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A South Asian Parent’s Guide to Healthy Kids
As a parent, you want what is best for your child. All parents want their kids to grow up to be happy, healthy and successful adults. As South Asian parents, it is especially important that we help our kids develop habits to stay heart healthy for life. Here we have some information about South Asian children and heart disease as well as tips for raising healthy kids.
South Asian Children and the Risk of Heart Disease
Your child has her mother’s eyes and her father’s sense of humor. But she may have also inherited your risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or obesity. Several studies have shown that many South Asian children already have risk factors for heart disease such as greater abdominal obesity (fat deposits around their middle) and higher insulin resistance (a risk for diabetes). Many clinicians have said that they are seeing more and more obese South Asian children. In addition, studies have shown that South Asian children are less physically active and less physically fit than their peers. As a parent, you can take steps now to keep your kids heart healthy. These steps include eating healthy, becoming more physically active, and talking to your child’s pediatrician about their risk.
Keeping our Kids Heart Healthy
Remember, you are your child’s first teacher and best role model. If you have healthy habits, it is more likely your children will as well.
What is a healthy diet for my child(ren)?
What are some tips for encouraging my child to eat healthy?
How can I encourage my child to engage in more physical activity?
What should I discuss with my child’s pediatrician about heart disease?
Many South Asians believe that a plump and round child is a healthier child. However, with childhood obesity on the rise, it is important that we rethink our definitions of healthy. Here we have a general guideline for healthy food choices from each of the main food groups. The first chart details appropriate daily portions for children age 2-17 and the following section gives examples of what is an appropriate serving size. Please note that the following is a general guideline based on children of average weight and height, who engage in 30-60 minutes of physical activity a day. Please check with your health care provider with specific questions about your child’s diet.
In general, you should
- plan for three meals and two snacks a day for your kids. Make sure that each meal has a fruit and/or vegetable.
- prepare low-fat, low calorie meals and snacks.
- keep the sugary snacks (cakes, South Asian desserts)for special occasions.
- remember that it may be difficult to follow these guidelines every day but that over the course of the week your child should have a well-balanced diet.
Daily Dietary Guidelines for Children
Adapted from USDA Food Guide Pyramid
|
Age 2-3 |
Age 4-8 |
Age 9-13 (girls) |
Age 9-13 (boys) |
Age 14-17 (girls) |
Age 14-17 (boys) |
| Grains |
3 oz |
4-5 oz |
5-6 oz |
6 oz |
6 oz |
8-10 oz |
| Vegetables |
1 cup |
1 ½ -2 cups |
2-2 ½ cups |
2 ½ -3 cups |
2 ½ cups |
3-3 ½ cups |
| Fruit |
1 cup |
1-1 ½ cups |
1 ½ - 2 cups |
1 ½- 2 cups |
2 cups |
2-2 ½ cups |
| Milk/Dairy |
2 cups |
2 cups |
3 cups |
3 cups |
3 cups |
3 cups |
| Meat and Beans |
2 oz |
3-5 oz |
5 oz |
5-6 oz |
5.5 oz |
6.5-7 oz |
| Oils/Fat |
3 tsp |
4 tsp |
5 tsp |
5 tsp |
6 tsp |
7-8 tsp |
Grains: Examples of a 1oz serving
General tip for eating grains: Make at least half your servings whole grains (brown rice, oatmeal, and whole wheat flour) instead of white rice, white bread, and white flour.
- ½ cup cooked oatmeal
- 1 6-inch chapatti/roti
- ½ cup cooked rice
- 1 3-inch idli
- ½ cup cooked pasta
- 1 slice of bread
- 5 whole-wheat crackers
- 1 square dhokla
Vegetables: Examples of a 1 cup serving
General General tip for eating vegetables: Try to eat different color vegetables, especially dark green (spinach) and orange (carrots, sweet potato). Each color has different nutrients and vitamins.
- 1 cup raw or cooked vegetables (cauliflower, cucumber, bell pepper, doodhi, okra, green beans, etc.)
- 1 large sweet potato
- ½ cup cooked beans (chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans)
- 2 cups raw leafy greens (spinach or lettuce)
- 1 large tomato
- 1 cup vegetable juice
Fruit: Examples of a 1 cup serving
General tip for eating fruit: Eat a variety of colors of fruits every week.
- 1 cup chopped fruit (mango, guava, pear, orange, etc.)
- ½ cup dried fruit
- 1 cup 100% fruit juice
- 1 large banana
- 1 small apple
- 1 cup applesauce
- 8 large strawberries
Milk: Examples of a 1 cup serving
General tip for choosing milk and dairy: Choose products that are low-fat or fat free.
- 1 cup low-fat or fat free milk
- 1 cup/1 8oz container of yogurt/dahi
- 1 ½ oz hard cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, swiss)
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- 1 ½ cups ice cream
- ¼ cup or 2 oz of paneer (prepared with 1% milk)
Meat and beans: Example of a 1 oz serving
General tips for eating meat/beans: Choose low fat or lean cuts of meat, fish with omega 3 fatty acid (salmon, herring), and use egg whites (with no cholesterol) when possible.
