Nutrition Facts for Kids

Nutrition is essential for kids because proper nutrition helps prevent illness and disease, and affects their growth, development and learning. Eating the right food promotes a better quality of life because when kids feel good physically, they’re able to take part in the activities they enjoy. Kids who have proper nutrition generally receive higher grades because it creates a sense of well-being and increases mental clarity.

The keys to achieving wellness through nutrition include communication, guidance and support. Communicate with kids about dietary expectations by providing them with the right nutritional choices. Allow them to become active participants in choosing the right foods by going grocery shopping and preparing healthy recipes together. Guide and support them by teaching them about the various food groups, the food pyramid, how to read food labels and the role food plays in their health and overall wellness. Kids who understand the difference between nutritious and unhealthy foods become motivated to make wise choices that follows them into adulthood and creates a lifetime of lasting wellness.

Nutrition Information for Parents

Healthy Eating Calculator: An online tool that calculates the appropriate dietary needs for children based on factors, such as the child’s date of birth, weight, height, gender and activity levels.
Feeding Your Child and Teen: A comprehensive resource for parents, which explains how to handle family mealtimes, picky eaters, snacking, soda pop and vegetarians.
Healthy Children.org: A site that provides a wide array of child nutrition articles written by pediatricians through the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Eat Smart Nutrition Education: A nutritional resource for parents that includes dietary information, as well as printable nutrition handouts and information sheets on childhood nutrition and healthy habits PowerPoint presentations.
Fruits & Veggies More Matters: A website that provides dietary guidelines, meal planning, cooking and getting kids involved in preparing foods, as well as how to support their healthy eating habits.
American Heart Association: An online nutrition center that supports educating families on healthy eating habits and making dietary goals by offering information and resources on shopping, cooking, dining out and making wise food choices.

Teaching about Nutrition

Breakfast & Jump to It!: A teaching tool that explores the need for the right food groups, exercise and healthy eating habits. The site offers a downloadable handout that includes breakfast ideas and tips for healthy recipes and snacks.
Smart-Mouth.org: An interactive site the teaches parents about proper nutrition for their children, which focuses on snacks, eating out, the food industry, a calculator that compares foods, and nutrition-based articles and healthy recipes.
Diet and Nutrition: An informative site that provides the basics of childhood nutrition, in addition to nutrition tips, guidelines and resources.
Energy Balance 101: The site teaches proper nutrition and offers tips on how to eat right. Resources include a video illustrating how to teach kids proper cooking skills, and interactive activities for learning how to read food labels.
National Dairy Council: The website provides downloadable PDF documents that teach guidelines related to general nutrition and health, as well as the importance of milk and calcium in the diets of kids.
Healthy Body Image: A PDF resource manual titled “Healthy Body Image, Teaching Kids to Eat and Love Their Bodies Too,” that’s intended to promote a healthy body image by understanding the importance of nutrition, fitness and the proper weight through lesson plans and activities designed for children, grades four through six.

Nutrition Information for Kids

Kids World - Nutrition: The site provides a food pyramid, fruit and vegetable serving information, tips on how to understand nutrition labels, and a coloring book and nutrition quiz.
Kids Eat Right: A website that contains nutrition articles, videos and tips for eating out, nutrition guidelines, healthy food choices, popular recipes, meal planning and preparing food.
Cool Food Planet: An interactive website that teaches kids healthy eating habits through quizzes, tips and question and answer activities.
Healthy Fridge: A site that teaches proper nutrition and eating habits through a “Healthy Fridge” online quiz.
Let’s Move!: A site that educates kids regarding the importance of water, fruits and vegetables and how to make healthy eating decisions. It also provides steps to success for a healthy body, which supports food and nutrition, as well as exercise.
Food Safety & Nutrition Information for Kids and Teens: Games, educational campaigns and resources that support food safety and nutrition for kids, as well as the importance of healthy nutrition.

Kid Friendly and Healthy Recipes

Bam! Body and Mind: Quick treat, snack and lunch recipes that kids can make themselves.
Dole SuperKids: Breakfast, drink, soup, salad, pizza, dinner, snack and dessert recipes for kids. The site also includes nutrition-based games, fitness information, music, comics and videos.
Kidnetic.com: Kid-friendly recipes are offered, as well as an interactive learning game that describes how the body’s organs work.
KidsHealth Recipes: A large index of general recipes, as well as special recipes for kids with cystic fibrosis, diabetes and celiac disease and those who are vegetarian or lactose intolerant.
Rachael Ray’s Yum-O!: A collection of healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks that kids of all ages can make themselves.
Healthy Recipes for Kids: Healthy recipes for snacks, salads, main and side dishes created by pediatricians for kids.

Nutrition Activities for Kids

Healthy Eating Games: A website that includes interactive games called “Color Me Hungry,” Kitchen Magician,” “Juggling George,” “Lunch-o-Matic,” “Supermarket Adventure” and “Cooking with Abuela.” The games reinforce healthy cooking and eating habits, and making wise food choices.
Health & Nutrition Information: The site offers a game called “Blast Off,” in addition to a coloring page called “Choose My Plate” that shows how to eat the right amounts of food.
Playnormous: A site that offers health and nutrition-based games and stories for kids and parents.
Little D’s Nutrition Expedition Games: Games designed to teach nutrition by identifying foods into the five food groups, as well as teaching the benefits of choosing healthy foods.
Amazing Food Detective: Become a food detective and solve a case involving a mysterious outbreak of unhealthy eating habits. The online game teaches kids how to eat right through investigative games.
Food a Fact of Life: A large selection of interactive games that teach kids how to balance their plates and choose healthy foods, as well as the role foods play in having a healthy body.