Making them eat carrots...

(carrots from ones own garden - try growing them with your kid in your own veggie patch at home!)

Sunny boy loves to eat carrots raw. Usually he askes for his favorite 'dip' along with it which is nothing but a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil in 1:2 proportions with little mustard, salt and pepper added to it.
But eating them slightly cooked is actually even better as the good vitamin a get much more easily absorbed. Apart from fats /oils that it needs the softened texture makes it easier for the body to digest and absorb the goodies from this wonderful veggie. Of course, the carrots should retain their fresh colour - a good indication that they are not over-cooked.
But, how many of your kids like that. Sunny boy? It depends on his mood, but I HAVE to put it in his mouth usually.
Two things which however do make him eat them with pleasure on hiw own are:

1. dice them very very finely and cook with rice or cook/fry separatly and add to pasta or the vegetable which he likes. All have worked for me
2. make them into these good looking flowers and cook or fry them like in the following pictures (you can also add them to raw to salads)
   

The final products....
My tips on serving vegetables to kids:

1. Do not mix too many different things together and they will more easily eat their veggies!
2. Serve very small portions
3. give some funny or fascinating namesto the dishes you serve

Some old info lying in one draft , posting it finally:

Calcium, just like zinc reduces iron absorption and since iron is a very important mineral required by the body as well, one should avoid eating calcium rich sources along with the main meals.

A good report on the effect of calcium on iron absoption.

Another informative page on trace minerals required by our body.

Here are some good sources of calcium and iron at MedicineNet.com.

What affects Calcium absorption?

Updated on 11. Jan 2009

Before I write anything here, it is important to note that a healthy and balanced diet as we know it from our parents and grand parents is normally good enough to take care of any problems and parents of healthy and happy children growing properly need not worry.
Sometimes, if some doubts appear about the child's growth then it is surely good to consult the doctor and clarify things and ask for some good tips on increasing the calcium intake, if required.

I am required to remove some important calcium sources from my son's diet temporarily. Here are some facts I collected subsequently to ensure a good calcium intake despite that:

Calcium Absorption is affected by:

1. Vitamin D: Vitamin D is very important for good calcium absorption. It is the signal for the body to absorb calcium , if absent causes calcium malabsorption. Among children known as Rickets among children and osteomalacia in adults. Apart from being produced by the body from sunlight, some common and good sources of Vitamin D are saltwater fishes (sea fishes) ; milk and milk products; eggs (egg yolk); liver; fortified products - cereals, margarine, vegan milk sources etc.
   
2. Phytates (phytic acid) : reduce calcium absorption by binding to the calcium ions. These are found naturally in plant sources like grains, whole grain breads, (wheat) bran, soy beans (although the calcium is still partially available for absorption by the body - source), soy isolates, nuts and seeds. Phytates can be reduced by cooking, sprouting and fermentation (lactic acid - through naturally occurring yeasts). Some examples of such fermented products are yoghurt, sour /leavened breads, sour dough starters, yeast breads, rice preparations like idlis, dosas uttapams made with fermented/leavened rice. Sprouting is another wonderful way of reducing these toxins.
   
3. Oxalic acid: It reduces calcium absorption by binding to the calcium ions. Found highly in vegetables like spinach, collard greens, sweet potatoes, rhubarb and beans. (check the link to jugalbandi for more infomation that)
   
4. Age: The amount of calcium absorbed by the body decreases with age. This is one of the reasons why increasing the calcium intake after the age 50+ is so important to prevent calcium malnutrition and prevent osteoporosis, a not so uncommon problem among women and men at this age.
   

Calcium excretion (loss) is affected by (source):

1. Sodium (Na⁺ ; the mineral, a constituent of table salt) and proteins in the food increase the loss of calcium. However, if the food high in sodium and proteins also contains calcium, then it could counteract the effect of calcium loss, as this calcium will get used up to prevent further loss.
2. Potassium (Ka⁺ ; the mineral): High potassium diet, like eating more than 7-8 servings of fruits per day, in the presence of high sodium diet can help decrease the calcium loss .
3. Caffeine intake can temporarily increase calcium loss, but it can be easily counteracted by increasing the amount of calcium intake. Do not drink it together with meals.
   

