Feeding of children between 3 and 12 years of age

The nutritional requirements of children are the set of reference values of nutrients and energy that the diet should provide to maintain a good state of health, prevent disease and ensure an adequate rate of growth and development.

In the preschool and school stages, the child -between 3 and 12 years of age- continues to grow, although at a slow pace; therefore, his or her nutrient demands continue to be relatively high. To meet these demands without the child gaining too much weight, moderate amounts of nutrient-rich foods - no sugar, no soft drinks, no fried foods, etc. - should be provided, and moderate physical activity should be scheduled on a daily basis.

Energy needs

Energy needs vary throughout the different stages of life depending on several factors. The table shows the recommended daily energy intakes for the Spanish child population. These values should be adapted to each child taking into account his or her physical activity levels and following the pediatrician's recommendations.

As we can see, energy requirements increase with age and are similar for both sexes until the age of 10, when they begin to be slightly higher for boys.

Carbohydrate and dietary fiber requirements

Carbohydrates should provide 55-60% of a child's total daily calorie requirements. The foods rich in the healthiest carbohydrates are the following: whole grains - bread, pasta, rice - potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, legumes and fresh fruits.

The three main meals should include at least one food rich in carbohydrates, which, in addition to providing energy to the body, provide it with vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.

Dietary fiber promotes many beneficial health effects, among which the following stand out:

• They reduce the risks of suffering from overweight, obesity and diabetes since they slow down the digestion of sugars and fats; making it possible to reach the next meal without having to snack.
• They eliminate or reduce constipation.

Important: Simple carbohydrates: sugar, honey, sweets and sugary drinks should be avoided or given very sporadically.

Protein needs

Within the great number of functions that proteins perform in the organism, their role as a structural component of cells stands out, constituting an essential element for the growth, repair and continuous renewal of human tissues. In a balanced diet, proteins should provide between 10 and 15% of the total daily calories required by the child.

Proteins of animal origin - milk, fish (blue and white), eggs and meats with low saturated fat content (poultry, rabbit and lean beef) should provide 65% of the total protein in the child's diet; the rest should be obtained from foods of vegetable origin such as legumes (chickpeas, beans), cereals (bread, pasta, rice) and nuts.

Proteins of animal origin have a higher biological value than those of vegetable origin; however, when two or more different foods rich in vegetable origin proteins are ingested in the same meal, for example: legumes and cereals -rice with chickpeas or beans with bread- the proteins of the different foods complement each other, obtaining a protein of very high biological value.

Children should eat between 1 and 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of weight, distributed in the different meals throughout the day.

The following table shows the recommended daily protein intakes for the Spanish child population. As we can see, protein requirements increase with age and are similar for both sexes until the age of 10, when they begin to be slightly higher for boys.

Important: protein excesses in children's diet can cause overweight, obesity and hinder the correct mineralization of bones.

Fat requirements

Fats are the energetic reserve of the organism; in addition, they fulfill structural, catalytic, vehicle functions for liposoluble vitamins and suppliers of essential fatty acids. All this means that it is not recommended to restrict the intake of healthy fats in the early stages of life.

Fats should provide between 30 and 35% of the total daily calories required by a child between 2 and 3 years of age and between 25 and 35% for children over 4 years of age.

The quality of the fat that we provide to the children plays a fundamental role in their growth and physical and intellectual development; for that reason the 35% of the total of the daily calories that the fats must contribute is recommended to distribute them of the following way:

15% should be provided by monounsaturated fats. These fats are mainly found in olive and rapeseed oils; although they are also contained in avocado and nuts - hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts, pine nuts, sesame and walnuts.The 10% should be provided by polyunsaturated fats omega-3 and omega-6. These fats are found in oily fish, seed oils (soybean, sunflower, corn, rapeseed, etc.) and nuts -pine nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds and sesame-.The rest -about 10%- should be provided by saturated fats present in milk, fish, eggs and meats.

Important: The consumption of foods rich in saturated fats - fa