Nutrition for a 6 year old child. Sample menu

Five years is a special milestone for a child. The body is no longer growing as rapidly, and therefore some nutritionists recommend reducing the caloric content of the daily diet. In fact, this should not be done - after all, children at this age are extremely active, which means they need to constantly replenish their energy reserves. The menu should be expanded by introducing new dishes from meat, vegetables, fish and other products.

Basic principles of nutrition

If the child is healthy, his weight is within the normal range or slightly higher, which means the number of meals per day should be 4 times. Weak children need enhanced nutrition - they must be provided with a second breakfast, and care must be taken to ensure that they receive everything they need for full development.

Particular attention should be paid to overly plump children. They look cute, but in the future this may result in metabolic disorders, which will inevitably lead to deterioration in health. You should not put your child on an adult diet or sharply reduce caloric intake. The problem must be approached comprehensively:

• Exclude from food fatty foods, confectionery with cream, reduce sugar consumption - if the weight exceeds the norm slightly, these measures will be enough to normalize it.
• Pay more attention physical development child - organize daily exercises, go jogging with him, give preference to active games rather than sitting at the computer.
• Avoid snacking between meals.

If your child's weight is 15–20% more than normal, you should most likely consult a doctor. Sometimes obesity is associated with disturbances in the functioning of certain body systems - only a doctor is able to diagnose the cause and develop a plan for further action.

Portion size

A common question from parents is: what is the optimal serving size? The total weight of products consumed per day for a 5-6 year old child should be 1700–1900 g. This is an approximate norm that should be enough for a child with average needs. If your baby is regularly offered a supplement, there is a high probability of obesity, as well as malfunctions. digestive system.

Thus, the main meal should account for about 400–500 g, excluding the afternoon snack. For breakfast and lunch, offer your baby the most nutritious dishes, dinner should be light, and an afternoon snack should be a snack, usually it goes away after nap. Do not insist that the child always eats a full portion; he may have no appetite, and your persistent attempts to force-feed him can lead to a rejection reaction - the baby will develop a negative attitude towards food.

Diet

Almost nothing has changed, the principle of scheduling remains the same:

• 08:00 - breakfast, it must be complete so that the child gains energy and strength;
• 12:30–13:00 - three-course lunch and dessert (compote, jelly, juice, fruit puree);
• 15:30–16:00 - afternoon snack;
• 18:00–19:00 - dinner.

Attention! The most high-calorie meal is lunch. It accounts for 40% of the daily diet. After a meal, do not involve your baby in active activities - according to the daily routine, there should be a nap during the day!

Features of digestion of a 5–6 year old child

Products must be appropriate for the child's age. Although the baby already has enough teeth (20 or a little more), it is not recommended to give him all foods. Prohibited:

• spicy dishes - with chili peppers, all kinds of seasonings, including industrial ones;
• coffee - it excites nervous system, affects the functioning of the heart and other internal organs;
• fast food is not even negotiable, a hot dog or hamburger contains a lot harmful products: fried meat, mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard in large quantities;
• mushrooms - they are poorly digestible and “clog” the stomach;
• horseradish and vinegar - irritate the mucous membrane of the digestive system.

From time to time you can offer your preschooler smoked or boiled sausages: sausages or sausages. But only occasionally, you cannot feed your child with them every day.

Consequences of poor nutrition

Often adults neglect the recommendations of nutritionists and feed their children the same thing they eat themselves. What is the result? The consequences of an unbalanced diet are not immediately noticeable; sometimes problems arise after a few months. Possible options:

• chronic diseases of the digestive system: gastritis, duodenitis, constipation, diarrhea;
• underweight - it occurs not only in children with poor appetite, but also for those who eat with pleasure;
• obesity - the threat is that this disease develops gradually, parents are happy good appetite the child is ready to feed him without restrictions, which turns into serious problems;
• physical development disorders;
• decreased intellectual activity - the child learns poorly educational material, his memory is deteriorating.

It may seem to some that a decrease in mental and physical abilities has nothing to do with digestion, but in fact human body everything is interconnected.

How to create a menu for a 5-year-old child

Typically, children of this age are interested in food, they ask their mother what she will give for lunch or breakfast, and may make a request to prepare their favorite dish. The most convenient way is to create a menu for the week, making sure that it is varied. If your child attends kindergarten, find out what they feed the child there - it is advisable to offer other dishes at home so that the baby’s diet is not too boring.

