Veggies and fruit are a great and natural way to help your kids hit their daily dose of essential vitamins, minerals and fibre! Canada's Food Guide recommends children aged 2 to 13 years old eat 4 to 6 servings of veggies and fruit each day. However, we know kids and adults often fall short of this goal. Veggies and fruit are a great and natural way to help your kids hit their daily dose of essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. By giving children the option of vegetables and fruit at every meal and snack time, we can help them achieve their daily requirement of 5 servings a day! So, let's always make veggies and fruit an option whenever food is offered, to give them the boost they need. |Age in Years||2 to 3||4 to 8||9 to 13||Number of Vegetable and Fruit Servings||4||5||6|People may understand that vegetables and fruit are a healthy choice. But many do not know what a serving looks like. Canada's Food Guide offers these examples of serving sizes for common vegetables and fruit. One serving of vegetables can include:One serving of fruit can include:Vegetables and fruit both contain important nutrients for children's growing bodies. Both are grouped together in the Food Guide. Yet different types of vegetables and fruit contain different kinds and amounts of vitamins, minerals and fibre. We need to ensure kids eat a mix of both vegetables and fruit of many different coloursFrozen and canned vegetables are generally as nutritious as fresh. They can be an affordable way to get the recommended daily servings. Dried fruit is a nutritious choice. Look for varieties with no added sugar and salt. A food guide serving of dried fruit is 60 mL, (1/4 cup). Look for frozen, canned and dried vegetables or fruit without any added salt or sugarExpose children to a mix of different vegetables and fruit when they are young. Research shows that kids who eat veggies and fruit as toddlers are much more likely to do so later in childhood. grab and goveggies and fruit ready for snacks. When Ontario parents serve raw vegetables and fruit as snacks to their children between meals, those children were almost 5 times more likely to meet recommended guidelines. Think about starting a garden or getting involved in a community garden. Research shows that kids who grow their own veggies and fruit are more likely to taste and eat these foods