My Food Pyramid
Grains
Veggies
Fruits Oil Dairy Meat, fish, egg
The colored sections stand for six food groups
Orange = Grains as biscuit, bread, cereal, crackers, muffin, noodle, pasta, rice, and etc.
Green = Veggies as asparagus, beans, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuces, and etc.
Red = Fruits as apples, bananas, berries, grapes, oranges, pears, plums, and etc.
Yellow = Oils and fats as bacon, butter, cream, dressing, nuts, cooking oils, and olives
Blue = Dairy products as milk, yogurt, and cheese
Purple = Meats and poultry, fish and seafood, and eggs
Healthy eating
The areas of the colored section indicate how much you need from the each group of
foods. The areas of orange, green, red, and blue are wider because you need plenty of
grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products each day. And the areas of yellow and purple
are relatively narrow because you only need limited oil/fat and meats daily.
Get regular physical activity
The litter child is going up is a reminder to get regular exercise.
New Pyramid food and exercise plans are designed for adults and children ages 2
and over, which set up by United States Department of Agriculture in 2005.
1
More whole grain
Please expose us more whole grain foods and tell us why.
Please read food labels for whole grain foods.
Please read the ingredient list to see whether it is a whole grain or not.
Please give us whole-wheat bread/noodles instead of white ones;
Please give us brown rice instead of white rice;
Let us choose whole grain snacks such as cereal, cookies or popcorns…
We are building up eating habit for whole grain foods during our toddler years.
Carbohydrates:
Make the carbohydrates you offer mainly whole grains, such as whole grain cereals,
pasta, and, bread. Brown grains are better than white grains.
Tip: If we are overweight or born in families with histories of being too heavy
(overweight), having high sugar levels (diabetes), or having heart and vessel
problems, please gives us less carbohydrate /grains and less sweet foods.
2
Protein- lean meat, dairy, fishes, beans…
lean meat
dairy
bean
Shopping for lean meats
Please select lean beef, and lean pork for us,
Please choose skinless chicken, or turkey parts for us,
Please buy lean turkey, roast beef, ham, or low-fat luncheon meats for us,
Please keep thinking lean meats and poultry when you are shopping for you and for us,
Esp. if we are growing fast, overweight or born in families with histories of being too heavy (overweight),
having high sugar levels (diabetes), or having heart and vessel problems.
Healthy cooking to keep meats lean
Please take off part or whole skin of chickens and turkeys before cooking;
Please trim away the visible fat from meats and poultry before cooking.
Please boil, steam, bake, broil, grill, or roast meat, poultry, fish, and shrimp instead of frying.
Please add less oil, butter, or dressing, avoid fat sauces or gravies when you cook.
Please drain off any fat that appears during cooking.
Please Take off part of skin off for fried chicken when you eat out
Please keep meats lean when you are cooking for you and for us.
This can prevent us from being overweight, having high cholesterol, or heart and vessel problems.
Vary foods rich in protein
There are different kids of nutritional protein foods in the market,
They work all together well to promote our growing and development.
Please select fish for us such as salmon, trout, cod…
Please cook beans and tofu for us such as bean soup, boiled beans, bean salad…
Please choose nuts for us as a snack, on salads, with pasta to replace meat or poultry,
Please provide enough milk and dairy products for us to strong our bones,
Please give egg white, not too much egg yolk to us as boiled egg, steam egg, stir egg, on salads…
Please keep serving various protein foods for you and for us.
Protein:
Needless to say, infants and toddlers need adequate intake of protein in their food for healthy growth.
About 40% of their total calorie consumption should be from protein.
Egg whites, lean meats, fish, poultry, beans, and, dairy are some examples of foods rich in protein.
3
Adequate fat
Function of fat
Fat is a building block needed to make neurons and allow brains to
grow,
Fat can fuel the body,
Fat aids in the absorption of fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K),
Fat gives food flavor and texture,
Fat helps us feel full, so we don’t eat too much.