Principles of menu formation:

• there should be meat on the table every day - about 80–100 g;
• the list of vegetables is now practically unlimited; they should be present in the baby’s diet every day;
• fish dishes must be prepared at least twice a week;
• Butter and vegetable oil - needed every day.

The role of vegetables and fruits in a child’s nutrition cannot be overestimated. They contribute to the proper functioning of the digestive system and supply the body with important vitamins and minerals, normalize intestinal function. Important! Fresh vegetables and vitamins are healthier, so they should be given preference over canned products. IN winter time You can always offer your child grated carrots, apples, pears, as well as seasonal fruits: citrus fruits, bananas, persimmons or kiwi.

When planning the menu, it is advisable to take into account the child’s preferences and not include dishes that he does not like. Other tips:

• One porridge a day is enough; for other meals it is better to cook vegetables;
• fats do not combine well with proteins - this combination takes a long time to digest, and besides, it contributes to obesity;
• It is advisable to consume proteins in the first half of the day - it is for this reason that meat dishes are needed in the morning and not in the evening;
• first courses are mandatory - they are healthy and help normalize intestinal activity;
• Before going to bed (dinner), you need simple food, for example, dairy or vegetables.

Sample menu

To this it remains to add that among the cereals, two porridges should be especially noted: oatmeal and buckwheat. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the menu for 1 day, based on it you can create your own meal plan for the child:

• Breakfast. Buckwheat porridge with stewed meat and sauce. Fresh cabbage salad with cucumbers (in winter you can prepare a vinaigrette, boiled beets, carrots, etc.). Cocoa with a bun.
• Dinner. Tomato and cucumber salad seasoned with vegetable oil (we recommend abstaining from mayonnaise in principle). Borscht with beans. Vegetable stew with veal meatballs in tomato sauce. Soufflé with fruit. Apple-cherry compote (jelly or fruit juice).
• Afternoon snack. Cottage cheese casserole(pudding, fruit salad, etc.). Compote with bun.
• Dinner. Pumpkin porridge with rice and milk. Tea and cheese sandwich.
• Before bed - a glass of kefir.

Based on this menu, you can come up with many options. When choosing dishes, it is advisable to take into account the season. So, in the summer, the emphasis should be on fresh vegetables and fruits; during this period it is better to refrain from buying bananas, citrus fruits and other overseas fruits; it is best to offer the baby strawberries, cherries, cherries, peaches, apricots, and currants.

Please note that not only the physical abilities of the baby, but also the intellectual ones depend on nutrition. Thanks to balanced diet the brain and body cells will receive all the necessary substances for normal functioning.

Volume daily ration children aged six to seven years increases to 1800-1900 g due to an increase of up to 250 g of the first course, up to 80 g of a portioned meat or fish dish, and up to 100 g of a side dish.

In the summer, instead of pasta with grated cheese, you can give sweet bell peppers baked with cheese or turnips with apples and raisins. For increase taste qualities dishes baby food except previously used leafy greens You can occasionally use pepper, mustard, and mayonnaise in small quantities mixed with sour cream.

For children six to seven years old, sauces may be a little spicier. For example, potato cutlets are good served with tomato-sour cream or onion sauce. However, it is better not to give hot seasonings and sauces to children at this age.

Children love homemade baked goods. Therefore, it’s good to at least occasionally bake something tasty and healthy for your afternoon snack, for example, a muffin with cottage cheese, an apple pie, or oatmeal Hercules.

Children should not be given natural coffee, strong tea, since these drinks contain the stimulant caffeine. In addition, when taking them, the consumption of milk, which is more valuable for the child’s body, is limited.

All kids love candy, sweet carbonated drinks, and ice cream. They can be given to the child occasionally as a means of encouragement. But you just need to do this not on the go (on the street, in a store) and not during breaks between meals. It is best to offer the desired sweets as dessert for lunch.

Most children preschool age attends preschool institutions. So that the child does not refuse kindergarten from breakfast, it is not advisable to feed him in the morning at home. If the child is taken out of bed early due to preschool is far away, you can give him an apple, raw carrot, some other apples or fruits.

Homemade dinner should complement the daily diet, and not repeat the dishes that the child received during the day. Therefore, parents need to look daily at the menu posted in the parent’s corner of the nursery.

