How Many Calories Do Children Need?

Nutrition labels are based on the recommended number of calories and other nutrients needed daily by adults. But when you are trying to plan the appropriate amount of nutrients for your kids, these nutrition percentages on food labels can be deceiving. How many calories do kids need each day? How many grams of fat do kids each need day? As the mother of a 3 ½ year old boy, a boy that tends to be a bottomless pit when it comes to eating, I am already thinking about making sure he gets the right amount of calories and fat each day. Here are recommendations for the calorie and fat needs of kids.

According to the 2010 version of the best selling book, Eat This Not That, younger children should be eating fewer calories than adults (obviously) and that amount grows as the child grows. This makes sense, but without a nutrition background, the average parent has no idea just what these numbers are. Sometimes children may be eating too many calories while other times they may not be getting enough, which is vital for growth. If you are concerned about your child's eating habits, and want to gage whether or not he is eating an appropriate number of calories each day, this guide will help.

Ages 1-3. Children ages 1-3 should be eating between 1000 and 1400 calories each. This is a lot considering the small servings most children in this age range consume in a sitting. Children at this age need snacks in order to meet their calorie needs each day. Children ages 1-3 should be eating between 33 and 54 grams of fat daily.

Ages 4-8. As children enter school and continue to grow, they need more calories. Children ages 4-8 should be eating 1400-1800 calories daily. This is just slightly less than what the average adult should eat each day. Kid portions are typically quite smaller than adult portions at meal time, so again, kids need snacks in order to get enough calories each day. Kids ages 4-8 should have 39-62 grams of fat daily.

Ages 14-18. Teenagers, especially teen boys, are notorious for eating anything and everything in sight. This makes some sense considering teenage boys need 2200-2400 calories a day, 200-400 more than the average full grown man. Teen girls should consume about 2000 calories each day. Teenage boys need 61-95 grams of fat and teen girls need 55-78 grams of fat daily. Again, the fat needs of teens are higher than that of adults.

Every child is different, but this calorie and fat guide will help parents determine just how many calories and fat grams their children should consume each day. With this knowledge and proper food choices, perhaps the next generation can be healthier than the current one.

Source: Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko, 2010