For Health Professionals

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• MyPlate.
• How Do I Rate?

• For Health Professionals
• of 2-5 year olds

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Overview

• What are the benefits of good eating habits?
• What is MyPlate?
• How can MyPlate be used to teach parents to plan
  healthy meals for their toddler/preschooler?
• How can parents use MyPlate to easily evaluate
  their childs diet?
• What are some useful MyPlate resources for the
  parents I reach?

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Benefits of Good Eating Habits

• Promote optimal growth and development
• Maintain good health
• Establish good lifelong eating habits and
  behaviors

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Key Messages of MyPlate
Make half your plate fruits and vegetables

• Balance calories
• Enjoy your food but eat less
• Avoid over-sized portions

• Reduce
• Sugary drinks by drinking more water
• Sodium

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http//www.choosemyplate.gov/preschoolers/HealthyE
atingForPreschoolers-MiniPoster.pdf
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Grains

• Why eat more grains? They are a great source of
  carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals, and
  fiber. Fiber can prevent constipation in young
  children.
• Whole wheat bread and crackers, brown rice, and
  oatmeal are some great grain choices for young
  children.
• Try a whole wheat English muffin
• pizzagreat size for kids!

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Dairy

• Why eat dairy foods? Dairy foods build
• strong bones and teeth for growing children.
  
• What foods are in the dairy group? Milk,
• yogurt, cheese, and foods made with milk.
• What are some tips for parents?
• Choose fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt,
• and cheese
• Fruit and yogurt or low-fat cheese and
• whole wheat crackers
• Yogurt dip with fruits and veggies
• Smoothie

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Protein

• Why eat protein foods? Protein is vital to the
  optimal growth and development of kids.
• What foods are in the protein group? Meats,
• fish, poultry, nuts, eggs, dried beans and
• peas.
• What are some tips for parents?
• Serve a variety of lean meats and other
• protein foods
• Make your own healthy fish sticks or
• chicken fingers

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Vegetables

• Why eat vegetables? Veggies are packed full of
  vitamins and minerals and healthy carbohydrates.
• Serve a variety of vegetables in different colors
• What are some tips for parents?
• Let the child pick out a vegetable at
• the grocery store.
• Offer cut veggies for a snack.
• Be a good role model.
• Dont give up!

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Fruits

• Why eat fruits? Fruits are packed full of
  vitamins and minerals.
• What foods are in the fruit group? Among
  others--strawberries, apples, oranges, bananas,
  mangoes, peaches and pears.
• What are some tips for parents?
• Make fruit kabobs for a snack.
• Make a smoothie with fruit and yogurt.
• Be a good role model.

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MyPlate Key Messages

• Balancing calories
• Enjoy your food but eat less
• Avoid oversized portions
• Foods to Increase
• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
• Make sure at least half your grains whole grains
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1) milk
• Foods to reduce
• Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and
  frozen meals and choose the foods with lower
  numbers
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks

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Limit Empty Calorie Foods
Empty Calorie Foods Foods with solid fats
and/or added sugars but little nutritional value
High in solid fats Healthier choice
Regular ground beef (75 lean) Extra lean ground beef (95 or more lean)
Fried chicken Baked chicken (breast without skin)
Whole milk Fat-free milk
Apple pie and ice cream Fruit and yogurt parfait

• Limit solid fats
• Eat less butter, stick margarine, shortening,
  lard
• Eat less cakes, cookies, pizza, hot dogs,
  sausages, ice-cream
• Choose baked, steamed, or broiled rather than
  fried
• Limit foods with partially hydrogenated oils

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Limit Empty Calorie Foods

• Limit foods and drinks with added sugar
• Allow few or no regular soft drinks, sports
  drinks, energy drinks, and fruit drinks
• Set a reasonable limit on candy, cakes, cookies,
  and ice-cream, and enjoy them in small portions
• Dont use food as a reward

High in added sugar Healthier choice
Sweetened applesauce Unsweetened applesauce
Regular soft drink Water
Donut Whole wheat bagel
Milkshake Fat-free milk
Empty Calorie Foods Foods with solid fats
and/or added sugars but little nutritional value
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• How can parents use MyPlate to easily evaluate
  their childs diet?

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What else is on MyPlate?

• MyPlate is more than a meal planning tool. It
  provides a wealth of information for parents of
  toddlers and preschoolers such as
• Physical activity information
• Developing good eating habits
• Dealing with the picky eater
• Food safety
• Tips and recipes for specific groups

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Tips for Feeding Success

• Offer different foods from day
• to day. Eating a variety of
• foods is important.
• Serve foods in small portions.
• Offer meals and snacks at the
• same time each day.
• Choose healthy snacks.
• Make smart beverage choices.

http//www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads
/TenTips/DGTipsheet11KidFriendlyVeggiesAndFruits.p
df http//www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downl
oads/TenTips/DGTipsheet24MyPlateSnackTipsforParent
s.pdf http//www.choosemyplate.gov/preschoolers/p
icky-eaters.html
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Help! My Child Wont Eat Veggies

• MyPlate can even help parents of
• picky eaters. Some tips include
• Let the child help pick foods at
• the grocery store.
• Have the child help prepare the meal at home.
• Make meal time enjoyable by talking about fun
  things.
• Offer the same foods to the whole family.
• Relax it is only temporary!

http//www.choosemyplate.gov/preschoolers/picky-ea
ters.html
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Steps to Good Eating Habits

• How parents can help their child
• develop good eating habits
• Be a good role model.
• Enjoy family meals together.
• Make meal time stress-free time.
• Promote positive family time.
• Limit mealtime interruptions.

http//www.choosemyplate.gov/preschoolers/healthy-
habits/set-a-good-example.html
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How Will You Use MyPlate?

• In your small group, discuss the following
  points
• How will you use MyPlate when working with
  parents?
• What are some tips you can give parents to make
  MyPlate more actionable?
• What do you think is the most valuable part of
  MyPlate?

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MyPlate is Great! Why?

• It is an easy to use resource for planning
  healthy meals and snacks.
• It shows the amounts foods needed for kids to
  grow.
• Parents can use it to evaluate their childs
  diet.
• It has tips for dealing with a variety of feeding
  issues.

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But, most of all . . .

• MyPlate is designed for everyone. It is for
  every member of the family to make healthy food
  and physical activity choices. For more
  information, go to
• ChooseMyPlate.gov

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For more nutrition information
Visit www.kidseatright.org for more tips,
articles, and recipes! Looking for a Registered
Dietitian Nutritionist? Its easy. Go to
www.eatright.org and click, Find a Registered
Dietitian. You can narrow your search by zip
code and specialty area, such as sports
nutrition, pediatric nutrition, or heart health.

Content expertise contributed by
This presentation was developed with an
educational grant to the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics Foundation from Dannon.