HEALTH

Diet for sick children

A heads-up on what to feed your child when she's sick.

An invalid child needs special care as far as the diet is concerned. A high fluid intake and extra protein diet during sickness is generally recommended. Here we have put together a list of food items, which is appropriate during sickness (unless otherwise specified by your doctor.)

Fever can dehydrate a child in a surprisingly very short span of time so the main idea is to prevent the child from getting dehydrated. A child with fever needs to drink at least 100-150ml liquid per kilo of body weight. If the child has vomiting and diarrhoea increase this to 200ml per kilo of body weight.

TAKE: Fruit juices, Glucose water, Coconut water, Barley water, Milk, Vegetable juices

Include nourishing food which is not heavy on the stomach and is easy to digest. Food which is high protein, has liberal amounts of vitamins and minerals should be given.

TAKE: Thin dals, gruel/kanji/congee, veg/non veg soup minus corn flour or cream, custard, baked fish, stewed tender meat, poached or boiled eggs, breakfast cereal

Avoid food with high fat content.

DO NOT TAKE: Butter, Ghee, Vegetable oil, fried food, rich pastries and puddings, cream soups

DO NOT TAKE: Extremely fibrous food, heavily spiced food and strongly flavoured beverages

It’s rarely easy to make a sick child eat and drink in a nutritious manner. I consider it a battle and if you do the same, strategize and check out our 'How to make a sick child eat’ article.