Infants

Feeding Your Baby
This article has excellent information on feeding babies, including the when and what of introducing solid foods. The information covers the eating needs of a baby's first year and is arranged by months of age. © National Network for Child Care - NNCC.

Guidelines for Bottle Feeding
This article offers a good guide to safe and successful bottle feeding. There is a summary of how much and when to feed and a brief discussion of colic. © National Network for Child Care - NNCC.

How Do You Feed Your Baby a Healthy Diet?
The Start Healthy Stay Healthy feeding plan from Gerber Baby Foods.

Making Baby Food
This article provides information on how to safely make and store baby food, including a few recipes you can try. © National Network for Child Care - NNCC.

The Nutritional Content of Processed Baby Food
In a question and answer format, this information addresses concerns parents may have about processed baby foods. Provided by The International Food Information Council.

Children

Child/Adolescent Nutrition & Health
This site provides an excellent overview of the nutritional needs of children from infancy through adolescence. There is also a brief discussion of physical activity needs. Provided by the International Food Information Council.

Cholesterol Guidelines for Children
This article provides cholesterol guidelines for children and outlines how these guides were developed. It describes which children should have cholesterol testing (generally not routinely recommended for children). The site also lists suggested dietary fat allowances for children over 2.  © National Network for Child Care - NNCC.

Dietary Guidelines for Children Age Two to Five
This article has a description of the overall nutritional needs of young children. There are some suggestions on how to encourage good eating habits. © National Network for Child Care - NNCC.

Dole 5 A Day Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition
This Dole Web site has an emphasis on eating five servings of vegetables or fruits a day. There is a section with nutritional content labels for fruits and vegetables and a cheerful and kid-friendly fruit and vegetable encyclopedia linked from the nutrition facts. There are games and a coloring book. Even children who hate fruit and vegetables are bound to find something appealing here. © Dole Food Company.

Food for "ME TOO": The Preschooler
This information includes an acknowledgement of how hard it can be to help young children develop healthy eating habits, but the habits developed now can make a crucial difference for the rest of their lives. There are descriptions of eating patterns at various ages and a few healthy sample menus are provided. © National Network for Child Care - NNCC.

Ten Tips to Healthy Eating and Physical Activity
This brochure is written for children 9 to 15. It offers ten brightly-illustrated tips to encourage exercise and healthy eating. Provided by The International Food Information Council and The American Dietetic Association.

Team Nutrition Kid's Page
This site has been created to encourage kids to learn all about good nutrition and physical fitness. Provided by The USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

Nutrition for the Preschool Child
The site outlines the special needs of preschoolers and how to make family meals a pleasant occasion for them. © National Network for Child Care - NNCC.

Preteens and Teens

Are You Normal? (PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
A number of normal teenagers of varying sizes are seen in a photograph accompanying the text which describes the nutritional needs and the growth of teenagers at this stage of life. Provided by The USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

What's Your Goal (PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Written for teens, this brochure outlines why and how to set nutritional goals. Provided by The USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

What's a Serving Size (PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
This brochure for preteens and teenagers focuses on defining serving sizes of foods from the food pyramid. It offers the example of a taco and breaks down how it provides bread, vegetable, and meat servings. Provided by The USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

Feed Me (PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
This colorful brochure is written for teenagers. It includes an alternative presentation of the food pyramid, displaying images of foods to eat less of, eat enough of, eat plenty of, and eat more of. Provided by The USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

Get the Picture (PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
This brochure for preteens and adolescents offers reassurance that differences in growth are normal and focuses on what healthy eating looks like. There are also healthy snack ideas. Provided by The USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

Take Charge of Your Health—A Teenager's Guide to Better Health
This site for teenagers provides solid information on physical fitness and good eating habits. There is a focus on how the food choices a teen makes affects his or her health. Provided by The International Food Information Council.

Just  For You (PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
This brochure for preteens and adolescents contains an emphasis on the differences in growth between individuals. The information is written to encourage healthy eating and discourage dieting. Provided by The USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

Move It (PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Written for preteens and teenagers, this site promotes physical fitness using the  pyramid concept that is used to present good nutritional information. Provided by The USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

General Information

Fiber Content of Kid-Appeal Foods (PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
This brochure provides the fiber content of common foods popular with children. Provided by The University of Iowa, University Extension.

Fun Nutrition Activities for the Family (PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
This 20 page brochure is written for parents and offers ideas for helping children develop and enjoy good nutritional habits. Provided by The USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

Good Times with Meals
This article was written for child care providers. It contains a discussion of the importance of making meals a good experience. There is a section on the transition children go through from play to eating that parents will find enlightening. © National Network for Child Care - NNCC.

Helping Children Eat Right
This question and answer article with Susan L. Johnson, Ph.D., a post doctoral fellow with the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado School of Medicine discusses parental influence on children's eating habits. Provided by The International Food Information Council.

Helping An Overweight Child
In the US, one in five children is overweight. This article contains information on the factors that cause the problem and what parents can do to help their children develop good weight management skills. Provided by The International Food Information Council.

A Parent's Guide to Children's Weight
This article offers information on how parents can help under- or overweight children. It suggests some behaviors parents should avoid. It also provides a list of helpful books parents may be able to obtain at their local libraries.© National Network for Child Care - NNCC.

A Practical Guide for Parents: Advertising, Nutrition and Kids
This is an excellent guide to help parents teach children how to evaluate food advertising. Provided by The International Food Information Council.