“Children need nutrients to grow,” says Alida Melse, senior lecturer in nutrition at Wageningen University Research, who specializes in nutrition for pregnant women, children and adolescents. “That is why it is important that they get enough and that parents feed their children according to the guidelines for good nutrition. Then they rarely lack anything.”
Children and teens: calcium, iron and protein for growth
It is sometimes difficult to get children to eat healthy. “It helps to serve the same vegetables to children over and over again,” advises Melse. “After a while they get used to it and often just eat it.” Children up to 5 years old need extra vitamin D for skeletal growth. “Iron is also a concern, especially in girls in puberty.”
But children are increasingly overweight. “It is wise to start very early with a healthy diet to prevent them from getting too fat,” says Melse. “Of course they are allowed candy, cake or something else unhealthy. Being too strict is counterproductive. But don’t give it too often, because it’s all empty calories.”
Food is an important part of education. “Instead of a cookie jar, put down a fruit bowl and set a good example. If parents don’t eat healthy themselves, children certainly won’t.”
Melse recommends avoiding sugary soft drinks. “You can opt for ‘zero’, which does not contain sugar, but then you still maintain the consumption of those drinks. It is best to get children used to drinking water and tea without sugar from an early age.”
Only plant foods? Avoid shortages
Today, more families follow a vegan diet. “Cutting out meat and dairy can lead to a deficiency of calcium, iron, protein and vitamin B12, the substances children need to grow.” If children do not consume enough of these substances, they can become malnourished. “Vegetarian is much less of a problem, because you get nutrients through dairy and eggs.”
The lack of nutrients in a vegan diet can possibly be compensated with a supplement. Be careful with meat substitutes, says Melse. “These nutrients are often also added to substitutes, which is a plus. But not all of them are healthy: they contain a lot of salt and saturated fat, for example.”
The senior lecturer in nutrition recommends choosing legumes as a source of protein. “Like lentils, beans and peas. If you opt for vegetable dairy instead of milk, you will not get enough calcium. Calcium is also found in nuts, vegetables and legumes, for example, and you can possibly take a supplement for it.”
Young adults: regular eating times
It is not always easy for young people to stick to a healthy diet, says Melse. “Eating habits change as you grow up. Young people often see when and what they eat.”
What they ultimately choose to eat is not always healthy. Even when young people become more independent, it is therefore good for parents to continue to provide a healthy basis. “Continue to ensure fixed eating times by, for example, providing breakfast in the morning and dining with the family at the table in the evening.”
Somewhere between the ages of 25 and 30, your body has finished building bone tissue. Before that, it is very important that you eat as healthy as possible. “You enjoy everything you build up at a young age all your life,” says Lisette de Groot, professor of nutrition and the elderly at Wageningen UR. “After that, all you have to do is keep track of it.”
Adults: eating too much every day makes you fat
After your 30th your body has grown. It still needs healthy nutrients, but less calories. So it can become more difficult to maintain weight.
Eating according to the disc of five can help with this. “But not many people stick to it,” says Melse. Getting enough fruit and vegetables in particular is a challenge for many. “The recommended amount is quite high: 250 grams of vegetables and 200 grams of fruit every day. So it’s not surprising that it’s not possible to eat all that in one meal. Also try to have some fruit and some vegetables, for example tomato, cucumber and lettuce, at lunch and at breakfast.”
On the other hand, people often eat more meat than recommended. “Eating meat is only necessary once or twice a week and then a small portion is enough.”
Nowadays there are more people who eat little or no bread, says Melse. “But we need bread for the fiber, and especially because of the iodine it contains. Do not opt for a salad instead of bread, but have both.”
Don’t eat the same dish too often. Varying makes it easier to take in enough different nutrients. “Take, for example, bread with an egg for breakfast one day, fruit with cottage cheese the next.”
Adults should also be careful with empty calories in, for example, alcohol, soft drinks, cake and other extras. “Nowadays there is a party to celebrate every day. That sometimes makes it difficult to make good choices. Before you know it, you eat just a little too much every day.”
Elderly: watch for malnutrition
Healthy eating remains important in later life, but the experts see that older people often have difficulty with it. De Groot: “The guidelines for a healthy diet are for everyone, but the elderly are more likely to be malnourished or overweight. Sometimes older people have a chronic condition, need to take medicines that affect their appetite or become ill. It is quite a challenge to continue to eat healthy and responsibly.”
Many elderly people are underweight. “This could be due to a disease, for example, where you have less appetite, but actually need more nutrients. Appetite can decrease due to bad teeth, loss of smell and taste, use of medication or grief over the loss of a partner.”
If you are underweight, it is important to take extra protein, says De Groot. “This is, for example, in meat, fish, cheese, eggs, grain products and nuts. It is recommended to take 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. In case of malnutrition, this is increased to 1 gram. This can be done, for example, by taking an extra egg or a bowl of oatmeal.”
Extra protein and plenty to drink
More protein can also help to build more muscle strength, especially in combination with strength training. “The combination of exercise, sufficient sleep, a healthy diet and little stress probably has a positive effect on the mental and physical well-being of the elderly. We are currently conducting research into this,” says De Groot. “The elderly also benefit greatly from adding antioxidants to the diet, such as those found in berries.”
The elderly are also advised to take extra vitamin D to keep the bones strong and to prevent osteoporosis. “Sufficient moisture is also a point of attention,” says De Groot. “If older people spend a lot of time indoors in warm rooms, they become dehydrated more quickly. Start the day with water, tea or coffee and keep drinking throughout the day.”
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2023-07-24 01:00:17
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