It is very useful to finish any of your meals with raw, hard fruits or vegetables.

Sample daily food menu for a 6-7 year old child

Breakfast

• Macaroni with grated cheese - 240/10g
• Coffee (surrogate) with milk - 200 ml
• White bread with butter - 50g/5g

Dinner

• Eggplant caviar (squash) - 50 g
• Rassolnik with meat broth - 150 ml
• Fish cutlets (fried fish) - 80 g
• Mashed potatoes with green peas- 70g/30g
• Lemon drink with honey - 150g
• Black bread - 60

Afternoon snack

• Cake with cottage cheese - 50 g
• Kefir - 200 g
• Fresh fruits - 100 g

Dinner

• Cabbage cutlets (cutlets) with tomato-sour cream sauce - 200 g
• Milk - 150 ml
• White bread - 50 g

At this age, it is necessary to strengthen the child’s skills of correct behavior during meals. First of all, you should pay attention to the fact that you need to sit straight at the table, do not lean back in the chair, and do not spread your elbows. After five years, the child must be taught to use a table knife while eating, taught to hold a fork in his left hand so that the right remains free for the knife.

The child should know that only food that cannot be chopped with a fork is used with a knife. Moreover, they do not cut the entire portion, but cut off small pieces only after the previous one has been chewed and swallowed. The child must understand the expediency of such an action - a portion of food immediately cut into pieces cools down faster and loses its taste. But dishes such as casserole, pudding, cutlet, boiled or Fried fish It is easy to chop into pieces with a fork, so there is no need to cut them with a knife.

Extension daily menu, food in summer, approximate weekly menu

The child’s menu in the sixth year of life remains the same as in the fifth. Only the set of dishes is diversified due to different culinary processing. The child's menu includes roasts, chops, and cutlets. Smoked and stuffed fish, sausage, ham, and jellied meat are allowed.
The child's food should not be too hot and not too cold. Sudden temperature changes greatly irritate the mucous membrane gastro- intestinal tract and can cause inflammation. The optimal temperature for hot dishes is about 50°, for cold dishes - not lower than 10°.

Children's appetite often decreases in the summer. Hot weather has a depressing effect on gastric secretion, which slows down and impairs food digestion. In this regard, the nature of the child’s nutrition in summer period It is recommended to make some changes. It is advisable to exclude fatty foods from the menu or reduce their quantity, since a large volume of digestive juices is required to digest fats. In summer, it is recommended to consume seasonal foods as much as possible: vegetables, fruits, berries. It is useful to prepare berry porridge. They can be cooked from any cereal using a decoction of any berries, adding berry juice and sugar to the finished dish. Dishes made from cauliflower and zucchini are tasty and healthy. On hot days summer days Children eat cold first courses better than hot ones. Cold first courses (okroshka, kholodnik, beet soup, fruit soup) stimulate the production of digestive juices and improve food digestion. In summer, the range of salads is wider and more varied. It is advisable to prepare them mainly from raw vegetables. Healthy salads from fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, leafy greens, pumpkin, zucchini, sweet peppers, kohlrabi, etc.
In summer, more than in the cold season, you need to use fermented milk products, which have a beneficial effect on the processes of food digestion.

Children 6-7 years of age, as a rule, move a lot and actively, spend a long time on the street and do not suffer from a lack of appetite. Most of them are usually dense and quite well-fed. And in last years Quite a few plump, strong men appeared with full, rosy cheeks, a somewhat awkward, waddling gait and an enviable appetite.
In some children, this obesity goes away with age, while in others it not only does not go away, but also progresses, turning into a disease - obesity.

Approximate weekly menu for children 6-7 years old for home feeding

The best indicator of a child’s health is uniform age-related weight gain. It must be within strictly defined limits. If you add a little, it’s bad; if you add a lot, it’s even worse.

At the age of five, the baby no longer has such strict restrictions what they were before. His menu is expanding more and more, giving him more and more new taste sensations. He is already familiar with such products as canned food, pickles, and smoked foods.

The number of meals decreases from 5 to 4, but the total volume of food continues to increase.
The menu for a 5-year-old child contains a number of complex and fried dishes - cabbage rolls, stuffed zucchini, stuffed peppers, fried zucchini, vegetable stews, various pancakes, fried fish, aspic and others.

