Greens and Fatty Foods Go Better Together

Fatty acids come from the consumption of dietary fat and are vital for your child's health. Fatty acids are important sources of energy for the heart, building blocks for cell membranes, and essential elements in normal neurologic development.

Additionally, dietary fat is necessary to absorb fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E, and K. Vitamin A supports night vision and keeps skin healthy. Vitamin D helps the body absorb and use calcium, which is essential for healthy bones. Vitamin E keeps red blood cells healthy and may prevent cancer through its antioxidant effects. Vitamin K is necessary for the normal clotting of blood and may play a role in skeletal health.

Your child should be getting these vitamins from his daily diet, since fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the body and it is possible to achieve toxic levels of vitamins A and D if you give your child excessive supplements. Excessive supplementation is not always easy to quantify because each child clears differing amounts of fat-soluble vitamins from his system. In general, you should not give your children supplements that give more than 200% of the recommended daily allowance of individual nutrients. If you offer your child green, leafy vegetables instead of a vitamin supplement, this won't be an issue.

Try this healthy vegetable dish. Cut up asparagus, yellow, red, and green bell peppers, and shallots and place them all on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle olive oil and a little salt over the vegetables. Bake the vegetables in the oven for ten to twenty minutes, or until done. The combined colors, textures, and flavors of this vegetable medley will be enticing to your children to eat and will simultaneously maximize the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins contained in them.

More on: Healthy Meals for Families

Excerpted from:

From Raising Healthy Eaters: 100 Tips for Parents by Henry Legere, M.D. Copyright © 2004. Used by arrangement with The Perseus Books Group.

To order this book visit perseusbooksgroup.com.