If you are like most parents, you sometimes wonder if you are making the right nutrition choices. Health Canada recently launched the new Canada’s Food Guide to better reflect the latest thinking about what we should eat and how, and to help Canadians like you make informed choices to support healthy, balanced nutrition.

Enfagrow A+ is here to help you make good decisions when it comes to providing a balanced diet for your toddler. We support the Food Guide to promote a healthy diet, with the nutrients needed for healthy growth and development.

There is a lot of information in Canada’s Food Guide on how you and your family can eat well and live well—including tips, recipe ideas and other resources—so you may want to check it out. In the meantime, here are a few things we thought you should know.

1.Offering a variety of vegetables and fruits, whole grains and proteins is important to a healthy diet. Your toddler won’t like everything you give them, but eventually you will find your healthy go-to foods.

2.Complementary feeding helps provide nutrients and energy to meet the needs of a growing child. Offer a variety of foods high in iron.

3.Water is the best choice for drinks, but milk is a healthy option. Limit juices and other sugary drinks.

4.Health Canada encourages eating when you are hungry. Your child or their behaviours will tell you when they are hungry or full.

5.Try to offer small meals and snacks at regular times throughout the day. A hungry toddler can be a challenge, so always be prepared with a handy snack.

The Food Guide encourages you to eat a variety of healthy foods each day. We agree this is important, but also understand it can be difficult with a toddler. You have to pick your battles!

While they may love certain foods, it isn’t always the ones you would hope for. There may also be foods they refuse to eat, making it hard to achieve nutritional balance. And, as they grow older, you probably won’t be around to ensure balance at every meal and snack time. As you learn to let go, you could use a nutritional safety net.

Enfagrow A+ provides 26 nutrients to help support normal growth, including DHA, protein and a fibre blend. It is an excellent source of calcium, and contains iron and vitamins C and D. These nutrients can be found in the Food Guide. Proper nutrition helps support your child’s normal brain development which is important at a young age, as 85% of brain development happens before age 3.

Canada’s Food Guide is about more than just nutrition. It contains tips on how to achieve a healthy lifestyle, too. An important part of this is encouraging you to eat meals with others and to really try and enjoy your food.

Family meals can be challenging with a toddler involved. The Food Guide notes that from six months of age, an older infant’s complementary foods can be many of the same nutritious foods enjoyed by the family. For many of us, that’s the dream—being able to plan one meal that the entire family can sit down and enjoy together. Your toddler may have other ideas.

We can help here, too. Getting your toddler to eat a range of food can be challenging. Enfagrow A+ helps fill in nutritional gaps. It is an easy addition to your routine that will help you all enjoy meal times together.