In his diet, porridge no longer occupies the main position, their composition changes from liquid to crumbly, adding to the previous list of cereals pearl barley. At one meal, a piece of white or black bread can already be replaced with a cold or hot sandwich.

In addition to the usual tea, compote, juice, a preschool child can receive cocoa or a decaffeinated coffee drink for breakfast. It is recommended to add milk to tea and coffee drinks.
The menu for a 5-year-old child should contain fruits, vegetables and meat every day. Fish and eggs must be given twice a week.

As for fats, on the one hand, their quantity should be limited, and on the other, they should not be completely absent. When preparing all dishes, you should not use too much fatty varieties fish and meat.

Butter should always be included in the diet of a rapidly growing and active organism. Vegetable oils today they can please you with their variety - corn, sunflower, soybean, olive, flaxseed and others. They should also be consumed, as they are all rich in vitamin E and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which butter cannot boast of.

Vegetable oil is best used for dressing salads, and butter for sandwiches and cereals.
Previously, legumes (peas, soybeans, beans, beans) did not have a very high place in the menu of a child of any age, since dishes based on them caused rumbling and bloating; now in stores you can buy special children's products that do not cause such unpleasant sensations.

Vegetables and fruits must be given not only in processed form, but also raw. Plant products When eaten raw, they improve digestion and strengthen the body. When preparing salads and vegetable stews, it is recommended to use non-bitter varieties of onions and garlic. Don't ignore these healthy vegetables, like radish, pumpkin and horseradish.

A preschool child can consume almost everything from sweets, but in moderation and if he has no inclination to allergic manifestations. The most allergenic products Honey and chocolate remain for many decades.

To avoid loading children's body, pediatricians advise distributing the caloric content of food.
For breakfast, you should eat dishes whose caloric content will be approximately 25% of the daily value.
For lunch, a preschooler should receive almost half of the daily norm - 40%.
At midday, after a large lunch, the lightest and most easily digestible dishes are served, their calorie content is only 10%.
The child must receive the remaining 25% at dinner.

For example, a menu for a 5-year-old child could be like this:

In the sixth year of life, the child’s menu practically does not change. Only the method of preparing dishes becomes different. During this period, you can include chops, roasts and cutlets in your diet. To this list you can add stuffed and smoked fish, jellied meat, ham and sausage. Be sure to ensure that your child’s food is not too hot, but not too cold. Sudden temperature changes irritate the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, which can lead to inflammation. The most optimal temperature for hot dishes is considered to be about 50°, and for colder ones – approximately 10°. In summer, in hot weather, most children may experience a decrease in appetite. This is explained by the fact that heat adversely affects gastric secretion, which causes a slowdown and significant deterioration in the digestion of food. And the process of digesting fats occurs with an even larger volume of digestive juices. It is for this reason that it would be correct to exclude fatty foods from the children's diet. As a last resort, try to reduce their amount in your child’s diet. In the summer, it is recommended to place great emphasis on seasonal products - vegetables, berries and fruits. Porridge with berries will be very useful for your baby. To do this, you can use any cereal prepared with berry broth. Add berry juice to the finished dish and sweeten with sugar. Also, dishes made from zucchini and cauliflower will be very useful for a child. It is worth noting that children are more inclined to eat cold foods than hot ones.

Cooked cold dishes such as beetroot soup, cold soup, okroshka and fruit soup have a stimulating effect on the stomach. This leads to the active production of digestive juices and has beneficial influence to digest food. It is also worth noting that in the summer the range of salads becomes much wider and more varied. It is advisable to use raw vegetables for their preparation. Salads made from fresh cucumbers, sweet peppers, kohlrabi, tomatoes, leafy greens, radishes, zucchini, pumpkin, etc. are considered the most healthy. Dairy products in the summer, are a necessary addition to the child’s daily diet, as it has a beneficial effect on vital important process digestion of food. In children over six years of age, as a rule, physical activity much higher. Walking outside becomes longer, and they usually do not suffer from a lack of appetite. Most babies at this age have a dense, well-fed physique. In recent years, quite a few strong men with plump rosy cheeks have appeared. These kids, moving rather awkwardly and demonstrating a waddling gait, have an enviable appetite. With age, in most children, obesity usually goes away. But for some, it not only does not decrease, but also begins to progress, turning into a disease - obesity.