The USDA Food Pyramid is a guide to help parents and children make healthier choices and eat healthier foods. It was designed to help the whole family understand what foods comprise a balanced meal, nutrition facts and learn about the different foods that the body needs to be healthy.
The food pyramid divides food into five different food groups. Each food group provides a certain amount of nutrients that both adults and children need for general health. Each food group is represented by a colored stripe on the pyramid. Some foods we need more of and others we need less of. The wider stripes tells us that the body needs more of that food group. Conversely, the narrow stripe means the body needs less of that food group. But, the body needs food from all the food groups each day. The stairs remind us that everyone, including children needs to be active every day.
Depending on your child’s age, gender and activity level, he or she will need a certain amount of food (calories) from each of the food group. These different food groups provide different nutrients, vitamins and mineral that our essential to help grow and develop a healthy immune system, brain and overall general health.
It would be very challenging for anyone to figure out if their child is getting the right amount of calcium, zinc, protein, vitamin B12 etc! It can be very overwhelming. The USDA has made it easy by already figuring out for you what combinations and amounts of food your child needs in order to get their necessary vitamin and minerals. By eating foods from all five food groups in proper portion sizes, your child will be eating a healthy and well-balanced meal.
Want to know what your child should be eating? Our healthy meal calculator is based on the USDA food guidelines and makes it very easy to understand exactly what your child needs for a healthy balanced diet customized just for her/him. Our goal is to help give you the information you need to guide your child to eat a balanced diet.
Use our meal planner and see the amounts of each food group your child needs. You can even use the meal planner to spread out the foods into three meals and two snacks for a healthy balanced customized meal.
Healthy Eating
Healthy Child
email
print
share
tweet
0 Comments