For a parent, everything from conception, to giving birth and nurturing a child is a long and tedious process and we are constantly striving to fulfil this job responsibly.

As a healthcare professional and a mother of two, the biggest expectation that I have from myself is their health and providing them with healthy and healthy food options.

5 tips to raise a child with healthy and healthy food options:

1. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

 In this cutthroat world, it is natural that we get sucked into the portal of competition and comparison. To excel or in fact, survive this world, we as parents enrol our kids in multiple activities, leaving no time for them to engage in unstructured play. While extra-curricular activities go a long way in building the personality of a child, it shouldn't become a chore either. It's imperative to concentrate on one passion and nurture it, rather than trying to don multiple hats and being average in all of them.

Academics play an integral role in shaping the future of a child, but it's not everything. As parents, we should never underestimate the power of play. While playing outdoors is important for physical and mental development, unstructured play boosts creativity and imagination. Instead of buying board games, we should expose them to more stuff like building blocks, dominos, etc.

2. Food thy medicine and medicine thy food.

As I have grown older, I have started to realise this epic quote of Hippocrates more and more. Health and healthy food are complementary. Our diet determines our physical and mental well-being.

A wholesome diet is the key to good health. We are what we eat. So, if we are into empty calories, then our body would also be hollow from within. In this world of quick fixes, fancy-looking snacks and the ever-increasing culture of eating out, we are more prone to get derailed from the tracks of nutrition. However, this shouldn't deter us from giving healthy food to our kids. 

There isn't a stage of life when we can neglect our diet and hence our health, but the growing years are particularly more crucial in shaping the individual.

Role of proteins: Proteins provide the building materials for our body and also have a direct role in immunity. For children, incorporating the required amount of proteins might get a bit challenging daily. Ask me. As a mother of 2 underweight vegetarian kids, I am always ransacking my brain on how to innovate my protein-feeding game. I try switching the pulses and legumes every day and always knead my dough in dal so that they have protein-enriched chapatis and parathas.

Also, I add Complan in their milk which makes the taste great. Complan has 34 vital nutrients, including 100% milk protein, vitamins and minerals. It is clinically proven to support  2x faster growth. It contains 63% more protein than other nutrition drinks. Complan supports memory and concentration.

Plus, my kids love the taste and hence gulp down the milk within minutes! It’s a win-win! Health and healthy food go hand in hand!

Role of carbohydrates: The diet of a child should have an adequate amount of whole grains and a minimum of refined carbs. They need a lot of energy and their diet should have a lot of roughage too, for smooth bowel movement. Too much sugary stuff also should be avoided.

Role of fats: Our target should be giving healthy fats to our kids. Ghee, nuts, whole milk, avocado, peanut butter, coconut, etc and not bad fats like frozen french fries and chips.

Fresh fruits and vegetables. I am sure kids love fruits. But it can be a bit tricky to feed them a variety of vegetables. I usually put a handful in the dal they like and then mash everything into their parathas. Roughage and micronutrients present in fruits and vegetables are crucial for their health.

3. Role of supplements

Diet sometimes is not sufficient for certain micronutrients and there arises the need for supplements. Even though we reside in one of the sunniest countries in the world, we still may need Vitamin D supplementation. For growing children, Vitamin D and Calcium supplementation is crucial for their skeletal development. (1) Ask my orthopaedic husband, he gets patients regularly, suffering from rickets, just because of Vitamin D deficiency. Check with your paediatrician for more information

4. Nurturing environment

A flower can bloom only if it gets a favourable environment. Children are just like flowers. They need the right amount of love, care and support in place of water, sunlight and manure. The best gift that we can give our child is a happy environment. Kids do not need material things to grow into cheerful individuals. Expensive toys do bring gratification, but that is temporary. What we can invest in is a calm, happy and stress-free home to grow up. Kids pick up from their parents. If you are a composed person, they surely would be too.

5. The power of optimism and gratitude

Life is not easy and we should teach our kids that; whenever they are faced with any obstacle they should be positive. It’s imperative to imbibe in them that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. There is no greater magic in this world than optimism and hope. We should start teaching them gratitude from a very early age. 

Quoting an excerpt that has stayed with me since I had read it. Once a homeless girl puts a wish for a doll as a Christmas gift from the church. On Christmas, she receives a pair of crutches and she bursts into tears. Her father consoles her that she should be grateful to the Lord that she doesn’t need the crutches. The power of gratitude!

Summing up, it takes a village to raise a child happy, healthy and healthy food is an integral part of it. We all are doing the best we can.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the blog content are independent

and unbiased views of solely the blogger. This is a part of the public awareness initiative supported by Complan.

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge.