Top 5 Nutrients Essential for Schoolgoers
09 May 2019
All
essential nutrients must be included in the diet of schoolgoers for
their right growth and development. Have a quick look at the top 5
nutrients essential for schoolgoers.
Every human body
requires nutrients to function. While a body needs all the nutrients in
some quantity, some nutrients are required in a larger quantity than
others. The reason why different diet plans are made for different
people is because some need an excess of one nutrient, like body
builders need excess of protein, while some require an excess of
vitamin. Nutrient intake depends on a person’s lifestyle.
Children, especially those who have started going to school, require all kinds of nutrients
in their daily diet, in order to ensure proper growth of their body as
well as mind. Mothers are therefore, always worried about the type of
nutrients that are required in larger quantities for their school going
children. To help mothers, below is given a list of the top five
nutrients that are essential for schoolgoers.
Carbohydrates
It
is the common advice these days to reduce the amount of carbohydrate
intake. But carbohydrate is the nutrient that supplies most of the
energy to the body. Carbohydrate consumption may have certain negative
consequences in adults but schoolgoers require an amount of carbohydrate
in their diets.
Schoolgoers burn a lot of energy
in school, at the playground, in the classroom and even at home.
Carbohydrates aid the child’s body to utilize the fat and protein that
helps in building up tissue cells and repairing damaged ones.
Carbohydrates have many forms, like sugar, fiber and starch. Children
should be given more of the fiber and starch based carbohydrates than
the sugar based ones. Food items that have high levels of carbohydrates:
Breads, Cereals, Crackers, Pasta, Potatoes, Rice etc.
Protein
Schoolgoers’
bodies go through a lot of physical stress. This is the time for them
to play hard and study hard. All this physical stresses lead to
weakening of Protein increasing the chances of infections and diseases.
Schoo
goers in their active bodies, get a lot of cell damages and they also
require a lot of energy for their activities. Protein takes care of all
these. It helps the body fight infections, regenerate cells, decomposes
food to release energy and also helps in supplying oxygen to the body.
Foods with high protein content: Dairy products, Eggs, Nuts, Meat, Fish,
Beans etc.
Calcium
School
going age is an age of growth. This is the period that your child
develops and matures physically and mentally. The child has bone growth
and also at an earlier age, growth of permanent teeth. The principle
constituent of bones and teeth is calcium.
Hence,
calcium is required in high quantities in the body to ensure proper
growth and development. Apart from these, calcium also aids in clotting
of blood, if the child is wounded. It ensures smooth functioning of the
neurons, the muscles and the heart. Foods with high calcium are:
Yogurt, Egg yolks, Milk, Spinach, Cheese, Ice cream, Broccoli, Tofu etc.
Vitamin C
Children
will inadvertently get some kind of infection and the most common type
is cold and coughs. They might get it from their play mates or due to
weather changes, getting wet in the rain or drinking cold water. Vitamin
C is essential for fighting the common cold. It destroys the viruses.
Apart from that it helps bind the cells together, increases the strength
of blood vessel walls, heals wounds and aids in bone building. Foods
with high Vitamin C are: Citrus fruits, Melons, Strawberries, Tomatoes,
Mangos, and Cabbage etc.
Iron
Iron is the basic constituent of blood cells. The iron
in the blood aids in supplying oxygen to all the body cells, keeping
them healthy. Iron is essential for building a child’s healthy body.
Foods with iron: Liver, Beans, Red meat, Nuts, Poultry etc.
These nutrients will help your schoolgoers stay fit and healthy and handle the rigours of school life.