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High calcium requirements
Growing up, kids still have significant calcium needs. After 3 years, these needs are 600 to 800 mg of calcium per day, which corresponds, on average, to 3 or 4 dairy products daily.
My child doesn’t like milk: tips to help him enjoy it
If he makes a face in front of his glass of milk, several solutions exist. There is no point in forcing it, as this would be counterproductive and risk creating a lasting blockage. While it may simply be a transitional phase. To get around the problem, we can try to offer him milk in different presentations. Yoghurt in the morning, fromage blanc or petit-suisse at noon and / or as a snack and cheese in the evening. You can also be tricky: put milk in your soup, add grated cheese to soups and gratins, cook fish and egg in béchamel sauce, make rice or semolina pudding or milkshakes to taste it.
In video: Céline de Sousa’s recipe: rice pudding
Dairy products instead of milk
It is tempting to offer dairy desserts flavored with fruits, chocolate… which are often well appreciated by the youngest. But nutritionally, they are not interesting because they contain a lot of sugar and in the end, often little calcium. We therefore limit them. It is better to bet on plain yogurts, white cheeses and petits-suisse prepared with whole milk, preferably. We flavor them with fruit, honey… We can also choose dairy products prepared with growth milk (we can give it to children over 3 years old if they like the taste). They provide more essential fatty acids (especially omega 3), iron and vitamin D.
Cheeses that taste
Another solution, when a child is not too fond of milk: offer him cheese. Because, they are sources of calcium. But again, it is important to choose them well. Generally, kids love processed or spread cheese. They are enriched with crème fraîche and fat, but contain little calcium. Better to favor cheeses with taste that provide good amounts of calcium. For the youngest (the recommendations concern children under 5), we opt for pasteurized cheeses and not raw milk, to avoid the risks of listeria and salmonella. Choice of: Emmental, Gruyère, Comté, Beaufort and other pressed and cooked cheeses which are the richest in calcium.
To help you, here are some equivalents: 200 mg of calcium = a glass of milk (150 ml) = 1 yogurt = 40 g of Camembert (2 child portions) = 25 g of Babybel = 20 g of Emmental = 150 g of fromage blanc = 100 g of dessert cream = 5 small Swiss cheese of 30 g.
Vitamin D, essential to properly assimilate calcium!
For the body to assimilate calcium well, it is important to have a good level of vitamin D. Manufactured by the skin thanks to the rays of the sun, it is advisable to limit the risks associated with sun exposure, to supplement the children in vitamin D until the age of… 18 years!
Foods that also contain calcium …
Some fruits and vegetables contain calcium. However, it is much less well assimilated by the body than that contained in dairy products. However, for a good nutritional balance, we can put them on the menu: almonds (powdered for the youngest to prevent the risk of taking a wrong turn), blackcurrant, orange, kiwi on the fruit side, parsley, beans green or spinach on the vegetable side.