Low-calorie Diet for Children

With the advent of the technological era, children are spending a lot of time before television, computers and video games. The complete lack of physical activity combined with a high fat diet has resulted in the problem of childhood obesity. The excess fat consumed by children has even resulted in the lowering their immunity against diseases and infections.

It is important on the part of parents to ensure that their child is getting a healthy combination of physical activity along with a nutritious diet in order to be in good physical shape. Here are some tips for a low calorie diet that you could follow to get your child into a better shape.

•     Use of substitutes - There are a lot of substitutes available in market that could be added to your child’s diet so that the he does not feel punished; by being asked not to consume  desserts and high fat foods. Fat free cheese, skimmed milk, chocolate cookies with fig bars are some of the alternatives that you will find useful. Not only are they low calorie, but also good dessert substitutes.

•     Low calorie breakfast options – Breakfast is a meal that should not be avoided at any cost. Some of the items that could be included in a low calorie breakfast diet are cornflakes with low fat milk, chopped apples, cereals low in sugar and chopped bananas. In order to provide the fibre content, you could always add low-sugar granola.

•     Avoid junk and fried food items – Junk and fried food items should be strictly kept out of your child’s diet. They cause unnecessary fat gain which proves to be very harmful in the later stages your child’s  life.

•     Healthy snacks during the day – You could always make the diet a little more interesting by adding a healthy snack during the day. This will cheer your child and encourage him to be physically active. Instead of sweet desserts, serve fruits and assorted nuts. Make smoothies with milk and fruit extracts to give him/her the essential nutrients in the diet.

•     Low calorie lunch – Lunch is a very important meal and must be specially designed with low calorie food items. There are a lot of options such as macaroni with low fat cheese, whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, green vegetables and tuna salads. When you make sandwiches, ensure that the bread is topped with low fat mayonnaise.

•     Low calorie dinner options – When it comes to dinner, a healthy vegetable salad would be a good start. Baked potatoes with burgers topped with low fat cheese makes an agreeable main course, and fruits can be served as a part of dessert.

Read more articles on Diet Plans.