Helping your child eat healthily lays the foundations for a happy future. Here are our tips on what your little one needs and how you can make sure they get it. It’s always good to know special children’s supplements are available too – ask your Lloyds pharmacist for advice.

What nutrients do children need?

Children’s nutritional needs change as their bodies develop. Toddlers need plenty of calories and nutrients packed into small amounts of food, so they get the goodness they need to grow, without getting over full. The calories should come from food that’s good for them in other ways, like oily fish or full fat milk.

Over time, gradually reduce some of the fat and introduce more fibre, so by the time they go to school, their diet’s low in salt and sugar, high in fibre, and includes five portions of fruit and veg a day.

Generally speaking, it’s easy to give children a balanced diet by making sure they regularly eat from these four food groups:

• Bread, cereals, potatoes, rice and pasta – for energy, fibre, vitamins and minerals
• Fruit and veg – for fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants
• Milk and dairy produce – for calcium, protein, vitamins and minerals (calcium will help keep their teeth and bones strong, while protein’s important for growth
• Meat, fish and substitutes – for protein, vitamins and minerals

How can I get them eating healthily?

Sometimes parents have to be a little crafty. Here are some tips we like…

• Sneak vegetables into favourite foods, for example adding soft, steamed leeks to mashed potato
• Add pulses to meaty meals like casseroles and stews
• Mix some sugar-free cereals in with their favourite sugary ones
• Pick up low-fat crisps and biscuits – and go for small bags!
• Make your own burgers and chips, and grill or bake rather than frying

There are also special supplements available from your pharmacist.

For baby development: Abidec multivitamin drops, Abidec multivitamin syrup with Omega 3 and Abidec multivitamin capsules with Omega 3. For slightly older children: Lloydspharmacy Children’s Omega 3 and Lloydspharmacy Jelly Vitamins A, C, D & E.

Always read the label. Please ask our pharmacist for advice.