The Child Nutrition blog was created to help inform and educate parents about nutrition. It is designed to help parents think about possible options to create a healthier diet for children. Many links are incorporated within the blog to help readers do their own research. The hope for this blog is to motivate people in all parts of the world to teach their children the importance of eating a balanced diet. The schools can only teach so much, but if the parents are not willing to change then the child never with either.
Here are a few statistics that prove bad nutrition is a major issue in the United States.
In a typical week:
Four in five young persons aged four to 18 years consumed white bread, chips, savoury snacks, biscuits, chocolate confectionery and boiled, mashed and jacket potatoes.
- Less than 40% of children and adolescents in the United States meet the U.S. dietary guidelines for saturated fat.
- In 2007, only 21.4% of high school students reported eating fruits and vegetables five or more times daily (when fried potatoes and potato chips are excluded) during the past 7 days.12
- Only 39% of children ages 2-17 meet the USDA’s dietary recommendation for fiber (found primarily in dried beans and peas, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains).13
