Tips for Serving Nutritious Food for Children Even if the Budget is Limited

JAKARTA - Preparing nutritious food for children is a challenge for parents, especially when it comes to adjusting to the family's budget.

However, with proper planning and the right selection of food ingredients, children's nutritional needs can still be met without having to spend a lot of money. The key is to understand the principle of balanced nutrition and make use of easily accessible food sources.

Dietitian Luthfianti Diana Mauludiyah SGz, RD suggests that parents who have limited budgets should continue to provide balanced nutritious food for children.

To ANTARA, Thursday, Diana said parents to provide a balanced nutritious menu, especially for children, can take advantage of local and seasonal food ingredients that tend to be more affordable.

"Local and seasonal ingredients so that you get more affordable prices or food ingredients that are always available and cheap such as eggs, tempeh, tofu, fish, local vegetables and fruits," said the dietitian from the National Cipto Mangunkusumo Central General Hospital (RSCM) Jakarta.

He explained that even a simple menu can actually meet the nutritional needs of children if it is composed of the right composition. An example is a combination of rice, clear vegetables, fried eggs and / or tempeh, and fruit as a complement.

According to Diana, parents also need to pay attention to the variety of menus so that children do not feel bored with the food served every day. This effort is important to keep children's appetite good.

"To prevent children from getting bored, food variety can be introduced by changing the type of ingredients in the same nutrient group, for example protein from eggs, fish, chicken, tempeh, or nuts," he said.

In addition to changing food ingredients, Diana said that different processing techniques could also be a solution. The same ingredients can be cooked by boiling, frying, roasting, or steaming so that children get a diverse taste experience.

He also reminded that the introduction of new foods should be done slowly and without coercion. Parents are advised to provide direct examples, create a pleasant eating atmosphere, and be patient when children refuse certain foods.

The role of parents is considered very important in forming and maintaining balanced nutritional eating habits at home. Children tend to imitate the eating patterns applied by parents in daily life.

"Parents should understand and understand what foods are safe for children so that they can choose and provide healthy and balanced nutrition, they can also introduce the concept and principle of 'Fill My Plate' in an interesting way," he said.

Furthermore, Diana suggested that parents routinely monitor the adequacy of children's nutrition, one of which is through weight and height measurements adjusted to growth curves.

"Observe the child's appetite, activity level, and body resistance. Children who are sufficiently nutritious are generally active and rarely sick," he said.