A calorie is a misunderstood word. Dieters see it as something awful. Underweight people sigh and cannot get enough calories. Weight conscious people think of calories with dread. A calorie is actually a unit of energy. One calorie is the amount of heat it takes 1 g of water to rise 1 degree Celsius. Calories are used to measure the amount of food people take in and burn off. Children with their healthy metabolisms have different caloric and nutritional requirements than adults. Caloric intake alone should not be a criterion for nutrition but rather nutritional content should be the prime motivator and guide.
Instructions
1. Calculate a toddler's needs, from one to three years old, by multiplying 95 calories times the number of kilograms the child weighs. One kg is 2.2 lb. So a toddler weighing 11 kg -- or 24.2 lb. -- should consume 1045 calories a day.
2. Calculate preschoolers -- ages four and five -- the same as toddlers. That would be 95 calories for each kilogram or 2.2 lb. of weight.
3. Break school children up into younger and older children, with younger children falling into the six-to-nine-year range and older children from the nine-to-12-year-old range.
4. Calculate younger schoolchildren at 95 calories for each kilogram or 2.2 lb. of weight, and older schoolchildren at 35 calories per kilogram or 2.2 lb. of weight. For example, an 11-year-old who weighs 100 lb. -- or 45.45 kg -- would require 1,590 calories per day.
5. Be concerned not just about the caloric intake but about the amount of physical activity and of what foods the child is consuming. Eating 800 calories worth of candy will not add protein, fiber or vitamins to a child's diet, but may fall within the caloric needs.
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