Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide
A Resource for Educators and Communicators

5. Advice for Different Ages and Stages

Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide is designed to help make sure most people get enough vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from the healthy eating pattern. Some groups of people, however, need more of certain nutrients or require specific guidance on selecting foods within or in addition to the eating pattern.

Advice for different ages and stages includes:

• Young children need small nutritious meals and snacks each day.
• For young children, nutritious foods that contain fat should not be restricted.
• Women who could become pregnant, as well as those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, need a daily multivitamin containing folic acid.
• Pregnant women need a multivitamin that contains iron.
• Pregnant and breastfeeding women need more calories.
• Men and women over the age of 50 need a daily vitamin D supplement.

Children

• Following Canada's Food Guide helps children grow and thrive.

Children aged two years and older can get the nutrients and calories they need for healthy growth and development by following the healthy eating pattern in Canada's Food Guide.

During early childhood, two to five years, children need enough calories for growth. Nutritious foods that contain fat, such as milk or peanut butter, can provide a concentrated source of calories for young children.

Serve nutritious small meals and snacks to young children to meet their daily recommended Food Guide Servings. Because they have small stomachs that tend to fill up quickly, children need to eat small amounts of food throughout the day. Most prefer meals and snacks on a regular schedule and in familiar surroundings. The amount of food eaten at each meal and snack will vary day-to-day depending on the child's appetite, activity level and whether they are experiencing a growth spurt. Their appetite may also fluctuate when they are excited or overly tired. Also, it is quite normal to see children lose interest in any activity in a short time, including at mealtimes. When hungry, young children will focus on eating. When satisfied, their attention turns elsewhere.

Over time, the variations in the amount a child eats tend to average out to provide the calories and nutrients needed. This is especially true if the child is encouraged to eat healthy foods when hungry and to stop when full. Eating foods from each of the four food groups and including a small amount of unsaturated fats is the best way to make sure that children get the nutrients they need. A multivitamin is rarely needed for healthy children who are growing well and following Canada's Food Guide. For an example of how a three-year-old child can meet his/her daily Food Guide Servings, see Appendix A.

Put it Into Practice

Families and caregivers play a big role in creating a positive eating environment. The early childhood years are a time to discover new foods and to develop a love and appreciation for healthy eating. Build on the fact that young children are eager to learn. Even simple activities such as helping to cut open a pumpkin or making muffins are ways children learn about food. Preparing food gives children a feeling of accomplishment and encourages them to try these foods. For example, potatoes that a preschooler has helped mash or radishes they picked from the garden are more appealing than those that just appear on the table. When you teach Canada's Food Guide to parents and other educators, discuss these ideas and others you have tried for creating a positive eating environment for children at home, in daycare or at school.

Tips for Consumers...

Help young children to follow Canada's Food Guide.

• Prepare meals that include foods from each of the four groups. For children, one Food Guide Serving from a food group such as Meat and Alternatives can be divided up into smaller amounts of food served throughout the day.
• Make sure to offer children a total of two cups of milk or fortified soy beverage every day. This will help meet their requirement for vitamin D.
• Offer a variety of nutritious foods, including some choices that contain fat such as milk and peanut butter.
• Make time for healthy eating so that children don't feel rushed. Set regular times for meals and snacks. This helps to establish a healthy routine.
• Sit down and eat with children. Provide a pleasant setting. Leave the television off during meal times.
• Let children help with simple food-related tasks. Ask them to set the table or help to wash the vegetables.
• Keep in mind that while parents and caregivers are responsible for what children eat, children are responsible for how much they eat. Offer suitable portions with options for seconds.
• Be patient. If an unfamiliar food is rejected the first time, it can be offered again later. The more often children are exposed to new foods, the more likely they are to accept them.
• Be a positive role model for children. They will be more likely to enjoy a variety of foods and to try new foods if you do.
• Organize fun and easy physical activities such as bicycling, walking, dancing, games of ball or tag in the summer and sledding or building a snowman in the winter. Young children rely on parents and caregivers to provide opportunities for physical activity.

Women of Childbearing Age

• During different stages of their childbearing years, women need additional nutrients or calories.

Folic acid

Folic acid or folate is a B vitamin that supports the growth of maternal and fetal tissue. Supplemental folic acid decreases the risk of the fetus developing neural tube defects (NTDs). All women who could become pregnant should take one tablet daily of a multivitamin containing 400 micrograms (0.4 mg) of folic acid. They should start taking the supplement at least three months before becoming pregnant. This amount of supplemental folic acid, together with the amount of folate found in the healthy eating pattern, should reduce the risk of NTDs in women who have no history of the condition.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women also need more folate. The recommended intake of folate is 600 micrograms for women who are pregnant and 500 micrograms for breastfeeding women. It is difficult to meet these levels with food alone. To get enough folate and other needed nutrients, women should continue taking a daily multivitamin containing folic acid throughout their pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

Iron

Women need extra iron during pregnancy to increase the maternal red blood cell count and nourish the growing fetus and placenta. For this reason, pregnant women should make sure they are taking a daily multivitamin that also contains an adequate amount of iron. Each woman should ask her health care provider about the supplement that is right for her.

Additional calories

Women need extra calories during pregnancy to sustain an adequate weight gain to support the baby's growth and development. Additional calorie intake is only recommended during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy because women typically do not gain much weight in the first trimester. Women need about 350 extra calories per day in the second trimester and 450 extra calories per day in the third trimester.

The amount of additional calories women need when breastfeeding depends on the rate of milk production and how much weight the woman loses. Generally, though, women need about 350 to 400 extra calories per day for the first year of breastfeeding.

To meet their need for extra calories, pregnant and breastfeeding women should eat a little more food every day from the food groups of their choice. The amount of extra food they eat should be a total of about two to three Food Guide Servings. For instance, one woman may choose to have an extra morning snack of two additional servings of Vegetables and Fruit and one additional serving of Grain Products. Another woman might choose to add one additional serving of Milk and Alternatives at lunch and one additional Vegetables and Fruit serving at supper.

Men and Women Over the Age of 50

• Men and women over the age of 50 need a daily vitamin D supplement.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is obtained from the diet. The major dietary sources of vitamin D are foods such as milk and margarine to which vitamin D is added.

Vitamin D can also be produced when the skin is exposed to UVB radiation. Unfortunately, for a large part of the year in Canada (October to March and longer in far northern latitudes), the sun is so low in the sky that its rays are not strong enough for the human body to produce the vitamin naturally. Other factors such as sunscreen use and skin pigmentation can also affect the production of vitamin D through skin exposure.

Vitamin D needs increase after the age of 50 in part because with age, the skin has a reduced capacity to produce vitamin D. Vitamin D and calcium are important for bone strength and to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures in older adults. After the age of 50, people's vitamin D needs are higher than can be obtained from food even when following Canada's Food Guide.

Consuming 500 mL (2 cups) of milk each day will provide approximately 5 micrograms (200 IU) of vitamin D. Adding a supplement containing 10 micrograms (400 IU) of vitamin D will ensure that individuals over 50 meet their recommended intakes. Therefore, all adults over the age of 50 should take a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 micrograms (400 IU) in addition to following Canada's Food Guide.