Spring Festival diet strategy, please check it out~

This is the 4784th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

The Spring Festival is approaching, and the happiest people are the children. They pay New Year's greetings, receive red envelopes, and play with their friends. Every household table is filled with sumptuous dishes and delicious snacks, and the eating and drinking mode is about to begin. "Every festival makes you gain three pounds", and food brings a lot of sadness. How can we make children eat happily and healthily during the Spring Festival? This diet guide is not to be missed.

1. Eat healthy

1. Proper meat and vegetable cooking

Meat dishes are always the main dishes on the festive table, including chicken, duck, fish, meat and various seafood, with rich ingredients beyond imagination. However, "big fish and big meat" are obviously not suitable for children. The daily diet of babies should consist of four major food groups: appropriate amounts of cereals, milk, meat (or eggs or fish), vegetables and fruits. The more diverse the diet, the more comprehensive and balanced the nutritional intake.

In addition to delicious meat, parents must encourage children to eat more vegetables and ensure that there are a variety of vegetables. Vegetables play a significant role. They can increase the intake of vitamins, dietary fiber, and minerals, reduce the gastrointestinal burden caused by eating too much meat, and help nutrients complement each other and be better absorbed.

There are also some rules for cooking ingredients. Although in many families, children and adults have almost the same diet, babies have limited chewing and digestion abilities, so the processing and cooking of their food should be somewhat different from that of adults. It is recommended to use more steaming, boiling, braising, stewing, and braising, and less frying, deep-frying, and baking. Light and low-fat cooking methods can reduce the loss of nutrients in ingredients and retain the original flavor of the food.

2. Eat three meals regularly and don’t overeat

During the Spring Festival holiday, children's daily routines and meal times are quickly disrupted due to going out for fun and gatherings. Children's gastrointestinal regulation is weak, and irregular meals can easily cause indigestion. Eating three meals at regular times and in fixed quantities is very important for maintaining the normal function of the gastrointestinal tract and keeping its work rhythmic, and it is not just empty talk.

Children have weak gastrointestinal functions, small stomachs, and insufficient digestive enzymes. During the Spring Festival holiday, there are many types of food. If they do not know how to eat in moderation, or if their parents feed them improperly, and they eat too much raw, cold, and difficult-to-digest food, the food will not be digested in time, stagnate in the gastrointestinal tract, and cause symptoms of food accumulation such as loss of appetite, abdominal distension, vomiting, and sour and smelly stools. There is a saying that goes, "If you want your children to be safe, keep them three-tenths hungry and cold." This is exactly the truth. During the Spring Festival, children should not eat too much, but should keep them seven-tenths full to avoid excessive gastrointestinal burden.

3. Snacks and drinks should be limited

During the Spring Festival, snacks and drinks are available in unlimited quantities, which happens to be the favorite of many children. However, drinking too much carbonated drinks, such as cola and Sprite, can cause bloating and stomach pain in children, affecting the digestive ability of the gastrointestinal tract; although fruit juice drinks have certain nutrition, they are high in sugar, and drinking too much can also affect children's appetite. Therefore, boiled water is undoubtedly the best choice, and parents need to encourage children to drink enough boiled water and supplement with dairy products in moderation.

The sugar content of melon seeds, nuts, biscuits, chocolate, candied fruit, candy, fruit juice drinks, etc. at home is high. Excessive consumption can easily cause tooth decay, obesity, and picky eating in children. It is recommended to control the amount of snacks. Remind children to rinse their mouths in time, master the correct way to clean teeth, and refuse "cavities" to settle in their teeth!

4. Food safety is your priority

Food hygiene during holidays is also a top priority. Pay attention to buying fresh and clean ingredients, separate raw and cooked food, eat fresh food, and avoid spoiled food. Every year, there are similar examples where parents do not pay attention to food safety during the Spring Festival, causing children to eat unhygienic, contaminated or spoiled food, resulting in serious gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain or diarrhea, which harms the children's bodies.

Pay attention to environmental hygiene during processing. A clean environment will help reduce the growth of bacteria. The Spring Festival is a festival of reunion. When relatives and friends gather together, don't forget food safety. It is recommended to use serving chopsticks and try to adopt the separate dining system.

5. Food safety is the most important

Avoid foreign objects stuck in the throat. When feeding children, avoid fish bones, small bones, etc. that may scratch the baby's esophagus. Remind children not to eat when running, jumping, or laughing. Some whole peanuts, melon seeds, nuts, sugar beans, plums, dates, and other round bean-shaped snacks or snacks with cores, and some chewy snacks, such as jelly and soft candy, can prevent food from choking into the trachea.

Avoid allergens. Be familiar with the foods that your children are prone to allergies, such as peanuts, nuts, wheat, seafood, milk, eggs and other common food allergens, and choose a safe and suitable diet for your children~

2. Health Tips

In view of the physiological characteristics of children's "lung and spleen are often insufficient", the holidays are not only a time to relax and enjoy, but also a chance to recuperate. Here are three dietary therapy tips. See if any of them are suitable for your children.

1. Digestive and appetizing tea

Ingredients: 15 grams of fried hawthorn, 15 grams of fried malt, and 15 grams of fried Shenqu.

Method: Put the above three herbs into a teapot, soak them in boiling water and drink them instead of tea. You can also add 500 ml of water and boil it down to 300 ml, and drink it after meals. If you have constipation, add 9 grams of cassia seeds, and if the stool is sticky, add 9 grams of lotus leaves.

Efficacy: It helps digestion, relieves stagnation, strengthens the spleen and stimulates appetite. It is suitable for children with symptoms of food accumulation such as overeating, loss of appetite, abdominal distension, bad breath, and constipation.

2. Honey, pear and carrot juice

Ingredients: 250 grams of white radish, 100 grams of raw pear, honey.

Method: Wash the white radish, peel it and squeeze out the juice. Wash the raw pear, peel it and squeeze out the juice. Take 40 ml of each each time, add 20 grams of honey and mix well before drinking.

Efficacy: moisturizes the lungs and produces body fluid, resolves phlegm and relieves cough. Suitable for children with cough and phlegm.

3. Lily and Lotus Seed Porridge

Ingredients: 30 grams each of lily, lotus seeds (peeled and cored), and rock sugar, and 100 grams of rice.

Method: Wash the lotus seeds and soak them for 2 hours. Wash the dried lily bulbs and rice separately, put them into the pot with the lotus seeds, add appropriate amount of water, boil over high heat first, then simmer over low heat, add a little rock sugar when it is almost cooked, and cook for a while.

Efficacy: nourishes the lungs and produces body fluid, strengthens the spleen and nourishes the stomach. Suitable for children who are prone to repeated infections, coughs, and poor appetite.

Author: Zhang Xinlin, resident physician, Department of Pediatrics, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Research direction: Diagnosis and treatment of respiratory and digestive system diseases in children using traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Article reviewer and column editor: Shen Jian, director of the Department of Pediatrics, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, academic leader, chief physician, doctor of medicine, master's supervisor. National TCM inheritance and innovation "hundreds of thousands" talents of the Central Administration. Vice President of the Child Development and Behavioral Science Committee of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, Vice President of the Prescription and Drug Efficacy Research Branch of the Chinese Society of Ethnic Medicine, and Standing Committee Member of the Pediatric Professional Committee of the Shanghai Society of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.