How much protein for my child?
Are you confused about protein for your child? How much protein should your child eat? Is your child getting enough protein? These are questions I hear all the time from parents.
Protein is vital to include in our children’s diets. Protein is important for:
helping our kids grow
helps build and repair muscles and bones
helps repair cells
good for hair and teeth
provides energy
keeps kid fuller for longer
How much protein should my child eat?
How much protein your child needs depends on their age, their weight and their activity level. The HSE . recommend the following rough guidelines:
Children aged 1 - 2 years require 1-2 servings of protein a day
Children aged 3 - 4 years require 3-4 servings of protein a day
Children aged 5+ years require 2+ servings of protein per day.
A serving size is roughly 30g. Mind out more here.
Is too much protein bad for my child?
Our bodies cannot store excess protein. Protein is made up of building blocks called amnio acids. Excess amino acids are simply excreted while excess protein can be stored as fat.
There is no benefit in eating too much protein and in fact, the opposite is true. Excess protein may cause obesity later in life, kidney issues and dehydration as well.
So, protein is vitally important for our kids but eating too much is not so great. Our children ideally should be getting all their protein requirements from a balanced, wholefood diet and not from supplements, commercially produced protein bars or protein powders
Protein supplements, powders or bars should not be necessary (unless your child is very fussy or underweight - seek medical advice in this instance).
Sources of protein for your child
Keep it simple and include two or more portions of these a day in your child’s diet
cheese
meat
poultry
nuts and seeds, including butters
beans and pulses
fish
eggs
milk and yoghurt
soya products
Protein rich meals and snacks for your child:
here are some suggestions of ways to include protein in your child’s diet.
Breakfast:
egg and toast
porridge topped with seeds and nuts
peanut butter and toast
Lunch
sandwich with meat/chicken/fish
chicken noodle soup
omlette
Snacks
Greek yoghurt with fruit and seeds
hummus and veggies
roasted chickpeas
Dinner
homemade chicken goujons and chips
fish pie
veggie stirfry with tofu
Grab a copy of our kids cookbook, Chop, Cook, Yum that has lots of lovely, protein-packed recipes your kids can make for themsleves!
