Healthy diet tips for children - Part II

So, it’s best if you set a timetable and make some appropriate portions of food. Especially if your kid is a picky one! Don’t ever force him to eat some certain type of food. Let him choose what he likes to eat and take care that his food intake is a proper one. This is fundamental! As fundamental as it is for you to use healthier cooking techniques: broiling, grilling, roasting, steaming, and not frying (especially deep-frying). And, of course, keep your child away from fast foods, sodas and fruit-flavored drinks.

Now, let’s see what food is to be given to your child.

Here’s a good starting tip: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!” So give him fruits. They are so tasty! There’s no doubt that your child is going to like at least some type of fruit. If he enjoys apples or citrus fruit, it’s great, because these contain vitamin C. If he likes plums or pears, he will have a necessary potassium intake. If he wants apricots and nectarines, it’s good to know that these contain iron.

Of course, your child can’t and mustn’t have only a fruit diet. Don’t forget to give him vegetables. And, moreover, one glass of vegetable juice a day. This is even better than the fruit juice. You can choose carrots (rich in vitamin A), tomatoes (famous for the antioxidant benefits of lycopene), potatoes (high in vitamin C), green or leafy vegetables like lettuce and spinach (studies show that kids love these, and they are also low in fats and calories and high in proteins). Speaking of proteins, make sure you add some fish, eggs, beans or nuts in your child’s soup or stew. And give him some fiber too (preferably, whole-grain breads and cereals).

Whenever you can, try to serve or cook fresh ingredients. Otherwise, read the label on the products and stay away from foods containing colorants or other types of additives. If the name of the ingredient can’t be spelled, that’s not a good, natural or healthy food you’re holding in your hand! And, finally, the best advice ever: the more colored the fruits and vegetables are, the healthier is your child’s diet.

Bon appétit!

Healthy diet tips for children - Part I

I guess nowadays people are more and more fascinated about the artificial, partially or totally forgetting the natural. This is a common aspect of a mostly artificial world. Because, let’s face it: “anthropic evolution” is not a natural one! I’m not saying that this is good or bad. After all, everything we’re doing in our lives is a personal choice.

Now let’s find out several wise personal choices that you can make in your child’s diet!

It’s already summer, so things should be easier now, thanks to the fact that there are a lot of healthy and natural fruits and vegetables you can choose from. Of course, it’s understandable that a healthy diet lasts more than the summer months. You have to make sure your child has a proper diet (almost) every day of the year.

Let’s discuss some aspects about the children’s diet step by step. Every child, from one to 10 years (or more) needs some amount of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. The difference from year to year consists of the quantity and the preparation method. A 1-3 years child needs 1300 calories a day, a child age 4-6 needs 1800, a 7-10 years one needs 2000 calories a day (1). Quite a lot, isn’t it?!

Well, children constantly grow, they have a lot of energy and they are very active, which means they certainly need food! What about food preparation? A small child mainly needs (tasty) soups, purees and natural juices. As he grows older, you can feed him little chunks of food, especially vegetables and fruits. Cut a stick or a slice of carrot, for example, and let your child “play” with it! There’s no doubt he is going to taste it! Given the fact that he’s so curious, he is capable of tasting everything.

That’s why you have to constantly keep an eye on him! OK, it’s quite predictable that when the child grows, he can join you at the table and eat almost like a grown-up! I say “almost” because now he’s watching and imitating you. So take care, because his eating habits are certainly yours. And they are long-lasting!

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How to make your kid smarter? Part II

The parents have to stimulate their child when he’s just a baby.

If your child is precocious in many ways, there is no doubt he is a smart one! The fact that he promptly makes his first steps or says his first words is really a good sign. But you must stimulate his development at all levels: mental, physical, emotional and so on. Therefore, you must help him to walk, you must read him stories, let him watch non-violent cartoons, make sure that he interacts with many people (because this will help him communicate better), play quality music around him (this stimulates his creativity), show him your affection (this gives him a feeling of security and balance), talk to him more, let him imitate you because you, as a parent, are his most important role model.

You cannot and should not control your child’s whole life, but you can definitely influence it in a major way. And you have to start early! Because everything he’ll learn in the first years will be the foundation of his entire existence.

And this foundation must be a solid and a complex one. Your child has to develop a set of principles which will guide him in every action from now on. Teach your child to think, to count, to draw, to read, to play, to express his feelings and his thoughts, to be conscious at school. But take care not to limit his needs, wishes and abilities. Let him discover what he likes and wants to do. And if his path is a good one, trust him and let him continue on it!

