“A child is a wonderful blessing of God; therefore it should be cared and nurtured with the pure heart and peaceful mind”
When we talk about Child Care it includes the development of the child in a positive environment in which he/she can easily learn new things and socialize with others comfortably. A family looks perfect when the child of the family is happy and healthy. It can be said that a healthy family develops a healthy child. And healthy development of the child includes both physical health and mental health. The prime factor which helps in proper growth and development of the child is valuing each child as an individual with unique qualities, interests, needs, potentials and capabilities. It would be considered an injustice to a child comparing them with others on the basis of their growth and development.
Importance of Diet in Child Care
Child Care actually means caring the child for the better world which includes many things such as:
- Giving balanced nutrition to the child
- Working on emotional well-being of the child
- Giving importance to the concept of “talk to the child”
- Listening and appreciating the child
- Involvement of the child in the house
For the growth and development of the child physically proper diet is a must. To add a nutritional value in the diet one should add proper amount of proteins, fiber, fats (as per requirement) to the diet of the child. In the growing age child needs the diet which can provide enough energy to perform all the daily activities. For Proteins one can add pulses, meat, whole grain bread, cereals to the diet. Milk and milk products are the best source of proteins and for carbohydrates – curd, yogurt, and cheese can be added to the diet. Deficiency of calcium can also be avoided through milk. Addition of oats and nuts can provide the required protein, vitamins and fiber. Green veggies and seasonal fruits have their own importance in the diet of the child resulting in better nutrition.
How to encourage your Child to eat?
To enhance the eating habit of your child one should make eating time interesting and entertainingso that the child makes eating a priority rather than being a fussy eater. For this various ways can be opted like:
- Plan the meal time with your child and try to accompany them
- Talk to the child while feeding them. For example, ask them about their friends, how they spent their day or their likes and dislikes
- Make attractive meal (different shapes, cartoon faces etc) for them including fruits and veggies
- If it’s a dry meal ask them to help you. This involvement will have a positive impact on them
- Give importance to the water intake. Encourage them to have water within the required intervals
- Minimize the intake of fast food/junk food
How to make your Child Emotionally strong?
Further when we talk about the emotional well-being of the child, one should try to understand that every child is an individual having feelings which should not be hurt or ignored. This doesn’t mean that the child is free to throw tantrums and misbehaves every time. Discipline should always be given importance in the upbringing of the child. One should know that a child learns to give responses from their adults/parents. They act the way they see the world around, for example if a child fusses or cries, the response of the parents given to the child in the form of love and empathy or otherwise may be spanking or shouting will have a strong effect on how she/he will react to the similar situations in future. Don’t always try to make them learn good things or be well mannered instead display that in front of your child so that he/she can relate to you and learn automatically.
Talking to your child is very important for making them strong mentally. One should try to make the child comfortable enough that they can always come up to you with their problems, suggestions, ideas and decisions. Try not to interrupt the child while talking as it can make them feel weak or inferior and can harm their confidence. Being a parent, involvement with the child is important. Try to engage yourself in various activities with your child may it be games, swimming, cycling or a mere chit-chat about their daily routine. Make sure to involve the child in various house hold activities for example assign a work to them and make sure you encourage them for the same; this will develop a feeling of responsibility and leadership within the child.
For the overall development of the child all the above mentioned ways can work. Improved diet, emotional support and individual importance will definitely work wonders but at the end you should always make sure that your child knows that they are very much loved and adored.
