Most people want to eat a balanced and nutritious diet, but it can feel overwhelming to start decoding nutrition labels, shopping differently, and adjusting your daily meals. However, prioritizing healthy eating is a great way to ensure that you and your family stay healthy today and in the future. How can you make healthy eating easy?
Prioritize Whole Foods
First and foremost, you should prioritize whole foods. Whole foods are those that are minimally processed and as close to their natural state as possible, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. These foods are full of essential nutrients that support your child’s overall health.
Check the Ingredient List
Simplicity is Best: Prioritize products with shorter ingredient lists. Generally, the smaller the list, the less processed the food is. Aim for foods that contain five ingredients or fewer.
Recognizable Ingredients: If you can’t pronounce an ingredient or don’t know what it is, it’s probably best to avoid it. Whole foods and products with recognizable, natural ingredients are better choices.
Watch Out for Additives: Be wary of preservatives, artificial colors, and flavors. These additives are common in highly processed foods and can have adverse health effects over time.
Whole Grains: Look for labels that specify whole grains, such as “100% whole wheat” or “whole grain.” Avoid products that list “enriched” grains, as these have been stripped of valuable nutrients.
Nutrient Density: Choose foods that contain essential vitamins and minerals, like calcium and vitamin C, on their nutrition labels. Nutrient-dense foods provide more nutrition relative to their calorie content, which will help your child’s growth and immune system.
Look for Sneaky Sugars
Identify Hidden Sugars: Sugar can appear under many names, including high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, glucose, maltose, and dextrose.
Check the Order: Ingredients are listed by quantity, from highest to lowest. If sugar is one of the first few ingredients, the product is likely high in sugar.
Added Sugars vs. Natural Sugars: When reading nutrition labels, focus on added sugars, which are sugars added during processing or preparation. Natural sugars, found in whole foods like fruits, are generally not a concern because they come with beneficial nutrients and fiber.
Daily Value Percentage: Look at the percentage of daily value (%DV) for sugars. The American Heart Association recommends that children consume no more than 25 grams (6 teaspoons) of added sugar per day.
Understanding Serving Sizes
Nutrition labels display information based on serving sizes, which can be misleading. Be mindful of the serving size listed and compare it to how much your child will actually eat. For instance, a single-serving snack might contain more than one serving, which dramatically increases the amount of sugar, fat, and calories that your child is consuming.
Strengthen Baltimore’s Youth with MissionFit!
At MissionFit, we recognize the fact that community, family, and healthy social relationships are essential to setting goals. We are highly dedicated to strengthening Baltimore youth through classes and an open gym. It’s our goal to encourage positive traits, like respect and teamwork, and provide children with a place to gain self-confidence and enjoy some exercise. To learn more about our classes or donate to support our mission, visit our website. We’re making health a possibility and a priority for Baltimore’s youth and helping to foster more black leaders from Baltimore. If you want to support youth programs in Baltimore, here are two easy ways to do so through MissionFit:
Donate here if you believe community, family, and relationships impact health!
You can put your online shopping to good use by donating a percentage of your purchase with AmazonSmile! To get started, sign in here, search for “MissionFit” and select us as your charity of choice.