Eating adequate amounts of fat is an important part of a healthy diet
Sources and types of fat
Fat can’t always be produced by the body,
So they have to be eaten.
There are good fats (unsaturated fats), saturated fats, and trans fats.
Good fats are found in plant (nuts, fruits, and vegetables) foods and
fish,
These fats are neutral or even beneficial to our heart.
The saturated fats and trans fats are found in meat, butter, cheese,
milk, margarine, and fried foods…
Eating too much of them can raise blood cholesterol levels and
increase the risk of heart disease.
Neurons/brain
connections
Adequate fat
Our brain and neuron are growing and developing fast,
We need fat to support the growing.
When we are below 2 years old, fat should not be restricted and we need whole milk.
Starting at 2 years old, we should have low fat or non-fat milk and
Eat a varied diet with about 30-35% of calories coming from fat.
When we turn to age 4, the fat should decrease to about 25-35% of our total intake calories
When we turn to 2 years old
Please keep our fat intake in check.
Please give us naturally low-fat foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and
Low-fat milk and low-fat dairy products.
Please boil, bake, broil, grill, steam foods instead of frying.
Please don’t let us eat too much junk food.
We don’t want extra unhealthy fat bite our heart.
Fat
Babies still need fat.
Fat is a building block needed to make their neurons and allow their brains to grow.
It’s important not to place them on a low fat diet in their second year of life.
If no longer breast-feeding, you should give whole milk until age two years. After they turn 2, it’s okay
to go to 2% milk, and moderate their fat intake parallel to the rest of the family.
Trans-fat consumption is not to be encouraged at any age. Keep the fat intake to healthy unsaturated fats
as much as possible.
Fat has more than twice as many calories as protein or carbohydrates (1 gram of fat provides 9 calories,
whereas 1 gram of both carbohydrates and protein provide 4 grams each). So fat is, therefore, a great
source of energy but also adds twice the amount of calories to a meal.
4
More veggies, more fresh fruits, and less juice
Vegetables and fruits
Five subgroups of vegetables
Most are naturally low in fat, sodium, and calories,
high in dietary fibber and vitamins.
None of veggies and fruits has cholesterol.
Veggies and fruits contain many nutrients as dietary
fiber, potassium, vitamin A, E, C, and folic acid.
Dietary Fibers
Provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories
and reduce risk of overweight
Reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk
of heart disease.
Helps to keep the child’s bowel habits regular to
prevent constipation.
Potassium
Lower risk of high blood pressure
Keep muscles and nerves function properly
Reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and
decrease bone loss
Maintain electrolyte and acid-base balance
Vitamin A
Keep eyes healthy to prevent night blindness
Regulate gene for growth and development
Protect against infections
Vitamin E
Regulate fat-soluble vitamins absorption
Act to the body cell oxidation and protect the cells
which may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
and cancer
Play a role in immune function
Vitamin C
Act to repair of body tissues and heal cuts and
wounds
Help iron absorption
Keep teeth and gums healthy
Protect against infections.
Folic Acid
Helps to form red blood cells.
Helps to make new cells.
Dark green vegetables as broccoli, dark green
leafy lettuce, spinach…
Orange vegetables as yellow squashes, carrots,
pumpkin, sweet potatoes…
Dry beans and peas as beans (black, kidney, lima,
navy, or white beans), peas, tofu (bean curd)…
Starchy vegetables as corn, green peas, lima bean,
potatoes…
Other vegetables as asparagus, bean sprouts, beets,
cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplant,
green beans, peppers, mushrooms, okra, onions,
tomatoes, vegetable juice, zucchini…
Daily recommendation for
Veggies: 2-3y: 1cup; 4-5y: 1.5 cup
Fruits: 2-3y: 1cup; 4-8y: 1-1.5 cup
If we are very active, we may need more veggies or
fruits to meet our calorie needs.
Not necessary to eat vegetables from each subgroup
daily. Over a week, we need veggies from each
subgroup to provide nutrients for health.