Sources:
Office of Dietary Supplements
AboutCalcium.net
Wikipedia

As a response to a comment, a clarification:
Please note that building of stones to our present scientific knowledge in whichever part of the body is not less frequent among those who eat meat than those who don't. Vegetarians do not have more stones than those who eat meat. It is, however, advised to those who have kidney stones, for example, to avoid eating plant products high in oxalic acid, or also those who have gaut or rheumatoid arthritis. It is usually a genetic predisposition for some.
If you do not agree with the facts given here or believe them not to be true, then you are most welcome to disagree, but then please include a reliable source of your information, or mention it accordingly and please don't claim it to be a fact just because you have been hearing it from a "neighbour", or have some vague information in your mind, it is irresponsible. use this as a chance to check the information you have before you put it here, please.

Another important aspect of calcium uptake is its interference with the intake of other important dietary minerals like Iron, Magnesium, Zinc and Phosphorus (a separate post on this topic will follow).

Other related posts at H&T:
How much calcium does a child need?

Update on 11. Jan 2009:
Just found this very informative page on calcium at Bee and Jai's Jugalbandi:
Calcium Q&A

How much calcium does a child need?

This is a post which I'm writing more like in a note form, so that I finally am able to publish it.

Hope it is still of help to others too. Please leave your feedback or comments for any other question you think should be answered in this topic or wish to know more. I'll try to include it. Do check the links given at the bottom in this regard. I have tried to keep the list as small as possible and it contains good links to reliable information, which are also the source of information for this post.


Why do children (and adults - to a lesser extent) need calcium?

Required for healthy mental and physical development of the child - by their growing bones and teeth, important for general cellular (body) functioning, especially nerves and muscles, and activating enzymes required by the body to produce energy, and for blood clotting, and many other important body functions.
Long term shortage can lead to rickets among children (osteoporosis among adults-especially 50+).


How much calcium does a child need (a rough estimate)?

Upto 3 years of age: about 500 mg per day calcium - about 1 1/2 - 2 cups milk or plain yoghurt
4 -8 years of age: about 800 mg per day calcium - about 2-3 cups of milk
9-18 years of age: 1,300 mg per day calcium - about 3-4 cups of milk or the equivalent amount of cheese and yoghurt

The calcium in 1 cup of milk = 1 cup of yogurt = 1 and 1/2 ounces of cheese= 2 ounces of processed cheese. 1 ounce = 28 (25-30) g cheese.

For the body to absorb the calcium properly, adequate amounts of Vitamin D is neccsary. A very good source of Vitamin D is the sunlight, which is required by our body to produce vitamin D in our own body.
Good physical activity, like walking, running, jumping, other sports activities which require the legs to carry the body weight, is necessary for children's bones to develop properly and to promote new bone cells to develop and grow.


Food rich in Calcium

Dairy products are supposed to be the best sources of calcium:
Milk, yoghurt and cheese: gouda, chedder, mozarella, ricotta, soft cheese - mould cheese and many others. Cheese is a much more concentrated form of calcium source than milk. Yoghurt is a more easily digestible (proteins) source of calcium than milk. The best option is to include all of them. Cheese also has much lower lactose content than milk or yoghurt, as it has been broken down and used up by microbes present in cheese, which is usually stored for much longer than yoghurt, for example, which is again a better option than milk.

In case of allergies or lactose intolerance or those living on a vegan diet, it can be compensated with many other vegetable sources, beans and fortified products like orange juice fortified with calcium. But in such cases, a doctors advice needs to be taken to see how it can be achieved best.


Calcium rich non-dairy products, some examples:

Tofu (soyabeans)
Soya milk, fortified
Orange juice (packed), fortified
Muesli and cereals, fortified
Green leafy vegetables - like spinach, beet greens and pak choi,
Beans : soya beans- ripe, white beans, baked beans
Crucifers (Brassica spp.): broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, collard greens, turnip greens, musttard greens, etc.
Other vegetables: Okra
Nuts and seeds: especially sesame seeds, almonds
Grains: amaranth, quinoa

Many common fish varieties, like rainbow trout (cultured), salmon, atlantic sardines

Following is the list of good links to recipes for the above mentioned categories
(I'll update it everytime I find some good information/recipes):

• Beet greens at Madhuram's Egglesscooking.com
• 
  

Update: A good source of information on calcium from the Office of Dietery Suppliments (National Institute of Health), USA.
Sources of information for this post (please check the websites below for more detailed answers to the above questions):
wiki
Keep kids healthy.com
iVillage: toddlers
About.com
Children need calcium...
Parentingideas.org
calcium for children and teens
good sources of calcium for my child
Calcium: The vegetarian resource group - Nutrition

Other related posts:
What affects calcium absorption?

Update on 11. Jan 2009:
Just found this very informative page on calcium at Bee and Jai's Jugalbandi:
Calcium Q&A