Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children

Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children
A Daily Guide for 2- to 8-Year-Olds

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	Grains Make half your grains whole • Look for the word "whole" in front of the grain name on the list of ingredients
	Vegetables Vary your vegetables • Eat more dark vegetables • Eat more orange vegetables • Eat more dry beans and peas
	Fruits Focus on fruits • Eat a variety of fruits • Choose fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit • Go easy on fruit juices
	Oils Know your fats • Make most of your fat sources from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils • Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening, and lard
	Milk Get your calcium-rich foods • Go low-fat or fat-free • If you don't or can't consume milk, choose lactose-free products or other calcium sources
	Meat & Beans Go lean on protein • Choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry • Bake it, broil it, or grill it • Vary your sources with more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds

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If allergies run in your family, you may want to delay the introduction of highly allergenic foods — like peanut butter, nuts, and fish — until your child is 3 or 4 years old.

Give your child a variety of foods in each of the food groups (bananas for one fruit serving, grapes for another; eggs for one protein serving, meat for another, for example). And offer whole or mixed-grain products for the majority of your child's grain servings each day.

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Adapted with permission from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.

Go to ParentCenter's nutrition guidelines for 2- to 4-year-olds or older kids to learn more about your child's eating habits.

Copied from Babycenter.com