It's a constant worry for parents to feed their children with enough calcium. The nutrient acts like a building block for bones and teeth in their growing up years, and hence, is extremely important to be consumed in the right amount. We still can't forget those dreadful days when our parents used to force us to drink milk every morning and night, during our childhood. It's just now we understand, they did it for a good reason. When we ingest foods and drinks containing calcium, some amount of calcium goes in the bloodstream and rest gets deposited in our bones. In the absence of calcium, our body automatically draws the nutrient from our bones, and too much drawing of calcium from the deposit could weaken bones and lead to diseases like arthritis and osteoporosis, and teeth problems later in life.
Kids being kids, are not easy to convince into eating the foods we want them to eat. Let's face it, all those glasses of milk you hand them to drink might end up going down the flush and we won't even come to know. You could either parley with them to forcibly drink boring milk or eat curd, or lure them with delicious calcium-rich meals, which they will happily have. The choice is yours!
Here are some tasteful calcium-rich meal ideas that your children would love:
Milk Cereals And Shakes
Instead of giving your kids plain milk and turning them against it, make sweet delicious cereals or milkshakes with it. Add their favourite fruits, nuts and seeds as well to make them consume other essential nutrients along with calcium. Nuts like almonds and fruits like papaya, oranges and prunes are rich in calcium, which you can add to these meals.
(Also Read: Healthy Breakfast: 5 Diet Tips To Have A Calcium Rich Breakfast)
Cereals with milk, fruits and nuts make for a calcium-rich breakfast.
Fruit Yogurt And Parfait
Make ice cream-like yogurt or parfait with beaten curd, fruits and honey, which will make milky, sweet yet healthy desserts for children. Here are some recipes to make yogurt with calcium-rich curd.
Veggie Pasta And Noodles
Carrots, green vegetables like broccoli and spinach, and cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower and cabbage, are all good sources for calcium. Make kids' favourite pasta and noodles with these veggies.
Cheesy Sandwich
Make calcium loaded sandwiches with cottage cheese (paneer), eggs, sour cream and beaten yogurt along with high-nutrient vegetables. Make pizzas with cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, feta cheese, cheddar cheese - all of which contain significant amounts of calcium.
(Also Read: 5 Calcium-Rich Vegetables You Could Include In Your Diet)
Make calcium-rich sandwich with a stuffing of paneer or egg mix.
Paneer Burger
Make luscious burgers with a stuffing of cottage cheese patties topped with loads of lettuce, which is also packed with calcium. Don't forget to add cheese to make the burgers a delight for children.
Make eating fun for children, not a burden. Help them build a strong body with strong bones and teeth by providing them calcium-rich diet.