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Sr. No Topic Page no.

1 Introduction 2

2 Age related emotional and physical 2

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development
3 Nutrition and its transition 4

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4 Food groups and pyramid 4 and 5

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5 Important nutrients and their requirements 6
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6 Ideal height and weight chart 7

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7 5 best Super foods 8

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8 5 worst foods 9
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9 Junk foods 10
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10 Party guide 11

11 Cheat meals guide 11

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CHILD NUTRITION FOR 7-9
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YEAR OLDS
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INTRODUCTION TO THE AGE GROUP

Seven to nine years are the ages of 'middle childhood'.
Over these middle years you will see the gradual development of your child's social skills and an
increasing ability to relate to the outside world at school and with friends. Children have a great
desire to fit in and be accepted by their peer group, and some degree of peer group acceptance
is essential for their self esteem.

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Having independence from family becomes more important now. Events such as starting school
bring children this age into regular contact with the larger world. Friendships become more and
more important. Physical, social, and mental skills develop quickly at this time. This is a critical

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time for children to develop confidence in all areas of life, such as through friends, schoolwork,

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and sports.
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 Age related emotional and physical development
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Physical Development :
By the beginning of middle childhood, children typically have acquired a leaner, more athletic
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appearance. Girls and boys still have similar body shapes and proportions until both sexes
reach puberty.
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Parameters Developmental Milestones

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Height & Weight Girls and boys grow about 2 to 3

inches and gain about 7 pounds per
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year until puberty.

 May experience growing pains.
 Throughout most of middle
childhood, girls are smaller than
boys and have less muscle mass.

Teeth  Baby teeth are lost during this

phase.
 The adult lower & upper incisors
erupt during this age group.

Brain  More complex behavioral and

cognitive abilities become possible
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as the central nervous system

matures.
 They have increased coordination
and strength, enjoy using new skills,
both gross and fine motor.

Emotional Development :
Middle childhood is a transitional stage—a time when parents begin sharing power and
decision making with their children.
 Increased ability to interact with friends
 Begin to develop more of a competitive nature.

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 Developing and testing values and beliefs that will guide present and future behaviors.
 Has a strong group identity; increasingly defines self through friends’ circle.

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NUTRITION

Nutrition Transition in the age group :

As this age group is characterized by a growing sense of independent decision making abilities
and thinking, these children potray their independence in the food choices that they make. This
is the time when they begin to choose their food intake, not on their parents’ choices, but
based on their own.

Influence of Friends :
 They highly identify themselves with their peer/ friends groups, their peers also
influence the food choices they make.

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 If they find their peers consuming foods rich in calories & fat, they too may want to opt
for those items; and conversely if they find healthy stuffs in their peers’ tiffins, it is

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possible they may make similar choices.

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Influence of Social Media :
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Another important influence on the child’s food choices is Media & Internet. Large scale
advertisements of eatables containing increased amounts of sugars, fats and salts &
preservatives play a major role.
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 Moreover, when these commercials potray children of same age group promoting these
products, it has a hard-hitting impact on the psyche of the children in this particular age
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group.
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Impact on Child’s Health :

 The food choices the children make based on the influences of the peers as well as
social media can have a negative impact on their health.
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 They may tend to choose a lot of junk foods in their diets which in turn may compromise
on their health in the long run.
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 Many begin to grow overweight till the time they reach adolescence as they binge on
high fat, sugary foods during their middle childhood and pre teen years.
 No doubt, childhood obesity is on the rise in many developing countries like India as
well.
Children in this age group can well be guided and trained by their superiors & parents to make
wise food choices in order not to risk their long term health.
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Food groups
Your child should consume a variety of foods from the five major food groups that make up the
"Food Pyramid". Each food group supplies important nutrients, including vitamins and minerals.
These five groups and typical minimum servings are:

FATS &

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OILS
(30 gms/day)

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MILK, MILK PDTS,

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FISH & POULTRYut
(2-3 SERVINGS PER DAY)
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FRUITS & VEGETABLES

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(3-5 SERVINGS PER DAY)

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PULSES & LEGUMES

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(2-3 SERVINGS PER DAY)

CEREALS & CEREAL PRODUCTS

(6 – 8 SERVINGS PER DAY)
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PORTION SIZES FOR EACH FOOD GROUP :

 Cereals & cereal products :

6-8 servings per day. Each serving should equal 1 slice of bread, 1 katori of cooked rice
or pasta, or cereal.

 Pulses & legumes :

2-3 servings of pulses or legumes per day. 1 serving is 1 katori of cooked pulse or
legume.

