Dietary Guidelines for School-Age Children

School-age children are minors from 6 years old to less than 18 years old. I. Knowing food, learning cooking and improving nutrition science literacy Childhood is a critical period to learn nutrition and health knowledge, develop a healthy lifestyle and improve nutrition and health literacy. They should not only know food, participate in food selection and cooking, and develop healthy eating behavior, but also actively learn nutrition and health knowledge, inherit our excellent food culture and manners, and improve nutrition and health literacy. Families, schools and society should work together to carry out diet education for children and adolescents. Parents should integrate nutrition and health knowledge into the daily life of children and teenagers, and mothers can let their children help together when cooking and educate them about food culture at the same time; schools can offer nutrition and health education-related courses that meet the characteristics of children and teenagers and create a nutritional environment on campus. Second, three meals are reasonable, regular meals, and cultivate healthy eating behavior Children should have three meals a day, including appropriate amounts of cereals and potatoes, vegetables, fruits, livestock, fish and eggs, beans and nuts, and sufficient dairy products. The time of three meals a day should be relatively fixed, to achieve regular rationing, chew slowly when eating. The interval between meals is 4 to 6 hours, and the three meals are regular and quantitative. The energy provided by breakfast should account for 25% to 30% of the total energy throughout the day, lunch accounts for 30% to 40%, dinner accounts for 30% to 35%. To eat breakfast every day, to ensure that breakfast nutrition is adequate, breakfast should include cereals and potatoes, livestock, meat and eggs, milk or beans and their products and fresh vegetables and fruits and other foods. Three meals should not be replaced by pastries, sweets or snacks. Make a light diet and eat less fast food containing high salt, sugar and fat. Eat calcium-rich milk and milk products and soybeans and their products regularly to ensure adequate intake of calcium and promote bone development and health. To meet the needs of bone growth, make sure you drink 300ml of milk and dairy products or equivalent amount of dairy products every day, you can choose fresh milk, yogurt, milk powder or cheese. Eat iron-rich foods, such as lean meats, regularly, along with vitamin C-rich foods, such as fresh vegetables and fruits. Also often eat vitamin D-rich sea fish, egg yolk and other foods, and often outdoor activities to promote skin synthesis of vitamin D, which is conducive to the absorption and utilization of calcium. Three, a reasonable choice of snacks, adequate amount of water, no sugary drinks snacks are all the food and drinks eaten outside the three meals a day, excluding water. It is almost impossible to keep children from snacking! Children can choose wholesome, nutrient-rich foods for snacks, such as fruits and fresh vegetables that can be eaten raw, dairy products, soy and its products, or nuts. Foods that are fried, high in salt or sugar are not suitable for snacking. Drink plenty of water. 800-1000ml per day for children aged 6 to 10 years old and 1100-1400ml per day for children aged 11 to 17 years old. drink more water in hot weather or when you sweat more during exercise. Drink water in small amounts several times, do not drink when you feel thirsty, you can drink about 100-200ml of water between each class. Do not drink or drink less sugary drinks, not to mention alcohol. Some people have no concept of “milliliters (ml)”, how many glasses of water to drink in the end? An ordinary bottle of mineral water is generally 550ml, so the amount of 1100ml is about two bottles of mineral water. Fourth, not partial dieting, not overeating, to maintain appropriate weight gain Children should not be partial to picky eating, not overeating, correct understanding of their body type, to ensure appropriate weight gain. Malnourished children should increase the intake of quality protein-rich foods such as fish, poultry, eggs, meat, or soy products on the basis of a full diet. Overweight obesity can damage children’s physical and mental health, and should be prevented through a reasonable diet and active physical activity. For children who are already overweight and obese, they should control the total energy intake and gradually increase the frequency and intensity of exercise on the basis of ensuring reasonable weight growth. Fifth, to ensure at least 60 minutes of activity every day, increase the time of outdoor activities Regular exercise, sufficient sleep and reduce sedentary time can promote children’s growth and development, prevent the occurrence of overweight and obesity, and can improve their learning efficiency. Children and adolescents should spend more time outdoors and achieve a total of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day, with aerobic exercise as the main focus, preferably for more than 10 minutes each time. At least 3 times a week, high-intensity physical activity, 3 times a week resistance exercise (such as push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups) and bone-strengthening exercise. On hazy days or when air pollution is severe, exercises that do not significantly increase breathing and heart rate, coordination and balance exercises, etc. (such as sit-ups, yoga, etc.) can be performed indoors, and exercise intervals can be extended and intensity reduced appropriately. In the age of information technology, children are spending more and more time with cell phones and computers, which may cause problems such as vision loss and sleep disorders. Let school-age children understand the hazards associated with sedentary and prolonged video screens, and remind them to be physically active for every hour they sit. Do not put TV and computer in the bedroom, reduce the use of cell phones, computers and watching TV and other video screens for no more than 2 hours a day, the less the better. The Guide also proposes to ensure adequate sleep, 10 hours a day for elementary school students, 9 hours for middle school students and 8 hours for high school students.