Healthy Eating Plate for younger school-age children

Hrana nije samo jedan od životnih užitaka već se pravilnim odabirom namirnica održava na naše zdravlje te smanjuje rizik od raznih bolesti, kao što su dječji dijabetes, pretilost, poremećaji u ponašanju i sl. Zbog toga važno je pridržavati se načela zdrave prehrane. Namirnice dijelimo u šest skupina na osnovu zastupljenosti pojedinih hranjivih tvari: meso, riba, jaja; mlijeko i mliječni proizvodi; voće i povrće; masnoće i slatkiši. Zdrava prehrana tijelu osigurava optimalan unos vitamina, tekućine, minerala i kalorija te optimalan omjer masti, ugljikohidrata i proteina. Tanjur zdrave prehrane služi kao vodič za pripravu zdravih i uravnoteženih obroka. Polovicu tanjura trebalo bi zauzimati voće i povrće, više od četvrtine tanjura žitarice, a ostatak tanjura proteini. Pravilna prehrana kod djece sastoji se od pet glavnih obroka (zajutrak, doručak, ručak, užina i večera), a svakodnevno bi trebali konzumirati hranu iz različitih kategorija pazeći na omjere, izbjegavati zaslađene napitke, ograničiti unos mlijeka i mliječnih proizvoda, piti puno vode, koristiti zdrava biljna ulja te se baviti nekom fizičkom aktivnošću. Najvažniju ulogu u tim prehrambenim navikama kod djece imaju roditelji te škola. Oni bi djeci od najranije dobi trebali pružiti raznoliku i uravnoteženu prehranu koja je ključna za njihov pravilan rast i razvoj te ih informirati o načelima zdrave prehrane kako bi djeca stvorila zdrave navike za budućnost. S obzirom da djeca provode većinu vremena u školi, u okviru ovog rada istražila sam nekoliko jelovnika osnovnih škola u Požegi kako bih vidjela koje namirnice djeca konzumiraju te pridržavaju li se školske kuhinje nacionalnih smjernica pravilne prehrane.Food is not just one of the pleasures in life, but properly choosing food keeps our health and reduces the risk of various diseases such as childhood diabetes, obesity, behavioral disorders, etc. Therefore, it is important to adhere to the principles of a healthy eating. Food is divided into six groups based on the presence of certain nutrients: meat, fish, eggs; milk and dairy products; fruits and vegetables; fat and candy. Healthy dough diet ensures optimum intake of vitamins, liquids, minerals and calories, and optimum fat, carbohydrate and protein ratio. My Plate serves as a guide to preparing healthy and balanced meals. Half of the plate should consist of fruits and vegetables, more than a quarter should be cereals, and the rest of the plate proteins. Children’s proper nutrition consists of five main meals (meal before breakfast, breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner) and they should consume food on a daily basis from different categories taking into account the proportions, avoid sweet drinks, restrict intake of milk and dairy products, drink lots of water, use healthy herbal oils and deal with some physical activity. Parents and the school have the most important role in these eating habits of children. They should provide children of the earliest age with a various and balanced diet that is crucial to their proper growth and development and to inform them about the principles of healthy eating to help children create healthy habits for the future. Children spend most of their time at school, so I have been researching several elementary school meals in Požega to see which food children are eating and whether the school kitchen adhere to the national guidelines of proper nutrition