How low-fat should my child's diet be?
Your child should be eating the same kind of low-fat diet that you eat — that is, he should get no more than 35 percent of his calories from fat, as recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture. It's great if you're already making lower-fat choices for your child, by serving baked chicken instead of fried, for example. Here are some other things to consider as you plan low-fat meals for your child:
• If you haven't already done so, switch your child from whole milk to lower-fat, if not fat-free, milk. If your child balks at the taste of fat-free milk (also called skim milk), gradually switch from whole to 2 percent to one percent to fat-free, and he may never notice the change. Ideally, your child should be drinking low-fat or fat-free milk starting at age 2.
• Buy low-fat versions of other dairy products as well. A high amount of fat in kids' diets comes from dairy products like cheese, pudding, and yogurt. Don't stop offering them — they're great sources of calcium and protein. Instead, look for lower-fat versions. There are even some great-tasting lower-fat ice creams available.
• Limit fried foods, another big contributor of fat in our diets. Eating fast food once a week doesn't hurt; just don't make it an everyday thing. If you want to know how much fat is in various fast-food meals, check out these two Web sites that list nutritional information for restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, and more: The Fast Food Facts Report
or The Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Drive-thru Diet
• Talk to your child about the importance of making healthy food choices. When my children were in elementary school, I introduced the concept of reading food labels and let them surf the Web with me for nutritional information on fast foods. That's how we found the Web sites mentioned above. It was a real eye-opener for my kids to learn how much fat a certain fast-food sandwich contained. This information helped them make healthier choices the next time we ate out.
• Don't go overboard in your attempt to keep your child's diet low in fat. He still needs fat to grow and develop and can benefit from the kinds of fat and other nutrients found in certain higher-fat foods like peanut butter (a high-fat but healthy choice for children).
• Don't become the food police. Don't refer to foods in terms of "good" and "bad." This places values on certain foods, which may make children want them more and could lead to problems with eating disorders later in life.
Fat has gotten a bad rap. This low-fat diet craze has been around for quite some time, yet obesity is on the rise. It's not all fat, nor all carbs that are the problem, it's the type of fat and carbs. A greasy burger, chicken nuggets or other fried food is terrible for the body. The high fructose corn syrup (and other hidden sugars) are what make fat-free foods still taste edible to us. HFCS is the worst sugar you can eat. Basically the closer your food is to what it was in nature, the healthier it is for you. It's not about fat. It's not about carbs, it's about nutrient dense foods that are as close to how they came from nature as can be. Every body is unique in what it needs for fuel. Some people need more protein, some more carbs in order to function at optimum levels. Offer your child healthy choices and trust them to eat what their body needs. (notice I said healthy choices!)
This article is only partially informative. My 5 year old daughter was born a bit early and has always been on the lower end of the average weight and height range. And she eats like a bird. So, in addition to fruit, salad, bread, veggies, etc., I give her only full fat milk twice a day, maximum fat plain yogurt, cheese (minigo) and plain butter. I think some kids, like mine, absolutely need fat. But what I do refrain from, is fast food it soda. Those are just once-in-a-while treats. I strive to feed her pure, least processed and mainly home cooked food.
Fat is essential for a growing child's brain. Every cell wall is made from fat and brain cells must be lined with cholesterol in order to function properly. So don't cut back too much on fat!!! The trick is all fat should be from natural sources, in their natural form, in order to function properly. So choose natural fats, such as milk, butter, animal fats, or cold-pressed oils that are easy to extract, such as coconut oil or olive oil. These fats are as found in nature and are the proper kind for brain development and cell formation. High heat changes the structure of fats, trans-fats actually cause cancer, and poly-unsaturated fats are actually not stiff enough for proper cell formation. If your child has a weight problem, you should cut out all sugar and refined grains before you start cutting back on fat!!! My son, like me, eats whole foods, things found in nature, mostly meats, vegetables, and fruits, with small amounts of whole grains.
I'm not going to use low fat if it has fake sugars in it. Take for example yogurt. Many brands that are low in fat have aspartame in them. I will NOT buy foods with that garbage in it. Our body is better equipped to deal with the fat than a chemically created sugar.
Also the rise in obesity has more to do with people being couch potatoes. Both exercise and diet are important. We also have to remember that some people are genetically predisposed to be one way or the other. I believe that moderation is key.
a BabyCenter Member
I'm so tired of this toe-the-gov't-line blindness, this outdated perception of fat. This low fat recommendation from a so-called expert is not only incredibly misguided and misguiding, it's borderline criminal. Healthy saturated fat from grass-fed animals, from fish and from plants (olive, palm, coconut) is not only good for us, it's ESSENTIAL for proper bodily function. The only low fat diet you should consider giving your kids is one AS FREE AS POSSIBLE FROM POLYUNSATURATED FATS (canola, corn, soybean, peanut, etc.) and trans fats – especially foods fried in the stuff. Those are the oils that kill. What kids need, and what adults need as well, is a diet high in quality saturated fat, high in quality protein and low in quality carb (fruits and veggies), along with a playful lifestyle (climbing stuff, running around playing chase, hopping around the yard like bunnies). Do your own research, folks. Don't let anyone, especially the gov't (and this "expert"), decide what your family eats.
I disagree with not calling foods good or bad. Kids can learn that some foods are bad for us but we still eat them because we enjoy them. We just need to eat them in moderation. My 5 year old knows ice cream in not healthy but it's yummy so we eat it as a treat. He also knows he has to eat veggies even though he doesn't always enjoy them because they have "the stuff his body needs" I don't think we have to dumb down nutrition but rather show them common sense eating.
a BabyCenter Member
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