Even though it's healthy, how many children can they eat fruit?

Parents will certainly feel happy when they know that their children like to eat fruits that are rich in vitamins and minerals. Indeed, fruit can be a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals for your little one, but it turns out that the portions are not excessive, you know. So, how many servings of fruit should children eat in a day?

The recommended portion of fruit that children should eat

Referring to the Indonesian Ministry of Health, children aged 1-9 years need fiber intake of 16-26 grams per day. Fiber needs can be obtained from daily food, especially from vegetables and fruits.

So, in order to meet these fiber needs, children in that age range are advised to eat the following amounts of fruit a day:

2-3 years: 175 grams of fruit, or the equivalent of 1 large slice of papaya.
4-8 years: 175-260 grams of fruit, or the equivalent of 2 oranges.
9-13 years: 260 grams of fruit, or the equivalent of 4 large strawberries.

Give your little one fruit with a variety of colors, shapes and textures according to age and the type he likes. These fruits can be fresh, frozen, juiced, or canned. However, consumption of fruit in fresh form is recommended.

Can children eat more fruit than is recommended?

Fruits are rich in a type of natural sugar called fructose. This sugar is what causes fruits to taste sweet. Given the large amount of fructose in sugar, you may be wondering if excessive consumption of fruits can harm your child's health?

Apparently, this is not the case. Even though they are rich in fructose, fruits contain more fiber and water, which makes them feel full faster. For this reason, it is almost impossible for a person to consume fruit in excess in one day.

As an illustration, your child will quickly feel full after eating one large apple. Apples contain 23 grams of sugar, with 13 grams in the form of fructose. Try to compare it with a can of soft drink.

This drink contains 52 grams of sugar, 30 grams of which are in the form of frutose without being balanced with other nutrients in it. As a result, children do not feel full just by drinking soda.

Excessive sugar intake is dangerous for health. However, the sugar in question is sugar in the form of sucrose or fructose syrup which is found in added sweeteners. Meanwhile, the fructose sugar contained in fruit is safer to consume in large quantities.

Tips for eating fruit to optimize children's health

You can let your little one try different types of fruit without worrying about excessive consumption. Just make sure that he consumes fresh fruits through the following tips:

Give your little one whole fruit, not juice. Fruit juices are practical and taste delicious, but they contain unnecessary added sugar.
If your child wants to consume fruit juice, then make it yourself without adding sugar or sweetened thick creamer.
Wash fruits before consumption to prevent bacterial and pesticide contamination.
Supervise toddlers when eating fruit, especially if the fruit is hard because it can trigger choking.
Keep a variety of fruit at home so your child can use it as a healthy snack.

All types of fruit contain healthy nutrients. Therefore, variation is very important. Introduce your child to a variety of fruits so that he doesn't just eat the same kind of fruit. This is also useful for saving costs because some types of fruit have a high price outside the season.