Nutrition Analysis of a $2 Meal Plan for Preschool Children

This assignment presents a student's meal plan designed for a preschool child, focusing on a budget of $2. The meal plan includes a "Sunshine Burger" with ingredients like minced chicken, onion, mushroom, plain flour, and corn flask, along with "Rainbow Fries" featuring purple sweet potato, carrot, cucumber, and pumpkin. The student provides a detailed nutrition analysis of each ingredient, highlighting the benefits for children's growth and development, such as bone and muscle growth, fine and gross motor skills, and psychological development. The analysis references sources to support the nutritional claims of each food item, emphasizing the importance of a balanced diet for preschool children, considering their preference for colors and tastes. The student explains how each ingredient contributes to the child's overall health and well-being, including vision, immune support, and hydration. The meal plan aims to provide a healthy and delicious menu within a limited budget, promoting healthy eating habits in preschool-aged children.

Assignment Detail
We presented our meal plan for one child in the class today. Here is the list of what we added in our
meal plan.
Sunshine burger
 Miced chicken
 Onion
 Plain flour
 Corn flask

 Pan fried with little olive oil
Rainbow fried
 Purple sweet pototo
 Carrot
 Cucumber
 Pumpkin
 Our budget is $2 per child Mushroom
Please add in the nutrition level (total 300 words)
As a 4 years old develop, they tend to grow taller due to bone and muscles growth.
Moreover, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and psychological development have been observed
in this case (Britto et al., 2016). Hence, to facilitate the cognitive and physical development of the
children, healthy and delicious nutritional menu is required to develop which will not only engage
them in healthy eating habits but facilitate the parental skills. Children feel better when they eat
well. Children are more attracted towards colours and tastes as a significant number of children of 4
to 5years are picky eaters. Hence we designed Sunshine burger and rainbow fries for the children
who are pre-schooler and 4 to 5years. Considering sunshine burger, Chicken is a good source of low-
fat protein which facilitates muscle development. Onion facilitates Boost Bone Density. Mushroom
contains contain B vitamins and antioxidants which support the immune system and prevent
damages to the cells and tissues. Flour is a source of selenium, riboflavin, niacin, and thiamine which
facilitate growth. Olive oil is anti-oxidants and prevents damages of cells and tissues. Corn flask is
rich in protein and increases insulin secretion in individuals (Whitfield & Last, 2017). On the other
hand, rainbow fries not only look attractive but also delicious to facilitate the development of
healthy habits of the children. Considering the ingredients of rainbow fries, sweet potato is enriched
in high levels of beta-carotene, vitamin C, and magnesium which facilitate vision and prevent cellular
damage. Carrot contains beta carotene, a precursor of vitamin A which facilitate vision (Whitfield &
Last, 2017). Pumpkin also contains beta carotene, a precursor of vitamin A which facilitate vision and

growth of the muscles. Cucumber contains Antioxidants and promotes hydration and hence, it keeps
children dehydrated (Whitfield & Last, 2017). Hence, this menu would be best suitable menu within
in low budget for the infants.

References:
Britto, P. R., Lye, S. J., Proulx, K., Yousafzai, A. K., Matthews, S. G., Vaivada, T., ... & MacMillan, H.
(2017). Nurturing care: promoting early childhood development. The Lancet, 389(10064), 91-
102.
Cristina Lindsay, A., Sitthisongkram, S., Greaney, M., Wallington, S., & Ruengdej, P. (2017). Non-
responsive feeding practices, unhealthy eating behaviors, and risk of child overweight and
obesity in southeast asia: a systematic review. International journal of environmental research
and public health, 14(4), 436.
Kim, E. B., Chen, C., & Cheon, B. K. (2019). Using remote peers’ influence to promote healthy food
choices among preschoolers. Developmental psychology, 55(4), 703.
Neo, J. E., Salleh, S. B. M., Toh, Y. X., How, K. Y. L., Tee, M., Mann, K., ... & Brownlee, I. A. (2016).
Whole-grain food consumption in Singaporean children aged 6–12 years. Journal of
nutritional science, 5.
Quah, P. L., Chun, J., Fries, L. R., Chan, M. J., Aris, I. M., Lee, Y. S., ... & Tan, K. H. (2019).
Longitudinal analysis between maternal feeding practices and body mass index (BMI): a
study in Asian Singaporean preschoolers. Frontiers in nutrition, 6, 32.
Whitfield, F. B., & Last, J. H. (2017). Vegetables. In Volatile compounds in foods and beverages (pp.
203-281). Routledge.
Www.hpb.gov.sg 2019. Healthy Meals in Pre-Schools Programme. [online] Health Promotion Board.
Available at: https://www.hpb.gov.sg/schools/school-programmes/health-promoting-
programmes-for-pre-schools/healthy-meals-in-pre-schools-programme [Accessed 31 Jul.
2019].