Food Circles - the New Food Guide Pyramid

These Food Circles were created to replace the current Food Pyramid for kids. They have been designed to simply display your kids' daily nutritional needs in a visually appealing and easy to read format.  The circles within circles concept is logical since your son and daughter’s bodies have interdependent needs for each food category.  The largest circle represents the food category with the greatest number of servings needed per day.  Conversely, the smallest circle encompasses the food category your kids need to eat the least, once or twice a week.  The serving suggestions per food category are offered as guidelines.  It is not expected that your kids will eat from every food group every day. At a glance, you can see what food groups your kids need to provide their growing bodies with life-supporting nutrients.

HOW MUCH IS 1 SERVING?
Serving sizes of foods have been a mystery to most of us. Below, is a simple way to figure out the relative serving sizes for your kids.

Customized Serving Size 
1 serving equals a comfortable handful of the boy or girl eating. This allows for differences in body sizes and thus bodily needs. 
Exceptions:  Water - 6 to 8 ounces
                   EFAs/Seeds - 1 teaspoon
                   Eggs, 1 egg, any size

FOOD GROUPS
WATER: 6 to 8 Servings per Day
A serving size of 6-8 ounces is a good guideline.  Better yet,  use the following formula.

CUSTOMIZED WATER FORMULA
 - Divide your child’s weight in half.
 - Replace the pounds measurement with ounces.
 - An 80 pound girl or boy should drink a minimum of 40 ounces
of water.

Water is the number-one nutrient needed with the greatest number of servings required per day.

VEGETABLES:  4 to 6 Servings per Day
Vegetables are a critical food group that fuels the brain, bones, muscles, blood, nerves, immune system, and most every other bodily function.  Carrots, sweet potatoes, corn, peas, broccoli, lettuce, parsley, paprika - there are lots of good ones for kids.

WHOLE-GRAINS, LEGUMES (beans), NUTS, SEEDS, DAIRY, EGGS, POULTRY, FISH, EFAs (essential fatty acids):  3 to 4 Servings per Day
Whole-grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds house life-giving nutrients. Low-fat, additive-free, white dairy products provide supporting nutrients. Egg yolks are loaded with brain food and egg whites are an invaluable source of protein. Additive-free chicken and turkey are important sources of fibrous protein.  Fish, especially deep coldwater fish, are potent sources of essential fatty acids as well as other nutrients. The essential fatty acid oils are vital, necessary for healthy cell function.

FRUIT:  2 to 3 Servings per Day
Fresh fruit is a fiber-filled source of important vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Kids need some each day. Berries are best!

BEEF, SWEETS:  1 to 2 Servings per WEEK
Choose only additive-free lean beef. Save treats for the weekends.

The Food Circles are intended to make you aware of the best balance of daily food combinations for your kids.  Use them to set daily goals.  Do your best to introduce a better balance of these food groups.  One step better, one step at a time, is better than no step forward at all.  Your kids need time to make changes; their taste buds need time to make changes.  What is important is persistence, persistence to make Better Food Choices. 

Look for the Food Circles in the CD Cookbook Recipes
Food groups are identified in each recipe found on the CD Cookbook, Mom, I’m Hungry. What’s for Dinner? Along side, you will find customized Food Circles.  At a glance you can see which recipes fulfill your family’s food group needs. Try the Family Approved Recipes found in this website. All 150 breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner recipes are on the CD Cookbook.