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Child Nutrition and Shopping Tips for Busy Moms

Moms today are busy, whether they work in or outside the home (or both). But that doesn't mean that they don't care about feeding their families in the healthiest way possible.

The simplest tip to help your family get more of the nutrients they need -- and fewer nutrients that contribute to disease and weight gain -- is to serve more whole foods and less processed food. Eat fruits and vegetables with every meal. Serve your children healthy, lean protein at most meals.

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One of the best ways to do this is to cook meals at home more often. Reach for the foods that don't come with a long nutrition label, such as broccoli, spinach, apples, brown rice, whole wheat flour, fresh fish, nuts, or beans.

Because it all starts with what goes into the shopping cart, here are some simple "healthy eating" shopping strategies for busy moms.

What Food to Put in Your Shopping Cart

Here's a list of nutrients that are important for child nutrition and may be deficient in the daily diets of some American children.

Buy Fiber-Filled Foods for Your Child

Fiber promotes digestive health, reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, and assists in keeping blood sugar levels normal. Fiber may also help children maintain a healthy weight because it fills you up on fewer calories.

Fiber is found in plant foods, pure and simple. Follow these foods and you'll find all the fiber:

Vegetables (fresh, frozen, and canned)
Fruits (fresh, frozen, and canned)
Beans (dried, canned)
Edamame (fresh or frozen)
Nuts and seeds
Whole grain cereal (hot and cold)
100% whole wheat or whole grain bread products
Whole grain blend pastas
Whole grain crackers
Whole wheat tortillas

Pick Up Potassium Power

Potassium is one of the minerals that children today tend not to get enough of, according to recent studies. Potassium works as an electrolyte in the body, helping maintain a healthy balance of water in the blood and body tissues. Potassium also assists in nervous system and muscle function.

Good sources of potassium in the produce section include:

Artichoke
Avocado
Bananas
Cantaloupe
Leafy green vegetables (such as beet greens, Swiss chard, broccoli)
Orange juice
Prunes and prune juice
Papaya
Potatoes with skin
Tomatoes

Other foods with a lot of potassium include:

Beans and peas, including lima beans
Fish, shellfish, and clams
Low-fat and fat-free dairy
Nuts (including almonds, brazil nuts, peanuts, soy nuts, and pistachios)

Look for Healthy Protein and Amino Acids

Healthy protein should be included in almost every meal your children eat. The amino acids within protein serve as the building blocks for our body’s cells, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine.

Good sources of protein are animal products and soybeans, which contain all nine amino acids that your body can't make on its own:

Eggs
Reduced-fat cheese
Fish
Lean meat
Skinless poultry
Low-fat milk
Soybeans and soybean products
Yogurt

Plant protein sources tend to be deficient in one or more of the essential amino acids. But if you eat the plant proteins on the same day, they complement each other to become complete proteins in your body.