May 2005
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CNRC provides healthy eating tools for parents
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A new web site calculator from the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine provides valuable tools for parents looking for information on nutritional guidelines for their children.
This newest calculator assists parents in outlining a healthy eating plan for children over the age of four and is based on the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Institute of Medicine's nutritional recommendations for children.
After entering a child's sex, age, weight, height and physical activity level, parents obtain an eating plan that provides the nutrients their child needs to grow and develop and be active without excessive weight gains. In addition to the basic food groups of fruits, vegetables, grains, milk products, lean meats and beans and oils, the plan also provides guidelines for discretionary calories. Discretionary calories are the calories 'left over' after subtracting the caloric content of the child's healthy eating plan from his or her energy needs.
The calculator demonstrates how little room there is in a healthy diet for high-fat and high-sugar foods, particularly if their child is relatively inactive. Those who developed this tool hope it can help parents recognize how a child's activity level affects nutritional and energy needs. It can also help them understand that fitting favorite foods into a child's diet is a matter of how much and how often.
Because the calculator is for educational purposes, the recommendations provided are for normal weight children between the ages of four and 18. Like the new dietary guidelines, the calculator plan promotes the consumption of high-fiber foods, including whole grains, fruits and vegetables while limiting discretionary calories.
The calculator is available at www.kidsnutrition.org/HealthyEating_calculator.htm.
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