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ihs - The Science of Wellness

Parents

Nutrition & Fitness Center

Healthy Eating & Your Family

To help your family eat right, choose whole grains and lean protein and serve plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Here's how

10 healthy eating tips

Healthy food shopping
Kids and Exercise

Kid don't need to be athletes to get the benefits of an active lifestyle. From toddlers to teens, exercise can make kids stronger, happier, and healthier.

Exercise tips

Get kids active

What's the Right Weight for My Child?

Learn how to help your child get to a healthy weight.

Your child's weight

BMI

Eating disorders

Overweight and obesity
Special Diets

Parents may need to pay extra attention to what kids eat if they have food allergies, medical conditions, or follow vegetarian diets.

Food allergies

Cerebral palsy

Cystic fibrosis

Crohn's disease

Vegetarian diets

Nutrition & Fitness Advice by Age

Encourage healthy habits from birth to teens.

Infants: The First Months

During the first 3 months, breast milk or formula will provide all the nutrition babies need.

Newborns

1–3 months
Older Infants

Learn when and how to start your baby on solid foods.

4–7 months

8–12 months
Toddlers

Toddlers might show their growing independence through what they eat — and what they won't eat.

Find out what to do

Getting the right nutrition

Snacks for toddlers
Preschoolers

Encourage kids to make good food and exercise choices, without hovering or pestering. Here's how.

Feeding preschoolers

Snacks for preschoolers

Keeping preschoolers active
School-Age Kids

At this age, kids are busy! They need food that powers them through their day — and maybe a little motivation to get offline and be active.

School lunches

After-school snacks

Helping kids get active

Handling Picky Eaters
Most toddlers are picky eaters. Here's how to make mealtimes more pleasant and less stressful for everyone.

Nutrition Q&A

Your toddler doesn't like green beans the first time around? Don't stop serving them. Kids are naturally slow to accept new tastes and textures, so keep reintroducing the beans.

Read more
The best time to introduce solid foods is when your baby has the skills needed to eat. How do you know when that is?

Find out
It's best to wait until after a baby is 6 months old before offering juice. But even then, doctors don't recommend giving babies juice often.

Here's why
Childhood obesity is a serious problem, so many schools have added BMI to their student annual health screening.

BMI basics

Important Nutrients