 Fruits & vegetables :

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3 servings of vegetables & 2 servings of fruits. 1 serving of vegetable is 1 katori of raw
leafy vegetables, 3/4 katori of vegetable juice, or 1/2 katori of other vegetables,

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chopped raw or cooked.
1 serving of fruit may consist of ½ bowl of sliced fruit, 3/4 bowl of fruit juice, or a

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medium-size whole fruit, like an apple, banana, or pear.
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 Dairy & poultry products:
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2-3 servings per day of 1 glass of low-fat milk, 1 katori of yogurt, curds and ½ katori of
paneer OR 1 egg, 1 pc fish/ chicken (50gms)
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 Fats & Oils :

30 gms of visible fat per day would be 6 tsps of oil to be used for the whole day in the
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child’s diet.
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Important Nutrients & their Requirements

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Age group Energy Proteins Visible Fats Calcium Iron

(in kcals) (gms) (gms) (mgs) (mgs)

7-9 yrs 1690 29.5 30 600 16

(ICMR, 2010)

1. Proteins
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Proteins are extremely essential during this phase as their bodies are developing structurally to
gain more of muscle mass. They also help in forming a stable frame for bones. Good sources
are: Pulses & legumes, milk & milk products, soya, meat & poultry, fish.

2. Fats
Fats are important too as they play a role in producing certain vital hormones responsible for
development during this period. It also helps in keeping the skin healthy. Healthy sources of fats
are: Nuts & oilseeds (flaxseeds, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds etc), vegetable oils
like rice bran oil, olive oil, groundnut oil, etc.

3. Calcium
Calcium is essential for forming the base of bones and also for muscle & nerve conduction.

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Good source are: Milk & milk products, ragi, tofu, green leafy vegetables, etc.

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4. Iron

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Iron is essential for improving concentration & for coordination of motor skills. It helps children
to be energetic and prevents lethargy in them due to anaemia. Good sources are: Garden cress
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seeds, cauliflower greens, dried dates, bajra, organ meats.
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Ideal height & weight chart :

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Age (in yrs) Boys Girls

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Weight (in kgs) Height (in cms) Weight (in kgs) Height (in cms)
7 – 9 yrs 25 130 25 129
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[ICMR, 2010]
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JUNK ALERT !!!!

Junk foods need no introduction. They contain high amount of oil and fat and therefore our
body finds it difficult to digest. Junk food is a kind of addictive; children get hooked on to it and
continue eating it in an uncontrolled way despite the fact that it is not healthy. The more they
consume, the more difficult they will find to opt for healthy food. Ending a junk
food addiction might be difficult but not impossible. To begin with, they can successively
decrease the frequency of eating junk food and try to eat more homemade foods.

Mindless Eating among children

Among most of children in this age group, hunger is psychologically-determined. Children are
not well-enough calibrated to know when they are full and even when they are necessarily
hungry. As a result, they are subtly and unknowingly influenced by their environment (TV,

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friends’ circle, parents, family) when determining when to eat and how much to eat.

Children usually happen to engage in eating these junk foods in large amounts without even

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realizing they are binging in these stuffs.

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Starting with a few potato chips initially, the child ends up in completing a whole 500gms or 1
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kg pack of them. Same goes for a pack of cream biscuits or a pack of cake slices.
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It may be that the child may be engrossed in his favorite TV shows or chatting with his close
buddies, bowls & bowls of junk foods are emptied without even noticing and the child feels he
can have still more!!!
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The array of junk foods they especially find tempting in this age group are as follows :
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REFINED FOODS TRANSFATS CONTAINING FOODS WITH ARTIFICIAL

FOODS COLOURING
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Noodles Biscuits Colas

Pasta (in white sauce) Cakes Cotton candy
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Parathas Puffs Jams

White Breads Cookies Jellies
Pizzas Nuggets Chewing gums
Tortillas Pattice Hard boiled sugar
confectionaries
Donuts Muffins Icecream candies
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French fries Smoothies

Potato/banana chips Softies

And, the list goes on…..

PARTY GUIDE
CAN HAVE CANNOT HAVE

Whole wheat noodles Noodles (maida)

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Whole wheat/ multigrain pasta Pasta (maida)

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Baked soya chips French Fries

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Triple Burgers (with hummus, ut Triple Burgers (with extra
veggies & baked pattice) cheese, mayo & fried pattice)
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Sandwiches with hummus + Cheese sandwiches
veggies
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Fruit/ dry fruit smoothies Artificial Smoothies

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Steamed/ baked muthiyas Pakodas/ Bhajias

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Pav Bhaji (filling can be made of Pav Bhaji (with butter)

cauliflower, raw bananas instead
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of potato; pav can be made of

whole wheat)
Cream crackers topped with Nachos
hummus & veggies

If your child wishes to indulge in these party treats, you can set the limit size for
them as follows :
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Cheat Meals PORTION SIZE

Noodles (maida) 1 Luncheon plate (9 – 9.5 inches in diameter)

Pasta (maida) 1 soup bowl

French Fries 1 fruit plate (6.25 – 7 inches in diameter)

Triple Burgers (with extra cheese, mayo & fried ½ no.

pattice)
Cheese sandwiches 1 no. (2 slices)

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Artificial Smoothies 1 glass (300 ml)

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Pakodas/ Bhajias 3-4 no.
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Pav Bhaji (with butter) 1 fruit plate + 2 pavs (with ghee)
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Nachos 1 katori (150 ml)

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