Purified Water
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When your child says they are thirsty, you should always provide water first.
This is because water is crucial for your child’s health and necessary for numerous important processes in their body, including regulating temperature and organ function.
In fact, when it comes to body weight, children have a greater need for water than adults due to their rapid growth and higher metabolism.
Unlike many other types of beverages, water will not provide empty calories, making children less likely to feel full and refuse solid food. This can be especially important if you have a picky eater.
Moreover, drinking enough water is associated with healthy body weight, reducing the risk of cavities, and improving brain function in children.
Additionally, dehydration can negatively affect your child’s health in many ways, potentially impairing brain function, causing constipation, and leading to fatigue.
Fresh Fruit Juice
To enhance your child’s taste without added sugar and calories, parents can prepare homemade fruit juices by combining various fruits and vegetables to find their favorite blend. This way, children can also get a lot of nutrients from natural foods. Some healthy drinks for children that parents can make at home include pineapple and mint; cucumber and watermelon; blueberry and oatmeal; strawberry, lemon; orange and lemon,… and mix them with purified water.
Coconut Water
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Despite containing calories and sugar, coconut water is still a healthy choice. Coconut water contains a large amount of important nutrients for children, including vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium. It also provides electrolytes to replenish the lost water through your child’s sweat during physical activities. This makes coconut water a perfect choice for kids.
Coconut water is most beneficial when your child is ill, especially if they need to rehydrate after diarrhea or vomiting. Note that pure coconut water without added sugar is a good choice for children.
Fresh Fruit Smoothies
Smoothies are a way to combine various fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods into a drink that supplements nutrients for children. Store-bought smoothies often contain a lot of sugar and low-quality ingredients, so they are not good for your child’s health, so parents should make their own smoothies with nutritious ingredients.
Smoothies can bring many benefits to picky eaters. Many green vegetables like kale, broccoli, and purslane can be transformed into a smoothie with a natural sweet taste that children will enjoy drinking. Parents can combine ingredients like unsweetened milk, use supplements that benefit health like cocoa powder, sugar-free coconut, avocado, or flaxseeds. Since smoothies have a high calorie content, parents should not let children consume them as a light meal during the day.
Whole Milk
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Children love flavored milk drinks like chocolate or strawberry milk, but whole milk is still the healthiest and most suitable choice. Whole milk provides high nutrition, supplying protein, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium – essential nutrients for bone health, especially important for growing children. Additionally, milk contains vitamin D, a vitamin essential for growth and development in children.
Some people tend to give children skim milk, but in reality, milk with higher fat content might be better and beneficial for young children. The fat requirement of children is often higher than adults, as their metabolism rate increases over time, so fat is essential for brain development and overall growth.
Plant-Based Milk
For children who are lactose intolerant, plant-based milk is an excellent choice.
Plant-based milk includes almond, coconut, cashew, rice, and soy milk.
Like sweetened milk, plant-based milk can contain numerous sugars and artificial sweeteners, which is why it’s best to choose sugar-free versions.
Sugar-free plant-based milk can be used on its own as a low-calorie beverage or as a base for smoothies, oatmeal, and child-friendly soups.
For example, one cup (240 ml) of unsweetened almond milk contains fewer than 40 calories.
Providing low-calorie beverages in meals will reduce the likelihood of your child’s fluid intake interfering with their meal intake. Additionally, many varieties of plant-based milk provide a wide range of vitamins and minerals and are often fortified with nutrients such as calcium, B12, and vitamin D.