A growing child needs a variety of foods to grow healthy and strong. Mothers, while serving food to their kids, might segregate the foods according to their nutritious value. We have many food groups available on our mother Earth, and all of them, taken together, help to build our body. We have carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, protein, etc. as different food groups. All of them work on one or the other part of our body to build it as strong as it could be. We know all the food groups are important for our body, but today in this article we are going to understand how protein is important for our body.

Protein content in our body

It is said that the entire human body is made up of protein if we exclude water and fat content from it. Protein is one of the vital elements that build our body’s muscles. Not only muscles, but it is also responsible for building our bones, organs, and skin. Through this, we come to know how important protein is for all of us.

How is protein absorbed by our bodies?

Proteins are broken into amino acids by our bodies and are then absorbed by them. Protein is the element that our bodies use to build muscles and organs, as well as hormones and antibodies.Protein can be stored in both forms, as energy or as fat, in our body. When we have our food and do not work out at all, we become fat, and this is when our protein is stored as fat in our body. If we keep working through the day and have a smaller quantity of food every now and then, the same protein is converted into energy.

Protein sources for kids

Most of our kids are picky eaters and it’s really difficult to feed them anything, but protein-rich foods are something that is always a favourite of our kids. Milk as a health drink is one of the easiest and richest sources of protein. Cheese, chicken, corn, sweet potatoes, etc. are some of the foods which are always liked by our kids and are always good for their health.

Protein recommendations for kids

Children between the ages of 1 – 3 years must be provided with 5 glasses of milk a day along with boiled chicken, corn, or sweet potatoes.

Between 4 – 8 years old, the quantity of milk can be reduced to three glasses a day and dietary protein must be given more importance, like chicken, cheese, eggs, etc.

Children between the ages of 9 – 13 years old are active physically, and they need more protein at this age so that their muscles can be built up. Continue serving milk to them, i.e., two glasses of milk a day would be enough, and do serve them with other protein-rich diets like eggs, chicken, cheese, soya chunks etc.

Conclusion

Always try to consume protein with carbohydrates as it increases the sugar level in our body and hence amino acids are produced.