Kids’ Nutrition Tips for Every Age 

As a parent, you likely start thinking about your child’s nutrition from the time you start introducing solid foods. While breast milk and formula have nearly all the good stuff babies need, solid foods make things a bit trickier — but by planning well-balanced family meals, you can make sure that your little ones get all the nutrients they need to grow and thrive. 

We’ve tapped three experts from our Thrive Market Nutrition & Regulatory Compliance team to better understand childhood nutrition and how to approach it at every stage of your child’s life. This handy guide will show you exactly which food groups to focus on (and which foods to avoid), whether you’re hoping to instill good nutrition habits in a toddler or to give your teen energy for school, sports, and everything in between. 

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Our expert sources: 

 Sabrina Wildermuth, MS, Certified Food Scientist (CFS) and Director of Nutrition & Regulatory Compliance at Thrive Market 

Michelle Leonetti, MS, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and Quality Assurance Nutrition & Regulatory Manager at Thrive Market

Dawn Kane, MS, CFS and Quality Assurance Nutrition & Regulatory Manager at Thrive Market 

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Daily Dietary Guidelines for Babies, Children & Teens 

While it may be difficult to adhere to exact measurements for each food group when feeding your children, it’s important to understand the general recommendations when developing a healthy routine. Starting at about 1 year old (or when babies are primarily eating solid foods), you can use these guidelines to build a balanced plate for every meal of the day. 

If you struggle to meet all of these guidelines in a single day, don’t worry — there’s always time to make up for missing areas. “Your child may not eat the exact amounts suggested each day,” WIldermuth says. “It can change daily over the course of a few days or week, you just want to make sure you’re feeding a balanced diet throughout the week.” 

Age 6-12 months: 

At this stage, your baby will be trying his or her first solid foods, but breast milk or formula will still make up the majority of his or her diet. 

Ages 12-24 months: 

Calories: 700 to 1,000* 

Protein: 2 ounces

Fruits: ½ to 1 cup

Vegetables: ⅔ to 1 cup

Grains: 1 ¾ to 3 ounces

Dairy:  1 ⅔ to 2 cups

(Source: USDA)

Ages 2-4: 

Calories: 1,000 to 1,600*

Protein: 2 to 4 ounces 

Fruits: 1 to 1.5 cups 

Vegetables: 1 to 1.5 cups 

Grains: 3 to 5 ounces 

Dairy: 2 to 2.5 cups 

(Source: Mayo Clinic) 

Ages 5-8: 

Calories: 1,200 to 1,800* 

Protein: 3 to 5.5 ounces 

Fruits: 1 to 2 cups 

Vegetables: 1.5 to 2.5 cups 

Grains: 4 to 6 ounces 

Dairy: 2.5 cups

(Source: Mayo Clinic) 

Ages 9-13: 

Calories: 1,400 to 2,600*  

Protein: 3 to 6.5 ounces 

Fruits: 1 to 2 cups 

Vegetables: 1.5 to 3.5 cups 

Grains: 5 to 9 ounces 

Dairy: 3 cups

(Source: Mayo Clinic) 

Ages 14-18: 

Calories: 1,800 to 2,400 for females; 2,000 to 3,200 for males* 

Protein: 5 to 7 ounces 

Fruits: 1.5 to 2.5 cups 

Vegetables: 2.5 to 4 cups 

Grains: 5 to 9 ounces 

Dairy: 3 cups 

(Source: Mayo Clinic) 

*varies slightly depending on growth, sex, and activity level 

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Tips for Introducing Solid Foods to Babies

According to the CDC, you can start to introduce solid foods when your baby exhibits these signs: 

• Sits up alone or with support
• Is able to control his or her head and neck
• Opens the mouth when food is offered
• Swallows food rather than pushes it back out onto the chin
• Brings objects to the mouth
• Tries to grasp small objects, such as toys or food
• Transfers food from the front to the back of the tongue to swallow

Tips for introducing solid foods: 

Once you determine that it’s time to start introducing solid foods to your baby, use these tips to prioritize nutrition and encourage babies to enjoy nutrient-rich foods: 

• Focus on variety. “From a very young age, offer a wide variety of foods,” says Leonetti. “Allowing the child to choose how much and when to eat allows them to better attune to their hunger and satiety cues.”
• Encourage, but don’t force. “When introducing new foods, don’t force a child to eat, but offer a few bites,” says Wildermuth. 
• Keep trying! “It’s important to offer variety, especially in the early stages when your baby is trying new foods and textures, but it can take up to 12 tries for a child to like a new food,” says Wildermuth. “When you’re eating out, try letting them taste the food you’ve ordered — it might surprise you how open they are to experimenting with new foods!”

Foods to start with when introducing solid foods:

• Fortified baby cereals 
• Cooked and/or pureed fruits and vegetables
• Finely chopped or pureed meats 
• Small bites of grains, such as pastas or rice 

What to avoid when introducing solid foods:

• Foods with a high choking risk.  Avoid choking hazards, such as whole grapes, raw vegetables, or large, tough pieces of meat. Instead, make sure to cut solid foods into small pieces, and choose foods that can be easily cut, boiled, mashed, or pureed. 
• Honey. For the first year of a baby’s life, avoid feeding them honey, as there is a risk of infant botulism. “Babies don’t have the necessary gut microbiota to fight off infant botulism when compared to toddlers,” says Kane. 
• Dairy milk. “You can introduce whole milk to your baby after 12 months,” Kane says. “Before 12 months, babies don’t have the necessary gut microbiota to break down bovine milk, so their main nutrition should be breast milk or formula. After 12 months, you may want to introduce whole milk since it offers up more fat, which helps to support brain development.”

