The Food Pyramid for Kids
Knowing what to eat as an adult for a healthy lifestyle can be confusing enough, with all the different food groups, nutritional jargon and mixed messages about how much you should eat of what every day.
So if it is this confusing for us as adults trying to live healthily, imagine what it must be like for a kid! Fortunately it is a lot easier for children and parents nowadays thanks to The Food Pyramid for kids.
This is not just some fad diet nonsense that should be ignored – it has been produced by the experts and is designed to help impart nutritional wisdom to both children and their parents in a simple-to-understand way.
The Food Pyramid for kids has been developed by the USDA (United States Department for Agriculture) and has had several editions throughout the years. The latest version of the pyramid was reviewed and published by the USDA in 2005, with a visual version released later on, specifically aimed at helping children understand about food, diet and nutrition.
The aim of the newer version of the pyramid was to try and get the message about not only eating more healthily but also exercising everyday through to children and their parents.
Whilst the format of the food pyramid is simple to use, it conveys all of the information needed to make informed food choices for children on a daily basis. Although designed specifically to target children from the age of 6, there is a simpler format available for younger children, which is less detailed, but still helps to start getting the message about eating healthily and exercising across in a fun way.
Color Coded Food Groups
The pyramid is shaped like a, well, pyramid and has been color coded to represent each of the food groups that children should be eating.
The different groups are coded as follows: orange for grains, green for vegetables, red for fruit, blue for milk, yellow for oils and purple for meats & beans.
The USDA recommends that each of the color coded groups should be consumed on a daily basis in order for the children to get the complete nutrition quota that they need each and every day.
Each food group has a lot of information below its part on the pyramid, advising children of how much they should be eating every day (i.e. it is recommended that children consume 2½ cups of vegetables per day) and includes some tips on how they can reach these recommended amounts.
Another interesting and useful feature of The Food Pyramid for kids is that it comes complete with pictures.
Each of the food groups contains pictures of foods with the idea that the foods closer to the top of the pyramid are foods we should be eating, but not as often, as the foods that are lower down on the chart. For example, in the meats & beans group chicken is pictured at the bottom of the pyramid whereas peanut butter is nearer the top of the pyramid.
This helps to show the children (and perhaps many parents) that although a balanced diet is needed, some foods are better for us than others, even though everything on the pyramid is a healthy option (some in moderation).
Kids Food Pyramid Interactive Game
We all know that the majority of children are completely bored when it comes to talking about being healthy and eating the right foods, so in conjunction with the food pyramid the USDA website also has an interactive game that children can play.
This game is based around needing to add the right fuel to your pyramid-shaped rocket ship to be able to blast off on an important mission. The player has to select a variety of foods and drinks from the breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack menus at the top of the screen and add them to their rocket.
Each item of food or drink is given an amount of “fuel points” and you have to fill your tank right to the top with the right fuel to be able to leave the ground. As well as this, to emphasize the exercise element of a healthy lifestyle, players can also choose to add 10, 20 or 30 etc. minutes of activity to their fuel tank.
Once your rocket has taken off, you are given a mission report which tells you how good your choices were, another great way of explaining to children why they need to eat certain foods in order to stay healthy and that exercising every day, no matter how little, is also very important.
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