Nutrition is important during the COVID-19 pandemic because it can provide
people with both physical and mental health benefits.
So food itself provides essential nutrients for good health
while the actual process of planning, cooking and eating food
can provide a lot of enjoyment at this time and a connection to culture.
Try to eat a variety of food from the five, core food groups every day.
These foods will provide the body with essential
nutrients to help kids grow, develop and maintain a strong immune system.
Most Australian children do not need to take a nutritional supplement.
If your child is on a restricted diet or they have a specific medical condition
supplements may be needed.
Otherwise all the nutrients we need is in the food that we eat
and the body best absorbs the nutrients from food itself rather than from supplements.
During the pandemic people might not be as active as they usually are.
Rather than focusing on reducing portion sizes I encourage people to focus on what
foods they should be eating more of.
So filling your plate with fresh vegetables
at higher nutrients and low in energy or kilojoules will leave less room for
foods your body needs less of such as meat pies or creamy pastas.
My advice around snacks would be try to minimise the amount of highly processed
snacks you have in the house such as crisps, biscuits, muesli bars things that
are really easy to grab and eat
and have some healthy snacks such as fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, nuts, seeds or some pre-boiled eggs.
If you're at home and you're bored and need a break
My advice would be start to brainstorm
things that you can do that aren't related to food
and also try and have
structured meal time so you're not feeling hungry between meals.
Your child may not like specific foods and that's okay. Continuing to have those foods in
the house and seeing you or their siblings eat them will increase their exposure.
So they become more familiar and comfortable around the look and the smell of those foods.
Your job as a parent or a carer
is to decide what foods you are offering your kids at what time.
Your child's role is to decide how
much they eat and on some days they might not eat as much.