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Kids Nutrition Tips 

• Prioritize healthy fats. At all ages, prioritize polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids like fish, olive oil, nuts, and avocados. As a general rule:
  • Children 2 to 3 years should consume no more than 30 to 35% of their calories from fats 
  • Children 4 to 18 years should consume no more than 25 to 25% of their calories from fats
• Limit added sugars. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children under the age of 2 should not consume added sugars at all, and children 2 years and older should consume no more than 25g of sugar per day (about 6 teaspoons). Instead of foods with added or refined sugars, opt for foods sweetened with dates, honey, or fruit juice. 
• Serve whole grains rather than refined grains. Look for “whole grain” as one of the first ingredients listed on the label. “When children are young and growing, they expend a lot of energy and are very active,” says Wildermuth. While she notes that “starchy foods such as bread, cereals, rice, and pasta are a good source of energy”, Wildermuth says to opt for the whole grain versions when possible. 
• View calories as a way to support healthy weight. Talk to your pediatrician to determine how many calories your child needs each day, as the recommended daily value varies depending on the child’s activity level, weight, and other factors. 
• Showcase different flavors and spices. “At all ages, use spices to help set your little one up to enjoy eating,” Kane recommends. “Start using spices early on to help them build their palette for different flavors.”
• Get kids involved in cooking. “When children are older, involve them in food preparation when possible,” says Leonetti. “This helps them to get exposed to and excited about new foods they might not otherwise be interested in or familiar with.”

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Important Nutrients for Kids & Teens

Once you understand how much of each nutrient or food group your child should get in a day, it’s time to apply that knowledge to real foods. “I personally think that going by general food groups is more helpful than going by specific nutrient levels,” says Leonetti. “It’s much more practical to conceptualize 1 cup of dark green leafy vegetables as opposed to 1,000 milligrams of calcium.” 

With that in mind, here are some of the most important nutrients for babies, kids, and teens — and how to ensure that yours are getting enough. 

Potassium 

Potassium is another important mineral that may be overlooked in children’s diets. If your child has a potassium deficiency, you may notice symptoms like muscle weakness, vomiting, constipation, and fatigue. 

Young children need between 2,000 and 2,300 milligrams of potassium per day; teens need between 2,300 and 3,000 milligrams per day, depending on gender and other factors. While most children and teens reach these amounts simply by consuming a balanced diet, you may want to prioritize potassium-rich foods like bananas, fish, meats, dried fruits, leafy greens, and dairy products if you’re concerned about your child’s potassium levels. 

Vitamin D

Vitamin D supports bone health and immune function, but it can be difficult to get through diet alone. 

While breast milk provides just about all the nutrients babies need, it doesn’t provide enough vitamin D. Because of this, babies need 400 international units (IU) of liquid vitamin D a day until weaned or until they drink 32 ounces (about 1 liter) a day of formula with added vitamin D.  “A liquid vitamin D supplement can be given directly into the baby’s mouth, or if you pump breast milk and feed via bottle, it can be given that way as well,” says Wildermuth. 

“Once your baby starts solids, prioritize foods that provide vitamin D, such as egg yolks and fatty fish, like salmon,” says Wildermuth. You can also add a kid-friendly vitamin D supplement or head outside to get some sunshine, since the sun provides natural vitamin D. 

Calcium

Children and teens build the majority of their bone mass by the time they reach their 20s, so you’ll want to prioritize calcium intake throughout childhood and into the teen years to help build strong bones. Things like dairy milk, yogurt, leafy greens, almonds, and certain cheeses are all good sources of calcium. For children ages 1 to 8 years, aim for about 700 to 1,000 milligrams of calcium each day; for teens ages 13 to 18, aim for 1,300 milligrams. 

Babies 6 to 12 months old need about 260 milligrams of calcium per day, but most receive all the calcium they need from breast milk or formula. 

Protein 

“Ideally, protein should be eaten throughout the day and not just at one big meal,” Wildermuth says. If you’re looking for ways to incorporate protein into your child’s diet, she recommends high-protein snack ideas like edamame, hard boiled eggs, peanut butter and whole grain crackers, lunch meat and cheese rollups, and nuts like pistachios and cashews, and yogurt. 

Iron 

“Infants who breastfeed typically get enough iron reserves from their mothers until about 4 to 6 months of age,” Wildermuth says. “Around this time, prioritize introducing iron-rich foods, like fortified cereal and puréed meats and beans.” 

Toddlers and young children need between 7 and 10 milligrams of iron each day, and a well-balanced diet filled with iron-rich foods should help your child reach their recommended daily values for iron intake. “As your child grows older, red meat, chicken, fish, beans, and spinach are all good sources of iron,” Wildermuth says. “Serving these foods with foods rich in vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, peppers, and strawberries, can help absorption.” Teens need between 10 and 15 milligrams of iron per day, depending on gender and other factors. If your pediatrician recommends an iron supplement, you may also add in an iron supplement formulated for kids.