- 1 oz cooked skinless turkey or chicken, beef, pork, or fish
- 1 Tbsp peanut butter
- ½ oz of nuts (12 almonds, 24 pistachios, 7 walnut halves)
- ½ cup dahl
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup/2 oz of tofu
- ½ cup cooked beans (rajma, chole)
Oils: Examples of a 1 tsp serving
General tips for selecting oils: Choose vegetable oils (canola, sunflower, soybean, olive), fats that are mono or poly unsaturated, and products with no trans fat or hydrogenated fats. Avoid fats that are solid at room temperature such as butter, ghee, shortening, or lard.
- 1 tsp vegetable oil (1 Tbsp=3 tsp)
- 1 Tbsp trans fat free margarine
- 1 oz nuts
- 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp salad dressing
Download a printable version of the Dietary Guidelines for Children. Place it on your refrigerator to help you plan healthy meals for your child.
You need Adobe Acrobat to view the printable version of the Dietary Guidelines for Children.
*Need help downloading a .pdf file?
- Have a picky eater? Don’t be discouraged – it usually takes several tries before a child may try a new food.
- Get your kids involved in cooking and planning meals. Even little kids can help toss the salad, mix the raita, or roll out a whole-wheat chapatti.
- Don’t join the “Clean Plate Club”. Many of us grew up hearing that we couldn’t get up from the table without finishing all the food on our plate. While it is important not to waste, it is more important to encourage your children to listen to their own signals of when they have had enough. In the long run, this will teach them to control their own portions and not overeat.
| Real Advice from Real Moms |
| Ameya, my two year old, loves to help me cook. When I’m making a salad or a vegetable sabji, I give her a plastic knife to help cut some vegetables. She ends up eating half of it before it gets cooked but she loves to help mommy and loves to eat the dishes she “cooked”.
- Shama |
- Get active with your kids. Take walks together, go swimming, play hide and seek, do yoga, play cricket, or dance to your favorite music (Bollywood songs count!) together. The whole family gets exercise and time together. Set a goal for at least thirty minutes of physical activity a day for your children.
- Limit the amount of time your child watches TV, plays videogames, or is on the computer. These activities encourage unhealthy snacking, less activity, and can lead to more obesity.
| Real Advice from Real Moms |
| I try to be active with my children, when they run, jump and play, I do the same. When I have even half an hour, I squeeze some cardio or strength training into my day. I don’t have any fancy equipment – sometimes I do lunges while pushing my daughter on the swing or my husband and I will take turns walking or running around the park while the other plays with the kids at the playground
- Mukti, mother of 5 year old Shaam and 1 year old Shree. |
| Real Advice from Real Moms |
| Exercise has always been a big part of my life (if not an addiction!) so after my son was born I really had to re-evaluate where exercise fit in. I bought a jogging stroller right away which has been great - I take him walking/running almost every day that I can and he has learned to love it. I always say "Tejas are you ready to go running?" and he'll go get his shoes and wait by the stroller. Hopefully he'll be a runner too, if anything from watching me do it. This is a bit ridiculous I know, but when I can't get out and exercise, I use him as a weight - like I'll walk up and down the stairs with him or do squats while holding him – he’s like a ready-made 24 pound barbell.
- Rathi, mother to 1 year old Tejas. |
(Adapted from the American Heart Association Guidelines for Primary Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Beginning in Childhood)
- Your child’s pediatrician should be doing the following to monitor your child’s risk of heart disease:
- assessing your child's diet at each visit
- questioning tobacco use by parents at each visit
- questioning tobacco use by children at every visit starting at age 10
- assessing phyical activity at each visit
- asking about family history risk factors
- assessing height, weight and BMI at each visit
- measuring blood pressure at each visit after age 3
- performing lipid and lipoprotein analysis when necessary
- Talk to the pediatrician right away about your child’s family history of heart disease risk factors. Specifically, if the child’s parents, grandparents, aunts, or uncles have risk factors that include:
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- High cholesterol
- Cardiovascular disease before the age of 55
- Children that have a family history of high cholesterol or early heart disease should have testing of fasting lipids after age 2. In addition, those kids with other risk factors should have a lipid and lipoprotein analysis. A desirable lipid profile is to have levels below the following numbers:
- Total cholesterol > 170 mg/dl (borderline), >200 mg/dl (elevated)
- LDL > 110 mg/dl (boderline), >130 mg/dl (elevated)
- HDL < 35 mg/dl
- Triglycerides > 150 mg/dl (elevated)
If the average results of three lipid profiles are above these cutoff values, interventions should be made to lower them.
- Treatment for children who are at high risk for heart disease may include:
- Change of diet
- Increase in physical activity
- Medication to lower cholesterol
- Maintaining normal blood pressure
- Maintaining normal weight
- No smoking for child or parents
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