calcium.
- Vitamin D is an essential nutrient without which your toddler’s body cannot absorb calcium. Tuna fish, soy milk, and orange juice are good sources of Vitamin D.
- Daily exposure to the sun for at least 15 - 20 minutes can help in formation of Vitamin D within your young child’s skin and body.
- Nutritious milk drinks provide the much needed calcium and vitamin D for your child’s bone and physical development.
Along with Calcium, Phosphorous and Magnesium also help in building strong bones for your little one.
The bone structure and framework of a growing child change constantly over time. Hence, it is important to feed the right nutrition to ensure enough strength and nourishment for proper bone function. Along with right nutrition, it is also important to limit the added sucrose intake of your child. Excessive sucrose consumption displaces nutrition from the healthier foods and also puts your child at the risk of tooth decays and obesity. Hence, you must ensure that your child consumes sweets in moderation.
Make sure you incorporate this into a healthy diet for your child to ensure proper growth and development, and make him or her strong for life. Choose only the best for your little kid.
