How to Colorize your Child's Diet

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Hi. My name is Samantha Strimple, and I'm a
graduate student here at Eastern Illinois University.
I'm going to be talking about how to colorize your child's
diet with you.
Now childhood is a time where you can help your child instill
healthy eating habits.
I'm sure you've heard that it's important for them to eat a
variety of foods, but do you know the why?
Today, I'm going to go a little more in depth on the issue,
specifically among dark green leafy vegetables, orange
vegetables, and beans.
So as we go through the colorize-your-diet program,
we're going to have identified various food sources within each
group as well as identify the importance as to eating
these food groups.
And we're also going to be creating a vegetable and
bean salad that's a wonderful dish that your whole
family can enjoy.
So here we have our dark green leafy vegetables, our orange
vegetables, and our dried beans, all of which are nutrient-dense
foods, which means that they contain a lot of nutrients for
the amount of calories you're going to be consuming.
So here we have our dark green leafy vegetables.
Here we have a mixture of one cup of spinach and one cup of
romaine lettuce--they're displayed here.
Now dark green leafy vegetables--you're also going to
find them in Swiss chard, kale, and collard greens, all of which
are available at your local grocery store.
These are rich in vitamins A, E, and K, and the minerals folate,
iron, magnesium, and calcium.
So vitamin E, that's an anti-oxidant.
That means it's going to help protect your body against
harmful substances.
Now vitamin E works best with other anti-oxidants like
vitamin C.
And vitamin C helps with iron absorbtion.
So iron--that's in our dark green leafy vegetables--helps
you bring oxygen to your cells, which is in part why
you have energy.
And iron deficiency is a common problem among children, so you
want to make sure your child is getting adequate iron.
Our green vegetables are also a good source of vitamin K, which
helps your blood clot, so if your kids are being active and
running around and getting cuts and scrapes, you want to make
sure they're eating adequate vitamin K.
Now folate is a very important mineral that helps with cell
development, so you want to make sure that your child is getting
adequate folates to help them grow up big and strong, just
like how when you need calcium for our bones and our teeth.
Now we already have our vegetables mixed in our mixing
bowl here, so we're going to go ahead and move on to our
orange vegetables.
Now right here we have two medium chopped carrots.
But orange vegetables are also pumpkin,
sweet potatoes, and squash.
Now when you think carrots and orange vegetables, you probably
think vitamin A for your eyes, which is correct.
But did you know vitamin A is also essential for immunity
and cell development?
So when your child is eating their carrots, not only are they
helping their eyes but they're helping their entire body.
So we're going to go ahead and add our carrots to our green
vegetables...and we're going to move along to our beans.
Here we have one cup of cooked garbanzo beans and one cup of
cooked black beans.
Now the food thing about beans is that they pretty much have
the same nurients througout any type, and there are so many
types of beans.
There are garbanzo beans, black beans, navy beans, pinto beans,
kidney beans, all sorts of beans.
So it's more of a preference when you're choosing which ones
you want to have.
Now we're going to go ahead and add our beans as we talk.
And beans are loaded in protein and fiber, and when you think of
protein you probably think of muscles, which is correct.
But protein is also essential for hormone and enzyme
production as well as anti bodies.
So when you're giving your child protein don't just think of
muscles, think of everything in their body.
And manganese, it's a mineral you don't here a lot about but
beans are rich in manganese which helps with metabolism of
carbohydrates, fats, and protein.
And then fiber.
You all know about fiber in beans.
But fiber is going to help your child feel fuller longer on a
smaller meal, and it's also going to help regulate
their digestive system.
Now we're going to add a half cup of light Italian dressing,
just for some extra seasoning and flavor.
Mmm, smells good.
Okay, we're going to go ahead and plate our salad here.
Now you have a quick and easy meal that's full of vitamins and
minerals as well as nutrients that are helpful for you and
your child to grow.
So remember, next time you're looking for a quick and easy
meal, don't forget to colorize yours and your child's diet.
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