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Dietary Guidelines for Children and Teenagers

21 November 2024

Healthy food energizes and nourishes our body and brain, supporting growth and development, particularly during childhood and adolescence. The keys to the successful acquisition of healthy dietary habits among children and teens is persistence and gradualness. Children should be introduced to varied and nutritious foods from an early age and and gradually become familiar with them.

The diet recommended by the Ministry of Health is based on the nutritional rainbow diet:

  • The green rainbow: the recommendation is to drink large amounts of water and eat vegetables, fruit and whole grains every day.
  • The yellow rainbow: the recommendation is to eat legumes, healthy fats and dairy products and substitutes every day.
  • The orange rainbow: the recommendation is to eat eggs, chicken and fish several times a week.
  • The pink rainbow: the recommendation is to not consume more than 300 grams of unprocessed beef per week.
  • The red rainbow: foods that should be avoided - candy, snacks, sweetened beverages, hot dogs and processed beef products.

The school lunchbox: the lunchbox should include diverse and healthy food that contains essential dietary components, such as dietary fiber in a whole grain sandwich, proteins and healthy fats from avocado, homemade hummus spread, tahina, egg, lentil omelet, white cheese, tofu or tuna, alongside vegetables and fruit.

Physical exercise: children and adolescents should engage in physical exercise for at least one hour per day. Sports can be incorporated into the daily routine, such as walking instead of driving, walking with the dog, ball games, and so on.

A healthy balanced diet is important at any age and throughout life, but particularly during childhood and adolescence, where the growth rate is faster. Healthy food supports the growth and development of the body and brain. A diverse and balanced family menu that is based on the nutritional rainbow diet will ensure optimal supply of the ingredients your child requires for normal growth and development, and maintain the health of all family members.

Recommendations for a healthy diet

The recommended daily diet is based on a main group of foods and on the recommended daily allowance for each – something that is referred to as the "nutritional rainbow diet". Exposure to healthy food and the acquisition of healthy eating habits from an early age will help establish a healthy routine and proper eating habits now and for the future.

Acquiring healthy dietary habits and lifestyle

The keys to successfully acquiring healthy dietary habits are persistence and gradualness. Children should be exposed to a variety of healthy foods from an early age. They should become familiar with them and gradually eat them. We compiled several recommendations to help you establish a healthy routine at home while introducing your children to nutritious and various foods.

  • Family meals: family meals should be eaten at the dining room table, not in front of the television or computer.
  • Food variety: provide a variety of food to the extent possible and include fruit or vegetables in every meal.
  • Role model: try to be a role model during meals, by eating healthy food and maintaining an active healthy lifestyle.
  • Involvement: involve children in menu planning, cooking and setting the table.
  • Diverse cooking: cook using various methods such as steaming, roasting, boiling and baking. Limit the amount of frying.
  • Fast food: try to minimize the amount of fast food, snacks and candy eaten. Make sure that healthy food is easily accessible to children.
  • Sweetened beverages: minimize the consumption of beverage sweetened by sugar and sugar substitutes.
  • Avoid arguments over food: once you serve food to the table, allow children to decide what and how much they eat.
  • Positive reinforcement: avoid using food as an award for good behavior. Express excitement and satisfaction in other ways, such as a compliment, hug, and so on.

The nutritional rainbow diet

The recommendation is to drink more water and increase variety in the following foods: vegetables, fruit and whole grains. These foods help satisfy a range of dietary values. Vary the color of vegetables and fruit, as well as the way they are eaten (fresh, cooked, baked, and more).

The green rainbow is rich in dietary value including vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.

Food from each the following groups should be eaten at least once a day:

  • Legumes: lentils, beans, hummus, fava beans, peas.
  • Plant-based rich fat: olive oil, tahina, nuts, avocado.
  • Unsweetened dairy products and dairy substitute products

The yellow rainbow includes legumes, which are rich in protein, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, plant-based fats, which are an excellent source of healthy fats, proteins and dietary fibers, as well as milk and milk products (including milk substitutes), which add protein and calcium to the menu.

Foods from this group should be consumed several times a week: various animal-based food (eggs, chicken and fish). These should be varied throughout the week and should be purchased raw and then cooked at home.

The orange rainbow, which includes animal-based foods that should be eaten several times a week, supplies us with protein and iron.

