As parents, we are always looking for something convenient, tasty for kids, and packed with healthy vitamins to keep our little one growing. Yoghurt is made with both milk and live cultures, which helps create a healthy gut and a better digestive environment. It also contains calcium and protein, naturally coming from milk.
How often should kids eat dairy?
The South African Food Based Dietary Guidelines recognises dairy products as an essential part of a balanced diet for kids and recommends that milk, maas, or yoghurt be eaten every day. Nutritionist, researcher, and PhD candidate at UNISA’s Life and Consumer Sciences Department Lebogang Matshego-Roda notes that yoghurt may play an important role in addressing South African children’s nutrition gap – missing nutrients include calcium, vitamins A and D as well as the B vitamins.
5 Fun ways to get your child to eat yoghurt
If your little one is not already a yoghurt eater, creative parenting expert Nikki Bush has some excellent tips on how to introduce this to her diet.
- Because yoghurt is so versatile, it can be a fun food – use it as a dip for fruit, vegetables, and pita bread.
- Dish a small portion onto the plate alongside a food they like. Keep doing this – research shows parents give up after five tries of exposing their children to a new food, but children need up to 15 introductions before they accept and enjoy it.
- Use yoghurt to create funny faces on a plate.
- Involve your child in food preparation – shop together and let them choose their favourite fruits – then make yoghurt fruit smoothies or frozen yoghurt ice lollies together.
- Small yoghurt pots are so easy to pack into their lunch boxes, and how about a tzatziki dip and pita bread for a fun change? You could also serve yoghurt as dessert.
