Vegetarian Starter Kit 1 | Page 13

adding foods to your baby’ s diet.

5 to 6 Months

• Introduce iron-fortified infant cereal. Try rice cereal first, mixed with a little breast milk or soy formula, since it is the least likely to cause allergies. Then, offer oat or barley cereals. Most pediatricians recommend holding off on introducing wheat until the child is at least 8 months old, as it tends to be more allergenic.

6 to 8 Months

• Introduce vegetables. They should be thoroughly cooked and mashed. Potatoes, green beans, carrots, and peas are all good choices.

• Introduce fruits. Try mashed bananas, avocados, strained peaches, or applesauce.

• Introduce breads. By 8 months of age, most babies can eat crackers, bread, and dry cereal.

• Introduce protein-rich foods. Also, by about 8 months, infants can begin to eat higher protein foods like tofu or beans that have been cooked well and mashed.

Children have a high calorie and nutrient need but their stomachs are small. Offer your child frequent snacks.

Teenagers often have high-energy needs and busy schedules. Keeping delicious, healthy snack choices on hand and guiding teens to make lower-fat selections when eating out will help to steer them away from dining pitfalls that often cause weight gain and health problems for adolescents.

Caloric needs vary from child to child. The following guidelines are general ones.

Whole Grains

• Whole grains include breads, hot and cold cereals, pasta, cooked grains such as rice and barley, and crackers.

• One serving equals 1 / 2 cup of pasta, grains, or cooked cereal, 3 / 4 to 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal, 1 / 2 bun or bagel, or 1 slice of bread.

Vegetables

•“ Dark green vegetables” include broccoli, kale, spinach, collards, turnip, mustard and beet greens, bok choy, and Swiss chard.

•“ Other vegetables” refers to all other vegetables, fresh or frozen, raw or cooked.

• One serving of vegetables equals 1 / 2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw( unless an amount is specified).

Legumes, Nuts, Seeds, and Non-Dairy Milks

• Legumes include any cooked bean such as pinto, kidney, lentils, split peas, navy beans, and chickpeas, as well as soy products such as tofu, veggie burgers, soy“ hot dogs” or sandwich slices, and tempeh.

• One serving of legumes equals 1 / 2 cup of beans, tofu, or other item( unless an amount is specified).

• Non-dairy milks include breast milk and soy formula for infants and toddlers, and rice-, soy-, and other vegetable-based milks for children at least 1 year of age. Choose fortified soymilk, such as Westsoy Plus, Enriched VitaSoy, or Edensoy, whenever possible, or use other fortified vegetable-based milks.

• One serving of non-dairy milk equals 1 cup.

• Nuts include whole or chopped nuts, nut butters, whole seeds, and seed butters.

• One to two servings of nuts may be included in a healthy diet, but they are optional. One serving of nuts or nut butters equals 1 tablespoon.

Fruits

• Fruits include all fruits, fresh or frozen, raw or cooked, and fruit juices.

• One serving equals 1 / 2 cup cooked fruit, 1 / 2 cup fruit juice, 1 / 4 cup dried fruit, or 1 piece of fruit( unless an amount is specified).

1- to 4-Year-Olds 5- to 6-Year-Olds 7- to 12-Year-Olds 13- to 19-Year-Olds

Whole Grains, Breads, Cereals

4 servings 6 servings 7 servings 10 servings

Fruits 3 / 4 to 1 and 1 / 2 cups 1 to 2 cups 3 servings 4 servings be sure to include a source of vitamin b12, such as any typical children’ s multivitamin or vitamin-fortified cereals or soymilk.

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