Fresh fruits are high in dietary fiber; fruit juices
contain little or no fiber.
Diets rich in potassium
Vegetable sources: sweet potatoes, white potatoes,
white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and
juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, winter
squash, spinach, lentils, kidney beans, and split
peas.
Fruits sources: bananas, prunes and prune juice,
dried peaches and apricots, cantaloupe, honeydew
melon, and orange juice.
Diets rich in fibers
Whole-grain cereal, bread, and pasta
Legumes, nuts & beans: almonds, beans, lentils…
Fruits apple, peach, berries, orange, pear, raisins…
Vegetables broccoli, sprouts, cabbage, carrot,
cauliflower, spinach, turnip, zucchini…
5
More veggies and fresh fruits
Eat more veggies and fruits, reduce risk of
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Overweight
High blood pressure
Cardiovascular disease
Coronary heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Stroke
Constipation
Cancers as mouth, stomach, and colon-rectum cancer
Protect against infections!
How can I make my child eats more vegetables and fruits?
The earlier you start introducing them to us, the more likely we will adopt them.
Show us how do you cook and enjoy eating vegetables and fruits, we like to observe and imitate.
Let us pick vegetables and fruits while shopping.
Let us help clean veggies and fruits.
Let us select vegetables and fruits for lunch, dinner, or snack.
Buy fresh vegetables in season to keep their peak flavor.
Vary veggie choices to keep our meals interesting.
Prepare veggies as raw, lightly steamed, boiled, grilled, and cut-up ones.
Add veggies on salad, in soup, in dumplings, in pasta sauce, and with snacks…
Make veggies and fruits salad colorful to attract our eyes.
Provide different smells, flavors and textures of veggies and fruits for us to try.
Try low-fat dip or dressing to make veggies more taste.
Cut veggies and fruits into big and small circles, squares, and triangles to make eating fun.
Keep a see-through bowl of cut-up vegetables and fruits so we can pick up here and there.
Please learn the skills of how to attract our attention to veggies and fruits.
Please learn the skills of how to make eating fun for veggies and fruits.
We will gradually adopt new veggies and fruits and build our food preferences in our toddle years.
6
More calcium-rich foods
Calcium
An essential mineral for our growth.
An essential building block for our bones and teeth.
An essential element for muscle contraction and hormones/enzymes secretion.
An essential factor for our neuron and brain function.
Daily recommendation for Calcium
Calcium requirement varies by age:
Age Group
0-6 months
7-12 months
1-3 years old
4-8 years old
Female 9-13 years old
Male 9-13 years old
Female 14-18 years old
Male 14-18 years old
Calcium (mg)
210
270
500
800
1300
1300
1300
1300
Daily recommendation for dairy products
Dairy products: milk, yogurt, cheese,
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended 16 oz of
dairy products for kids < 9 years old and 24 oz for kids 9 years
old and above.
milk-based dessert as puddings, ice milk,
and ice cream.
Vitamin D
Essential for promoting calcium absorption in the gut
Essential for maintaining adequate serum calcium and phosphate
Essential for bone growth and bone remodeling
Essential for preventing rickets in children
Role for modulation of neuromuscular and immune function
Role for reduction of inflammation.
Sources of vitamin D
Food: flesh of fish as salmon, tuna,
and mackerel, beef liver, milk, cheese,
and egg yolks
Sun exposure
Dietary supplements: fortified foods
as cereal
AAP recommendation for vitamin D in 2008
Daily requirement: 400 IU/day in pediatric and adolescent populations.
Supplementation:
400 IU/day for exclusively and partially breastfed infants shortly after birth until they consume ≥1,000 mL/day of
vitamin D-fortified formula or whole milk.
400 IU/day for non-breastfed infants ingesting <1,000 mL/day of vitamin D-fortified formula or milk
400 IU/day for older children and adolescents who do not obtain 400 IU/day through vitamin D-fortified milk and
foods should take.
