Stocking your kitchen with heart-healthy foods goes a long way toward trimming the fat and cholesterol from your child’s diet.
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests:
- Feed your child whole-grain cereals and breads, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables.
- Opt for low-fat dairy products, such as yogurt, milk and cheese.
- Avoid high-fat condiments and toppings, such as gravy, butter or sour cream. Instead, use low-fat yogurt, grated Parmesan or herbed cottage cheese.
- Add rice, pasta, potatoes and other starches to your meals.
- Stick to leaner meats, such as skinless poultry, fish, lean pork and beef.
- Cook with healthier vegetable oils, such as canola, soybean or olive oil.
- Broil, bake, grill or use other cooking methods that don’t add much fat. Dish up soups with a vegetable or broth base.
- For dessert, offer low-fat frozen yogurt, frozen fruit bars or angel-food cake.