KlikDokter.com – There are some important things that you need to know before serving your toddlers a plate of food. Those are their nutritional needs, immune system, and gastrointestinal process. It will be bad for their growth and health if the intake is below the standard needed. Well, here are five sources of nutrition your kids will need:

• Carbohydrate Carbohydrate is needed to produce energy for brain and body’s growth. There are two types of carbohydrate, simple and complex c. The examples of simple carbohydrate are glucose, fructose, and galactose, which can be found in fruits, milk, and honey. Complex carbohydrates such as glycogen, cellulose, fiber and starch, can be found in rice, noodles, bread, corn, and potato.

 

• Protein Protein, which builds most of human body weight and cells, is one of the most important nutrient for children’s development. The sources of protein can be found in animals and plants (called phyto-protein). Animal protein comes from chicken, meat, fish, eggs, and milk. Sources of phyto-protein are soy bean (tofu and tempeh), nuts, and beans. One gram of protein consists of 4 calories.

 

• Fat Fat is an important source of energy for neural system growth. Animal fat can be found in meat, fish oil, egg yolks, and butter. Moreover, kids can get plant fat from sources like margarine, palm oil, peanut, coconut oil, and fruit. As a source of energy, a gram of fat can produce 9,3 calories.

 

• Vitamin There are two kinds of vitamin. They are water soluble vitamin (vitamin B and vitamin C) and lipid soluble (vitamin A, D, E, and K). Water soluble vitamin can be damaged by heat, so food that is rich of these vitamins cannot be cooked for such a long time.

1. Vitamin A Needed for growth, fights infection, good for vision bone growth, and skin health. It can be found in liver, eggs, carrot, tomato, red potato, and etc.
2. Vitamin B Needed for neural system growth and health. The source is meat, liver, tofu, sardine, nuts, green vegetables, milk, banana, and avocado.
3. Vitamin C Needed for growth, replaces broken tissues, good for skin health, and helps iron absorption. Orange, strawberry, green vegetables, and potato are rich in this vitamin.
4. Vitamin D This vitamin is made under the skin by the help of sun ray and used to absorb calcium and phosphor that bone and teeth need. The sources are tuna, sardine, milk, cheese, and eggs.
5. Vitamin E Needed to maintain body cell structures and helps to form erythrocyte (red blood cell). It can be found in vegetables, oil, nuts, and avocado.

 

• Mineral

1. Iron Iron is needed for physical and mental development. Newborn has iron stores which is enough for 6 months. Because of that, it is really important to get extra iron from solid food after 6 months old.  Iron deficiency can lead to anemia, so the baby will be tired and weak. Iron can be found from animal source, such as meat, salmon, liver, eggs, and etc. It also can be found in plants, such as green vegetables and nuts.
2. Calcium This mineral is  beneficial to  bone and teeth’s’ growth. Consuming 400 ml of milk every day is enough to meet daily needs of 1-5 year- old- toddler. Other sources of calcium are cheese, yoghurt, green veggies, dry nuts, sardine, anchovy, and sesame.
3. Zinc This mineral is very important for growth and immune system. Zinc is required in daily menu and can be found in fish, red meat, peanut, and cereal.

If you  want to know more details about this topic, please submit the question at Tanya Dokter Klikdokter.com page in our website. Written by: Dyah Novita Anggraini, MD Member of medical editorial staff Klikdokter.com