A diet full of whole, plant-based foods provides growing children with delicious, nutrient-dense meals, and helps them to establish healthy habits around food choices that they can carry through to adulthood. For individuals at all stages of life, including infancy, childhood, adolescence, and pregnancy and lactation, a plant-based diet is the healthiest.
Pregnancy is a really important time to fuel your body with nutritious food. A diet of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes will provide you and your baby with an abundance of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients and fibre - while leaving out the saturated fats and cholesterol that animal products contain.
For ideas on how to plan healthy meals that ensure you get all the nutrients you need during pregnancy, check out the helpful guide below.
In addition to during pregnancy, it is important to maintain a healthy diet while breastfeeding. Breast-milk production requires even more calories than pregnancy, so you may need to boost your food intake a little.
If you do not breastfeed, a soy-based formula is nutritionally adequate and can be easier on your baby’s digestive system than cow’s milk.
Vitamin D is a hormone produced by sunlight on the skin. It controls the body's use of calcium and is an important player in bone building. About 15 minutes of sunlight each day normally produces all the vitamin D your child needs.
When starting to introduce solid foods, it’s important that your little one gets enough iron, because by about six months of age your infant’s iron stores will be used up. Plant-based sources of iron include pulses (dried beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas), nuts, green leafy vegetables, dried fruit and fortified foods, like bread and cereal products.
Children have high calorie and nutrient needs, but their stomachs are small, so food quality is important. Offer your children frequent snacks. Skip the processed foods and opt for fibre-rich whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Teenagers have the same high energy needs, so having hearty, healthy meals and snacks on offer will help to fuel their busy bodies!
From smashed chickpea sandwichs to potato pancakes, peanut frooze balls and mac n cheese - we've handpicked some of the most delicious, simple and wholesome recipes that your kids will love to cook and eat!
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