The Food Secrets of the Pagoda

1. Know food and cherish food

Children, do you know the balanced diet pyramid for Chinese preschool children? The pyramid has five layers, and different foods are hidden in each layer. Have you ever eaten these foods? Think about it, in which layer of the pyramid are steamed buns, eggs, cauliflower, milk, and grapes hidden?

Figure 1 Balanced Diet Pagoda for Chinese Preschool Children (Source: Chinese Nutrition Society Official Website)

Every kind of food in the pagoda is the result of the hard work of the workers. We must learn to cherish food and not waste it.

Figure 2: Cherish food

Figure 3: Cherish food

2. Eat a variety of foods and eat on time

The food in the pagoda can be divided into five categories, namely, cereals and tubers, vegetables and fruits, livestock and poultry meat, fish and eggs, milk, soybeans, nuts, and oil and salt. We need to choose to eat some of the food in each layer of the pagoda every day. If you eat more than 12 kinds of food every day or more than 25 kinds of food every week, you can grow up healthier.

Figure 4 Food diversity

Since ancient times, Chinese people have been very particular about eating, advocating eating "regularly and in quantity". Therefore, children should develop the habit of eating three meals a day at regular times and in fixed quantities, which is beneficial to the health of the brain and digestive organs and ensures better and healthier growth of the body.

Figure 5 Three meals a day at regular times and fixed quantities

3. Drink plenty of water and avoid sugary drinks

Water is the most abundant substance in the human body. Most of the blood in the human body is water. The human body obtains the required water every day through three methods: drinking water, eating food, and producing water by the body itself. Once the human body does not take in enough water, many adverse effects will occur. If you do not drink water, you can only survive for 3 days. Therefore, you should develop a good habit of actively drinking water, drinking at least 600 to 800 ml of water every day.

Figure 6 Active drinking

Drinking water should be done in small amounts and multiple times a day. Drink water actively, and don't wait until you feel thirsty to drink water. It is best to drink boiled water. To protect your teeth, it is recommended not to drink or drink less sugary drinks, and you cannot replace water with fruit juice.

Figure 7: Do not drink or drink less sugary drinks

4. Participate in food preparation and develop good eating habits

Every day we eat different foods, such as eggs, milk, rice, fish, tomatoes, etc. Before these foods are served on the table, they need to go through a long process of planting, growing, harvesting and being made into food.

Children, would you help your parents make food? Do you know how a raw egg can be turned into a hard-boiled egg? Why not try boiling an egg with the help of your parents and see the wonderful changes of the egg?

Figure 8: Learning to make food

While enjoying food, children should also develop good eating habits, such as washing hands before meals, not being picky eaters, not eating partial food, and eating less snacks; not talking with food in their mouths, chewing food slowly; rinsing their mouths after meals, and wiping their mouths and hands with a towel to maintain personal hygiene. Developing good eating habits can make our bodies healthier.

Figure 9 Eat well and don’t be picky about food