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP )
Build up good habit for calcium and vitamin D intake
Toddler years are the key period to build up healthy eating habits.
Please provide us appropriate dairy products,
Please introduce calcium and vitamin D rich foods early,
Please take us outside to enjoy sunshine,
Let us get enough calcium and vitamin D for our growing.
7
More calcium-rich foods
Our child like table foods and refuse to
drink milk. How can we make our child
drink more milk?
Please let us drink milk before eat solid foods.
Please Let us drink milk first when we are thirsty.
Please vary dairy products such as yogurt, cheese,
cream, ice cream, milk soup, milk bread, milk with
cereals.
Please vary the containers for milk or yogurt such as
sipping cup, cup, bowel, or frozen yogurt tube…
Please keep eye contact with us and tell us why we
need calcium and vitamin D “Get one sip of
milk/take one spoon of yogurt to make your bone
more strong.” Then gradually increase the volume.
Please don’t blame or yell us.
Please give us your support and encourage for any
little improvement we have achieved such as a kiss, a
hug, or a smile.
Please be patient for us to accept milk or other dairy
products gradually.
Our child drinks 60 ounces of milk a day
and refuses to eat solid foods except solid
junk foods.
The daily milk intake should not over 24 ounces.
Too much milk intake will decrease appetite for ironrich foods and other nutritious foods. Too much
calcium and vitamin D intake can cause abdominal
pains, constipation, kidney stone, bone pain, muscle
sprain, or decrease absorption of iron, zinc,
magnesium, and phosphate.
If we can eat junk foods or some solid foods that
means we have good swallowing function.
Please let us eat solid before drinking milk.
Please vary solid foods and mixed solid foods with
milk or other dairy products to enhance taste.
Please vary solid foods with different color, textures,
and tastes.
Please keep eye contact with us and tell us why we
need solid foods. Let us get some bites of solid food
in the beginning. Then gradually increase the amount.
Please don’t blame or yell at us.
Please give us your support and encouragement for
any little improvement we have achieved such as a
kiss, a hug, or a smile.
Please be patient with us in accepting new solid
foods gradually.
Type of Food
Dairy
Plain yogurt, fat-free
Fruit yogurt, low-fat, fatfree
American cheese
Ricotta cheese, part skim
Cheddar cheese
Mozarella cheese, part
skim
Milk, fat-free, low-fat,
whole
Cottage cheese, 2% fat
Cottage cheese, 1% fat
Macaroni and cheese
Frozen yogurt, fat-free,
Serving
Size
Calcium
(mg)
1 cup
1 cup
450
315
2 oz
½ cup
1 ½ oz
1 oz
348
337
305
207
1 cup
300
½ cup
½ cup
½ cup
½ cup
78
69
180
105
½ cup
½ cup
84
147-160
½ cup
½ cup
1 cup
½ cup
½ cup
179
118
90
90
80
1 oz
161
½ cup
½ cup
½ cup
1 cup
122
99
90
80
1 slice
30
3
tortillas
1 oz
1 tbsp
132
1 muffin
175
1 cup
8 oz
½ cup
½ cup
1 cup
250-300
300
260
450
150-300
10 figs
3 oz
269
100
low fat
Ice cream
Pudding made with milk
Vegetables
Collards, boiled, frozen
Collards, boiled
Broccoli, cooked or fresh
Kale, boiled
Bok choy, cooked or
fresh
White beans, cooked,
dried
Spinach
Turnip greens
Soybeans, cooked
Garbanzo beans
Grains, Nuts, Seeds
Bread, white or whole
wheat
Corn tortillas, limetreated
Almonds, dry roasted
Sesame seeds, whole,
dried
English muffin, whole
wheat
Calcium Fortified Foods
Soy milk
Orange juice
Tofu with calcium
Frozen yogurt, fat-free
Rice beverage
Other Foods
Dried figs
Shrimp
71
88
8
More Iron Rich Foods
Iron-rich foods
Iron:
Iron is essential for healthy red blood cell production.
