Have you provided your child with enough vitamins and minerals?

Children are growing and developing, requiring a lot of nutrients every day to build their bodies, ensure the activities of the functions to maintain life, play and learn. One of the very important food groups to eat every day is vegetables and fruits, a source of vitamins and minerals necessary for health.

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The role of vegetables and fruits in health

Vegetables and fruits play a particularly important role in nutrition. Vegetables and fruits contain many vitamins and minerals necessary for the body. An important characteristic of vegetables and fruits is the effect of stimulating appetite and stimulating the secretion function of the digestive glands. In vegetables and fruits, there are polyphenon complexes (colors, flavors) containing biolanoids that have an antioxidant role, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. In vegetables and fruits, there are also some enzymes that support the digestive process. Vegetables and fruits are rich in fiber, which stimulates increased intestinal motility and prevents constipation.

Vegetables and fruits are the main source of vitamin C and carotene (provitamin A) for the body. Vegetables and fruits also provide minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium... necessary for the metabolism process. Dark green vegetables (malabar spinach, water spinach, amaranth, jute...), yellow, red, orange fruits (papaya, gac, mango, persimmon...) contain a lot of beta carotene which has an important function in the body, helping children grow, preventing dry eyes, increasing resistance to respiratory infections, diarrhea... Vegetables and fruits also contain pectin which has the effect of absorbing toxins for excretion. Some types of spices are valuable sources of plant antibiotics with medicinal effects (onions, perilla, lemon basil, chives...).

Therefore, eating vegetables and fruits every day is extremely important for health. One of the reasonable nutritional advices is "Eat a lot of vegetables and fruits every day". Currently, according to nutrition survey data (2010), the consumption of green vegetables in Vietnamese people's meals is on the decline, while meat consumption has increased 6-7 times compared to 10 years ago. According to the recommendation of the Institute of Nutrition, adults should eat about 300g of green vegetables and 100g of ripe fruit every day. For children, depending on their age and needs, they should eat appropriately.

How to feed children vegetables and fruits properly?

Fruits and vegetables should only be fed to babies when they have entered the weaning period, and should be started from the 6th month. At first, squeeze the juice from fruits such as oranges, tangerines, lemons... 5-7 drops, then gradually increase to 2-3 teaspoons. Other fruits such as bananas, papayas, and sapodillas also need to be gradually introduced to help babies get used to each type of fruit. Usually, mothers often start by feeding their babies grated bananas with a spoon, and other fruits such as papayas and sapodillas are crushed. As with other foods, when feeding children fruit, you should start slowly: on the first day, feed them one or two teaspoons a day, then gradually increase the amount. Children 6 - 12 months old can receive 60 - 100g of pureed fruit per day (1/3 - 1/2 banana or 1 sapodilla, 1 piece of papaya or mango) and 1/2 orange or 1 tangerine, squeezed for juice and mixed with 5g (1 teaspoon of sugar). When children are 1-2 years old, eat about 100g per day. Children 3-5 years old: 150-200g/day.

According to SKDS