Getting your kids to eat enough fruit and vegetables may be a challenge. Before you run out of patience and creativity, however, ask yourself a question first - are you eating enough yourself? Let's encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables by being a good role model and adopting the following advice when you prepare meals for your children.
| Typical Menus | Suggested Modifications | Notes from Dietitian | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Instant noodle with luncheon meat | Low sugar corn flakes with sliced banana (0.5 serving of fruit) Or lean meat slices with non-fried noodles, such as rice noodles |
Low sugar whole grain cereals are healthy choices for breakfast as they contain plenty of nutrients and dietary fibre and they can be eaten with a variety of fruit. Fresh lean meat and rice noodles are lower in salt and fat than luncheon meat instant meat noodles. |
| Whole milk | Low-fat milk | School-aged children are recommended to eat reduced-fat dairy products to prevent excessive intake of saturated fat. | |
| Snack | Chocolate | Unsalted and unsweetened raisins (0.5 serving of fruit) |
When fresh fruit are not available, dried fruits without added salt and sugar are alternatives of candies and chocolate for your children. They are easy to be carried around and are rich in dietary fibre. |
| Lunch | Baked spaghetti with ham and cheese in cream sauce | Spaghetti with bolognese, fresh tomatoes and mixed beans (1 serving of vegetables) |
You can mix vegetables with spaghetti, noodles or rice. This can enhance the colour of the dish and make it attractive. |
| Sweetened orange juice | Pure orange juice without added sugar (1 serving of fruit) |
Sweetened fruit juices cannot be included in the daily intake of fruit due to its high sugar content while pure fruit juices without added sugar can be counted only once towards the "2 servings daily consumption" of fruit. However, fresh fruit, instead of pure fruit juice, is recommended to increase the intake of dietary fibre | |
| Snack | Egg tart | Plain low-fat yogurt with fresh strawberries (0.5 serving of fruit) |
Tarts and pastries are high in fat. Adding a low-fat yogurt as snack can help meet the calcium needs of children who need 2 servings of milk and alternatives every day. |
| Soft drink | Water | One can of soft drink can contain as many as 10 teaspoons of sugar. Water is therefore a much healthier beverage for both kids and adults. | |
| Dinner | Lo shui chicken wings | Steamed chicken with dried lily bud, black fungus and shredded shiitake mushrooms (0.5 serving of vegetables) |
Sometimes only minor changes are needed to increase the amount of vegetables in your dishes. Add ingredients such as onions, bell peppers, dried lily bud, mushrooms or seaweeds for good taste and good nutrition. |
| Fried eggs with prawns | Fried eggs with prawns and onions (0.5 serving of vegetables) | ||
| Stir-fried broccoli (0.5 serving of vegetables) | Stir-fried broccoli (0.5 serving of vegetables) | Spreading oil evenly on pan before cooking and stir-frying ingredients quickly on high heat can help reduce oil use. | |
| White rice | Mixed white rice with whole grains | You can easily increase your dietary fibre and other nutrients intake by replacing a portion of white rice with whole grains. | |
| Chicken soup with coconut meat | Chicken soup with corn, carrot and green radish (0.5 serving of vegetables) | Coconut meat is high in fat so it should not be counted towards our daily fruit or vegetables intake. | |
| Total | 0 serving of fruit | 2.5 servings of fruit | As you can see from the above suggestions, variety is very important to kids. Offer fruit and vegetables with different colours, tastes and shapes in various kinds. Let them be part of different dishes such as salads, soups, main dishes, desserts and snacks. |
| 0.5 serving of vegetables | 3 servings of vegetables |
Remarks: The above menus are designed to facilitate fruit and vegetables consumption as part of a balanced diet and may not represent your specific nutritional and energy needs. You may visit the "Healthy Eating Food Pyramid" for general dietary guidelines of different age groups. For individualised diet planning, please seek advice from dietitian.