Healthy red blood cells improve oxygen distribution to vital organs in the body.
Iron is also required for nerve/brain cell growth and development.
If we don’t take enough iron rich foods,
The red blood cell volume will decrease,
Iron deficiency anemia will follow.
Low iron will affect our growth
Low iron will affect our memory.
Low iron will lead to learning and behavioral problems.
As toddler age 1 to 3,
We need 7 to 10 milligrams of iron from our foods each day.
As toddler age 1 to 3,
We build healthy eating habits for iron rich foods.
Pleas do not miss this critical molding years for us,
Introduce to, and let us eat more iron rich foods!
Tips:
When iron is obtained from food source, it’s almost impossible to get too much or
overdose on it, however, iron can be overdosed from taking external supplements, with
a detrimental outcome, so, please do consult your pediatrician before you decide to
place your precious one on an iron supplement.
9
More Iron Rich Foods
Daily recommendation for iron
Age Group
0-6 months
7-12 months
1-3 years old
4-8 years old
Female 9-13 years old
Male 9-13 years old
Female 14-18 years old
Iron (mg)
0.27
11
7
10
8
8
15
Iron rich foods
liver, beans, red meats, fish, oysters, clams, eggs, dried peaches, prune juice, figs, dried
apricots, raisings, leafy green vegetables, tomato, spinach and other green leafy vegetables,
potato with skin, enriched grains, and iron-fortified cereals.
Type of Food
Meats, Seafood
Calf liver
Chicken liver
Beef liver
Beef, chuck, lean only
Beef, tenderloin
Turkey, dark meat
Beef, eye of round
Turkey, light meat
Chicken, dark meat
Chicken, breast
Lunch meat
Pork, loin
Tuna, canned in water
Shrimp
Hot dog
Dairy
Egg
Milk, skim
Cheddar cheese
Fruit
Peaches, dried
Prune juice
Figs
Apricots, dried
Raisins
Other Foods
Tofu, firm
Blackstrap molasses
Brewer’s yeast
Serving Size
Iron mg
4 oz
3 ½ oz
4 oz
3 oz
3 oz
3 oz
3 oz
3 ½ oz
3 ½ oz
3 oz
2 slices
3 oz
3 oz
4 large
1
16
12.8
6.5
3.2
3
2.3
2.2
1.6
1.6
1.1
0.9
0.8
0.8
0.7
0.5
1 large
1 cup
1 oz
1
0.1
0.2
6 halves
8 oz
5
10 halves
4 oz
3.1
3
2
1.6
1.5
3 oz
1 tbsp
1 tbsp
2–7
3.5
1.4
Type of Food
Vegetables
Lentils, boiled
Kidney beans, boiled
Lima beans, Navy beans, boiled
Tomato paste
Black beans, boiled
Pinto beans, boiled
Spinach, boiled
Beet greens
Potato, with skin
Sweet potatoes
Spinach, canned
Artichokes, raw
Spinach, frozen
Black-eyed peas, boiled
Pumpkin
Tomato puree
Peas, broccoli
Tomato sauce
Potato, without skin
Grains, Nuts, Seeds
Iron fortified cereals
Cream of Wheat
Instant oatmeal
Pasta, enriched
Sunflower seeds
Almonds, peanuts
Bread, whole wheat
Brown rice
Serving Size
Iron mg
1 cup
1 cup
1 cup
4 oz
1 cup
1 cup
½ cup
1 cup
1
4 oz
½ cup
½ cup
½ cup
1 cup
4 oz
4 oz
2 cups
4 oz
1
6.6
5.2
4.5
3.9
3.6
3.6
3.2
2.7
2.7
2.5
2.5
2
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.1
1
0.8
0.6
1 oz
4 oz
1 serving
4 oz
1 oz
1 oz
4-8
5
2
1–2
1.9
1
1 slice
1 cup
1
1
10