Unprocessed beef: the recommendation is to limit consumption to not more than 300 grams per week when made at home (avoid salted, processed food such as hot dogs, pastrami, store-bought kebab and hamburgers).

The pink rainbow includes animal-based food that supplies us with protein and iron.

Foods that should be avoided: candy, snacks, sweetened beverages, energy drinks, hot dogs, processed beef products, and so on, most of which contain artificial additives and ingredients that are not recommended for consumption.

Emphases for a health diet for children

  • To prevent anemia: it is important to eat food rich in iron such as legumes, meat, fish, nuts, seeds, and more.
  • To prevent diseases: research established a link between excess intake of sodium (salt), saturated fat, sugar and ultra-processed food and diseases. The recommendation is to eat fresh fruit and vegetables and raw food every day while limiting use of salt. Other studies found that most of the salt we eat comes from processed food and not necessarily the saltshaker. Avoid products marked with the red label indicating high levels of sodium, saturated fat and sugar.
  • Calcium intake: food rich in calcium should be consumed to protect bones and teeth, such as dairy products, tofu, sardines, cabbage, broccoli and white beans.
  • Water: children should be given a bottle of water to drink in school. Make sure to drink water throughout the day, even when it is cold, and when you are not thirsty.
  • Regular meals: eat 3 main meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). If you are hungry, eat light snacks in between.

Note

Note

It is important that you notice the red and green labels on product packages. Teach your children the signs and their meaning: high levels of sugar, sodium and saturated fat. Involve them in the food shopping, in the preparation of family meals and in making sandwiches for preschool and school. For more information about the red and green labels, visit the Efsharibari website

Healthy diet in preschool and school

Just before the 10:00 meal, let’s discuss breakfast at home – a light meal before leaving for preschool and school, reenergizes the body and brain after a ‘night fast’, when you are asleep. It improves the ability to focus and study. Studies found that pupils who arrived at school after having eaten breakfast at home were more focused and achieved better results in school.

The lunchbox

Healthy sandwiches and healthy food improve children’s attention and academic achievements at school, help prevent disease and teach correct dietary habits. Breakfast in school is tremendously important. Children are introduced to different and various foods, in their own lunchbox and to those of other children. The social dimension enters the picture and affects their willingness to taste and try new food.

The lunchbox should contain a variety of food that is rich in dietary values. Dietary fiber, for example, in the whole grain bread in the sandwich, proteins and healthy fat from the avocado, homemade hummus spread, tahina, egg, lentil omelet, white cheese, tofu or tuna, alongside fruits and vegetables.

Did the lunchbox come back full? This happens to the best of us. Take the opportunity to sit with the children to learn what they like and what they do not like, what they want to receive in the lunchbox and explain the limitations. Do not stop providing fruits and vegetables in the lunchbox. Keep exposing them and you may be pleasantly surprised.

For lunchbox ideas and tips on healthy food and sandwiches

What about some “energy”

Let’s talk about energy snacks, those snacks that are marketed to us as healthy food with colorful packages and nutritious-sounding names. They may occasionally actually contain healthy ingredients such as whole grains, nuts and dried fruit but they largely fall under the category of ‘ultra processed’, and contain large amounts of sugar, sodium and saturated fat. It is important that we check - what is the purpose of eating an energy snack? If it is a light, quick substitute for a snack, the answer will be – you probably should not eat it.

So, what should you do? Prepare healthy, light and inexpensive alternatives for snacks, such as fruit yogurt or fruit and several nuts or almonds. Even homemade energy snacks that you can have enjoy preparing and then store in the freezer.

Recommended recipe for healthy, nutritious energy balls, on Efsharibari website

Vegetarian and vegan diet

If your child follows a vegetarian or vegan diet, it is particularly important to make sure he or she eats enough of the essential nutritional values, such as B12, zinc and iron.

A balanced and varied vegetarian diet can supply all the nutritional needs at any age. During adolescence, with the rapid growth and development, a diet that contains foods from all food groups, vitamins and minerals is even more important. Meals should include legumes, healthy fats such as tahina, nuts and avocado, vegetables and whole grains.

For a vegan diet, which does not include animal-based food, it is important that the diet includes good sources of protein and energy such as legumes, grains (ideally whole grain), seeds and nuts. If necessary, incorporate food supplements, once you have consulted a dietitian or nutritionist.

For more about infant diet in families adopting a vegetarian and vegan diet

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