Your smart child will definitely make you proud! Maybe he won’t be a genius, because this kind of development can also depend on genetics, as many studies have proved. But he will surely be a sagacious one, able to face many situations in life, and to find out and realize his unique potential as a human being!

Maybe he will not make a great difference in our world, but he will certainly know how to manage his life and to be a successful person. This is why you must struggle for your child to have a good education and to develop as much as possible when he is just… a child!

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How to make your kid smarter? Part I

Isn’t this quite a challenge? Don’t we all want to have a smart kid? Oh, yes, we do! But how easy it is or, more precisely, what does it actually mean? Well, it is more complicated that we may think, but not at all impossible.

When we are talking about having a smart kid, we don’t usually refer to his IQ or to his level of knowledge. These aspects are rather used linked to grown-ups. When it comes to a child, everything is a matter of intuition. And this intuition is the child’s ability to surprise us in different situations, when we are puzzled by his rapid, new and smart reaction for a certain fact, or when we are bewildered by his fresh answer to a question, or by his simple and curious advice which seemed impossible for us to reach.

In order to have a smarter child, we have to stimulate his interest for everything in this world. He is always eager to find out new things. And we have to make sure that we don’t inhibit this childish and precious quality!

So what can we do? Well, we can excite his capacity of thinking, of filtering the reality or of analyzing facts and people. We must listen to our children. We must question and explain them all sorts of things. We must give them the correct answers when necessary. We must teach our children to speak properly, to be polite with every person they encounter and to be friendly and generous with other kids. These are common sense aspects, we all know them! That’s for sure!

Recycling the environment - Part II

The child has the capacity to learn to recycle plastic, paper and glass. And you can be his teacher. You can assure your child some short sessions of ecological education. By the power of example, the little ones adopt the behavior of grown-ups. They are fascinated by the adult activities and even by the idea of becoming or acting like a grown-up. Tell your child about separate waste collection, teach him to use the recycle bins when he is outdoors, and to save energy and water at home. Tell your child that, without taking all these measures, the world will become ugly and poor and people will be very sad. Make your child aware of the bad impact of not recycling.

You, as an adult, should realize which are the positive aspects of protecting our environment. Recycling means saving. The quantity of waste reduces, so our earth is cleaner, because the pollution level goes down. Recycling means conserving the natural resources, which prevents the nature destruction. And last, but not least, the recycling process is cheaper than the production of materials (1).

It is very important for us to live in a clean and safe world. It is very important to be able to take your child for a Saturday walk in a beautiful park, or to organize a picnic with your family and to enjoy some fresh air in the middle of the nature. Take into consideration the fact that, for paper production, trees are being sacrificed. And, therefore, we have less oxygen, and our planet is not so green anymore.

Every green gesture, little as it may be, made by you, your child or by any other man, extends the life and health of our planet. Moreover, protecting the environment is a way of respecting the earth and all other people, but it is also a common-sense proof. After all, it is an equally ecological and ethical principle that can help us save the Earth.

Note: National Recycling Coalition, “Economic Recycling Benefits and Facts”. Last accessed on 14th of March, 2010 at < http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-benefits.html >

Recycling the environment - Part I

Nowadays, the sun still shines up in the sky, but it often struggles with some stormy clouds. This is a new battle, because in the past both the beautiful and the bad weather were doing fine together. The seasons still alternate, but, because of the global warming, summer and winter are longer than before. I think everyone realizes that the world is changing. But have you ever wondered what is going to happen if our world won’t be the same for you and your child?

As we all know, resources are exhaustible, unlike our needs, which are the opposite. Don’t skip this general truth, hoping that you and your child will have the chance to incessantly enjoy the resources of our world. Or that the nature will be large-handed in the future, and that air will be at least as breathable as it is now. Or that, from now on, we will benefit from paper in order to write, from energy and prime materials used to produce the objects we use everyday. No this will not the case!

In order to maintain the universal balance, you have to take measures to protect the environment. Not only you, but your child too, and so forth. From now on, children should be more aware of the world they live in and of the fact that it has to be protected. One way to achieve this goal is if ecological education was taught in the schools. Some of them probably offer this kind of classes already. But the education assured at home by you, as a parent, is most important. Don’t forget that you are the center of your child’s world. Therefore, s/he listens, observes and imitates you.

Tell your child about the nature, about our world, and explain him that the planet has to be protected. In order to make your child understand all these, take into account that s/he responds well to emotions, and tell your child that we are living in a happy world and that if we won't treat it with care, the earth can become very sad. And then make your child aware that he, as an inhabitant of our world, must accomplish a significant mission: the mission of protecting the planet.

(to be continued...)

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