What is considered a healthy diet for kids?

I know sugar, sodas etc. are not good. But what is a good balance between fat, carbs and protein for a kid?

My daughter is 12, 4"11" and about 86lbs. She has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do so exercise and weight are not a problem. I just know she could, and should be eating a more healthy diet.

One of my moderators named Valerie who has 11 children actually addressed this issue recently at my blog. CLICK HERE to read what she had to say.

I think we do have this in another thread somewhere, but I have three children, 15, 11, and 10. My middle child is a Yellow Belt in Tae Kwan Do. They are all active and don't have any weight or health issues, except for my daughter who has allergies to eggs and nuts.

I recently switched them to low carb because they never get full with high carb foods and they would have eaten us out of house and home. If you are doing Atkins, I think you have to treat them like a person who has a high number of carbohydrate that they can handle. They get more vegetables, more low carb tortillas, more low carb snacks and real food just like the adults get. They get lunch meat and cheese rollups, Kool-Aid sweetened with Splenda, eggs and sausage, natural peanut butter with Splenda and they split large steaks at restaurants.

There's no reason to think that the foundation of their meals shouldn't be protein and fat just like any other person. Sure, the grocery and "eat out" bill is higher, but it can be done. I particularly enjoy the conversations we have about food. Tomorrow they have a test on metabolism from me, and if they get the answers right, I pay $5 per child.

All the best,

Charles

THANKS Charles! Here's that other link about what to feed kids:

http://www.lowcarbdiscussion.com/index.php?showtopic=752&hl=

Thanks for the "point" Jimmy. Interesting reading.

Charles - That is exactly what is happening here. She eats, then is hungry but doesn't want food, just junk. The switch to low carb tortillas and whole grain breads will happen when I go to the store tonight. For snacks, I think we'll try more low sugar fruits and natural peanut butter or cheeses on the whole grain breads and crackers. A typical school lunch for her is yogurt, a fruit (usually an orange), 1/2 ham and cheese sandwich and some sliced tomatoes with ranch. I think I'll do either the tomatoes or a fruit and add some nuts in the other place. I do give her a juice pouch though. I think maybe the switch to koolaid with splenda is on order. These are some very doable ideas. Even for her as picky as she is.

I'm not worried about the grocery bill. We just had a niece and nephew that lived with us for the past 4 years (for homeschooling) go home to thier mother. LOL It sure is quiet around here. I like the test idea. One step at a time though. Thanks for all the information. Do you have a blog?

OceanBlue, I don't have a blog. This forum is exciting enough for me! I made the switches to those things a little bit slowly, but it worked. I made the drink switch first and I think that helped because I reasoned that they probably got the majority of their sugar from drinks.

Once they got used to the Splenda Kool-Aid, everything else went easier. They now think regular drinks are too sweet. At Golden Corral the other day, my daughter sent back her drink because they gave her regular lemonade instead of the sugar free. She could easily tell. I was so proud!!!!

Show your daughter some of those people at Tae Kwon Do with the big bellies and ask her, what type of Black Belt do you want to be? Made a big impression on my son...

Best regards,

Charles

I'd just try to stick to as natural as possible....and if possible let them help in planning. Mine are all grown up now, and I really wish I knew then what I know now!!

Sticking with whole natural foods, and avoiding processed is the key. They should still get snacks and even treats, but keep them natural or homemade. Better if you make the cookies over packaged ones....candies too!! Some are really easy to make, and you control the ingredients.

try some of the other nut butters--almond and cashew---you can order them online or make them yourself---that way you control what is in them

kids need fat---especially saturated fat for proper growth and development--if she likes yogurt so well---buy the frozen blueberries and put some in with her yogurt--

I posted this in my jounal tonight and thought I would post it here too.

I took Mark and Chelsea to the store with me tonight. I gave them a list of the lower sugar fruits and told them to go get a few for next week. Strawberries, blueberries, melons and some cherries came back to the basket. Then I told them to look at the ingredients on the crackers etc. they wanted. If they were not whole grain/multi grain or had ingredients they couldn't pronounce, just skip them. They were so into it. It was funny to watch the two of them. I was so proud.

Picked up some whole grain tortillas and bread/bagels too. I figured whole grain then transisition them into the low carb stuff. I'm afraid going straight from flour tortillas to LC wouldn't work too well.

Oh...I found the hood milk stuffs too. I didn't get any. But now I know where I can find the stuff. We went all the way out to the Super Walmart. It's about 20 min. away. That's the other side of town for us.

We also picked out some koolaid to make with Splenda and they both picked their favorite nuts and breakfast meats. They both seemed genuinely excited about it. Mark is wanting to lose some weight now that I have lost almost 40lbs.

Thanks yall for all the suggestions. Looks like we are going to slowly become a low carb/healthy family!

Oh, Charles - I was telling Mark about you and he wants to start reading some of your stuff. He's going to start reading DANDR tomorrow.

Congratulations, in advance, to you and Mark. You are definitely doing the right thing (in my view) and I'm impressed at your dedication. It's much easier to do this as a family. Tell Mark, I'm here for him if he needs me.

All the best,

Charles