One of the challenges every parent faces - no matter the season - is making sure their kids get enough of the vitamins and macronutrients they need to stay healthy and energized as they go about their day.
This is especially important, however, during the busy months of summer, when activities, playdates, holidays, and trips to the lake mean that your kids are getting more exercise and burning more calories than ever.
The upside of this is that regular exercise has been proven over and over to be essential for children's healthy development. The downside is that if children aren't taking in enough protein, healthy fats, and other essential nutrients, all this activity can leave them irritable and listless.
If you want to make sure your kids are eating a diet that can properly fuel their lifestyle, here are three tips to help make sure they're getting enough good protein.
1. Make Healthy Protein Part of Every Meal
When it comes to meals, North Americans tend to be much less organized than other cultures. In France or Turkey, for example, hundreds of years of tradition have come to determine what should be eaten at each time of day, and this means that children raised on those cultures often eat a more balanced diet on day-to-day basis.
In particular, these older cuisines tend to find ways to work macronutrients into every meal: every time you sit down to eat, you're getting a percentage of your daily requirement for protein, fat, or carbs.
You don't need to be a French chef to make sure that you work protein into every meal, though. Simply include a healthy serving of beans, yoghurt, lean meats, or nuts or seeds in meals or at snack time.
2. Variety is the Spice of Life
Children can be picky eaters, and that can be a problem when it comes to nutrition. The first step to getting your kids to eat better is simply to find healthy foods they're actually excited to dig into.
One way to explore different options for protein is to skip the grocery stores and order meat online through a meat delivery service that offers a wide range of different options such as:
Chicken
Fish
Shellfish
Buffalo
Turkey
Pork
Lean, healthy meats are often the best way to make sure your kids get their daily protein requirements, and when you order online you can choose single helpings to give your family the chance to try a little of everything.
3. Embrace Protein-Rich Snacking
Snacking is an issue that can be quite hard for parents to deal with during summer, when schedules are in flux and the normal rules don't always apply. Generally, three meals and two snacks a day is a good guideline for younger children, but the real key to smart snacking is as much about what they eat as when they eat.
Protein-rich snacks like nuts, trail mix, jerky, and anything with peanut butter are a great choice if you want your children's snacking to contribute to an overall balanced diet.
No matter how you cut it, good food is central to good health for kids of all ages. And making sure they have food they love that will provide real nourishment is an essential part of taking care of their daily needs.
This summer, give them the fuel they need to live their lives to the fullest. Make sure their plate always has some healthy, delicious protein on it, and they'll never run out of energy to pursue the things they love.
