What Is a Proper Serving???

Hi P.,

Hey, ask ten people this question and you may get ten answers! I found this wonderful site www.mypyramid.gov that gives the food pyramid after you plug in age, height and weight, and it gives portion sizes, many in cups not weight! Very easy to use and even offers printout pages. Great guideline for feeding kids, starting to diet or change eating habits, etc...

I had to study this recently to become certified for home daycare! According to the FDA's food pyramid for kids, they should get a total of 1 1/2 cups per day of fruits and 2 1/2 cups per day of veggies. That seems like a lot at first, but we often give our kids way more dairy and grains than they really should have. So if you cut back the extra you're giving in the other food groups, it's more doable. (For example, they should get 2 cups TOTAL of dairy, not 2 cups of milk plus cheese, yogurt etc. and just 6 oz. of grains per day.) I wouldn't focus on serving sizes, I would just shoot for reaching the total for that day.

It's been a long while since mine were that small, but if I remember correctly a serving is a Tablespoon.

I always thought 3-5 was total for both.... And also remember that when you are looking at a 2-3 yr old's diet, that you look at the average over the course of an entire week, not individual days..
hth

It's easy! A handful of the person eating it. Thus your serving size is larger than your daughters - as it should be. Use this as a stress reducing rule of thumb.

There is a Government web site that has this information available. Google it.

Go to www.mypyramid.gov They have soooo much cool info there

For kids, usually one tablespoon per year of age is a serving size, so for your 2 1/2 year old, about 2 tablespoons is one serving. Remember, with kids it's all abotu how well they are consuming the right foods throughout the week, rather thanevery day. Sure, the guidelines refer to each day and that IS ideal, but don't fret too much if your baby doesn't get what's recommended every single day.

If you're interested in a nutritional "safety net" - a supplement that's nothing but nutricious whole foods - fruits, vegetable and grains in a gummy form, check this out: http://jpgothealth.com

Also, if you want to read more about why and how whole food nutrition helps prevent disease, check out: http://hubpages.com/_124n6bqma0oxy/hub/How-Whole-Food-Nut...

Best of luck.

For adults, the recommendation is now 8-9 servings total (fruits and veggies together). It's probably similar for kids but the size that makes up a serving is different.

I try to have 2 veggies with each meal and eat fruit as snacks (this goes for everyone in my family - including my one-year old).

Also, you need to include fat with some vegetables to absorb all the nutrition. Studies have shown that vitamin absorption from things like carrots is better when they are eaten with some fat (like salad dressing or butter). It also helps you feel full longer and be more satisfied with your meal.

ask your pediatrician

Hi P.,

I am a certified Dr Sears L.E.A.N. Coach and I am trained to teach parents how to raise healthier children through proper nutrition. The classes are awesome! I teach in south Florida, but if you go to the website www.drsearslean.com and click on the map you may be able to find a coach/course in your area.

Having said that...a child's tummy is about the size of her fist. So, a meal or snack should be a fist sized amount of food. A general rule is to serve one tablespoon per year of age for each food group at each meal.

I wouldn't suggest using the food pyramid as a guide. Done by the Department of AGRICULTURE...it tends to lean towards too much of the foods you don't need too much of.

Serve your baby many fruits and vegetables all day. Add beans and legumes and 100% whole grains with very small amounts of healthy organic protein. Stay away from refined and processed foods like white flour, white sugar, products. And read labels for color additives, preservatives and hydrogenated oils.

Juice Plus is a great way to add more nutrients from fruits and veggies as well. Check out the website at www.wejuiceplus.com. You can click to watch a video and get a lot of info. Also include omega 3's in the diet from a good fish oil (carlsons or nordic naturals) or from flax.

Have a great and healthy day and feel free to email me if you like.

C.
____@____.com

I like to give a fruit & a veggie at lunch and dinner...breakfast can have fruit, too- I add frozen blueberries to oatmeal or cut up fresh strawberries to cold cereal...for snack time there's fresh fruit or dried fruits, like unsulphured organic dried apricots or cherries...I always like to have frozen veggies in the freezer: whole foods brand organic frozen broccoli, green beans and mixed veggies are always there, lol...
when I pack lunch I put a fruit and a veggie along w/ a 'main' meal
sometimes the 'main' meal IS a veggie, like Health is Wealth brand Spinach Munchees or Amy's brand feta/spinach squares or spinach pizza squares...

that is a good question.a serving size is 1/2 cup no matter how old you are.hope this helps. for fruits and veggies it is 1/2 cup. babay food comes in mostly 1/2 cup jars i think.

someone hit it right on the nose the hand of the person eating it, is the serving size.

You've already gotten some good responses but I just wanted to add that juice also counts as a serving. I believe 6 ounces of juice counts as 1 serving of fruit for a child. There are some great juice blends out there as well that include vegetables along with fruit.