Meal Planning for 

Pre-School Children (1-6 years old

 The kind and amount of food the child eats affects his/her physical and mental well-being.
(We all know that during the first year of the child this is more on children learning
what, when, and how much to eat through their direct experiences and by observing
the eating behaviors of others. The eating experience provides not only sustenance but
also an opportunity for learning) It affects not only children’s physical growth and
health but also their psychosocial and emotional development.

Good nutrition during the pre-school age is important to the child’s future. This when the
children needs a proper nutrients to stay healthy and strong and grow up healthy and
strong. Nutrition for children can also help establish a foundation for healthy eating
habits and nutritional knowledge that the child can apply throughout his/her life.

 This is the time when the child needs adequate food to grow and build his/her body, to
exert/spend plenty of energy for play, and to help him/her fight common infections. (All
children need to eat an adequate food because it has vital effects on physical growth
and development, like it maintains the normal body function, physical activity and
health.) Foods give the child the energy to grow, play games, be healthy and learn.

 Good nutrition helps keep the child healthy, happy and physically fit as well as mentally
alert. Eating well helps reduce the risk of health problems.

 During the pre-school years, food habits are formed. The child gets to like the foods that
are usually served to him/her by his/her mother. The children will learn healthy eating
habits by watching the mother because some children often need to see, smell and
touch food before tasting it.

 Introducing the child early to good nutrition will help shape his/her habits in later years.
Since preschool children are still developing their eating habits
and need encouragement to eat healthy meals and snacks. It is important since they
need proper nutrients to stay and grow healthy and strong.

 Children need to eat three different meals at regular times of the day. Snacks like glazed
yellow kamote or boiled yellow corn or fresh fruits are more nutritious than candies or soft
drinks. Having a routine can help children know what to expect when it is time for
meals or snacks.

 Pre-school children are very active. They need to eat energy foods like rice, corn, bread,
yellow kamote or gabi to keep them on the go.
  Fats and oils also supply heat and energy. In addition, fats help keep skin smooth and help
the body make use of vitamin A. You may use butter or margarine or other fats that make
food tastier.

 Give at least 1 cup of milk whole milk daily such as fresh whole milk (carabao, cow or goat),
powdered whole milk and evaporated milk (including recombined and reconstituted milk)

Other Kinds of Milk

 Evaporated Milk filled milk - a powdered skim milk with vegetable oil and water added.
 Skim milk - milk from which fat has been removed
 Sweetened condensed milk - thickly evaporated milk with large amounts of sugar added.
(Giving your child low-fat milk can encourage healthy habits that will stay with them
for the rest of their life. Kids who start drinking low-fat milk are more likely to
choose it as teens and adults. Soy milk, almond milk, and rice milk, and other dairy
milk alternatives are typically low in fat)

 Green leafy vegetables and yellow vegetables such as malunggay, kamote tops, kangkong,
pechay, carrot and squash have more vitamins and minerals that the child needs for: good
eyesight, clean skin, and healthy hair.

 Other vegetables like sitaw, abitsuelas, sigarilyas, and patani also promote growth and make
the child fit.

 Fruits give a variety of nutrients for good health. Citrus fruits like suha and dalanghita are
good sources of vitamin C that: 
 Keep the child’s gum healthy
 Prevent his/her skin from bruising easily; and
 Help the body fight infection and foreign substances.

Fresh fruits are good for snacks. Serves fruits that are ripe, fresh, free from bruises, and
other defects, and in season. Serve them in different forms, as juices or shaped into cubes,
balls and rings.