Daily Guidelines

After I presented to you the different Nutrients separated in beneficial and disadvantageous Nutrients and how you can try to include or exclude them in your children’s diet and also giving you a brief information about each nutrient and what the health effects of them. I wanted to give you an overview of the daily guidelines with which you can orientate yourself when planning out the meal plan for your children. Below you can find two charts one for girls and one for boys that is because boys and girls have a different basal metabolism. Both charts have seven rows one for the total daily calories and the other six for each Nutrient: protein, fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, salt. In the columns you will find that I divided the daily guidelines in age groups: 2 to 4, 5 to 8, 9 to 12 this is because if you look closely at the daily guidelines there is quite a big difference between the different ages. For most of the nutrients you will find a span between a lower and higher figure that is because not all children are the same and also because there is an age range for each column. That means that if you have a 5-year-old girl that is quite tall and does a lot of sport or is generally very active 1200 calories might not be enough, in this case you can then give your daughter more calories.  

Girls 2 to 4 years 5 to 8 years 9 to 12 years 
Calories 1000 to 1400 1200 to 1800  1400 to 2200 
Protein 56 to 113 grams 85 to 141 grams 113 to 170 grams 
Fruits 200 to 300 grams 200 to 300 grams 300 to 400 grams 
Vegetables 200 to 300 grams 300 to 500 grams 300 to 600 grams 
Grains 85 to 141 grams 113 to 170 grams 141 to 198 grams 
Dairy 400 to 500 grams 500 grams 600 grams 
Salt (sodium) 2g / 0.8g sodium 3g / 1.2g sodium 5g / 2g sodium 
Boys 2 to 4 years 5 to 8 years 9 to 12 years 
Calories 1000 to 1600 1200 to 2000 1600 to 2600  
Protein 56 to 141 grams 85 to 155 grams 141 to 184 grams 
Fruits 200 to 300 grams 200 to 400 grams 300 to 400 grams 
Vegetables 200 to 400 grams 300 to 500 grams 400 to 700 grams 
Grains 85 to 141 grams 113 to 170 grams 141 to 255 grams 
Dairy 400 to 500 grams 500 grams 600 grams 
Salt (sodium) 2g / 0.8g sodium 3g / 1.2g sodium 5g / 2g sodium 

Of course, these charts do not replace a medical advice and if you are unsure of your children’s diet you should ask a doctor about it. But if you just need a chart on which you can orientate your meal planning for your children and your children are healthy and active you can use these two charts.