Got a picky eater living on a diet of nuggets and Nutella? Is ketchup the most popular “vegetable” on your table? Like us, you probably fear that your family isn’t getting all the vitamins and minerals they need. And experts confirm that many children are deficient in key nutrients such as iron, calcium and fibre. What to do?

One idea is to pick up some of the new so-called functional foods in your grocery store, items such as juice and eggs fortified with extra goodies like calcium and omega-3s. But these can set you back some serious coin, and aren’t always as effective as you may think. So, embrace your inner cheapskate! We’ve got family-tested ideas on how to fill your kids up with the nutrients they need ““ based on Health Canada’s guidelines ““ without breaking the bank.

EXPERT SOURCES
> Kathy Romses, community dietitian with Vancouver Coastal Health
> Janis Randall Simpson, an assistant professor in the department of family relations and applied nutrition at the University of Guelph
> The Dietary Reference Intakes as outlined by Health Canada

CALCIUM
what it does
Builds bones in kids and helps teens shore up bone density. Vitamin D also boosts calcium’s effective-ness. (The Canadian Cancer Society says D may help lower cancer risk.)
what kids need
800 mg/day for kids and 1,300 mg for teens; vitamin D levels should hit at least 200 IU per day.
premium approach
Give dairy-despising kids calcium- and vitamin D- enriched orange juice, but don’t rely on this one source. Kids shouldn’t have more than one to two glasses of juice a day (half a glass for toddlers), as the sugar adds up. Children too full on juice may pass up good food, too.
the cheaper route
It’s hard to beat milk with its 300 mg of calcium and 100 IU of D per 250 mL glass. Secretly slip super-cheap powdered milk or fluid, fortified rice or soy milk into soups and sauces. Nothing wrong with other dairy products like cheese and yogurt, either, but only milk is fortified with D. Let ‘em play in the sun for five minutes each day in spring and summer without sunscreen ““ but no longer, as more sun exposure increases kids’ risk for skin cancer ““ and you’ll get some of the vitamin for free.
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Romses puts a teeny squirt of chocolate syrup ““ so the squeeze bottle lasts forever ““ into her teens’ milk, so they’ll chug back. Chrystal Bymak in Yorkton, Sask., whose daughter hates milk, mixes one tub of flavoured yogurt with one tub of plain and makes frozen yogurt popsicles.

IRON
what it does
Helps transport oxygen in the blood. Without enough, kids can feel sluggish. Young children, especially babies, need iron for their mental and motor develop-ment.
what kids need
7 to 10 mg a day for kids aged one to eight; girls over 14 need around 15 mg.
premium approach
Serve up iron-fortified cereals with less than eight grams of sugar and around three grams of fibre per
serving.
the cheaper route

Red meats have the most easily absorbable heme iron. Cheap out and buy beef in a whole roast and cut it up into steaks and strips yourself. Or, use lean ground beef for home-made burgers (premade patties often contain fillers and thus less iron-rich meat). Turkey, chicken, tuna and most other fishes have good iron content, too. Team legumes like chick peas and kidney beans with vitamin C”“rich vegetables such as bell pepper and broccoli; it makes the non-heme iron in them easier to absorb.

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Katya Nosko pumps iron into her three boys with slow-cooked stews ““ the beef flavour and nutrients soak into the vegetables. She also tosses kidney beans into a pan to make refried beans and serves them with salsa and guacamole. “They scarf it down,” she says of this cost-effective protein snack.

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS
what it does
Help kids build strong hearts, plus they may help brain development.
what kids need
Aim for one gram a day while decreasing omega-6s, found in meat, some vegetable oils and most processed foods.
premium approach
Splash a good quality extra-virgin olive oil or invest in omega-3-enriched eggs ““ there’s no health difference between white and brown.
Look for ground flax in cereals and breads, because bodies don’t absorb the omega-3s in whole flax seeds.
the cheaper route
Canned salmon or tuna are frequently on sale and a great source of omega-3s. Lighter white fish ““partic-ularly halibut, sole and trout ““ agrees with young taste buds and is a good source, too. Inexpen-sive canola oil trumps sunflower oil. Finally, buy your own ground flax at the bulk store. It’s inexpens-ive, and a little goes a long way, says Romses.
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Bymak swears by her ground flax, which she tosses into some of her baking. (It can also go into homemade burgers and even on salads.)

ANTIOXIDANTS
what it does
May help lower cancer and heart disease risk because they clean up cell-damaging free radicals. “They’re the janitors of the body,” says Romses.
what kids need
At least five servings of different fruits and vegetables per day.
premium approach
Talk to your pharmacy-ist ““ not someone at a health food store ““ to help you choose a daily children’s multivitamin with the lowest sugar available. If you buy fruit bars, look for ones that say “100% dried fruit” on the label.
the cheaper route
Make “yucky” vegetables invisible. Puréed vegetables enhance the nutritional value of a spaghetti sauce, and no one will know you’ve got sweet potatoes or spinach in a smooth soup, especially if you’ve flavoured it with milk and grated cheese. Stews and soups don’t need grade-A vegetables, so pick ‘em up cheaper from the sale rack. In winter, head to the freezer section. Nutrients in frozen green beans, spinach and strawberries are often higher than fresh at this time.
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Sanyo Lue-Kim freezes vegetable-loaded soups in muffin tins and defrosts a disk for her two-year-old’s lunch. She also purÈes steamed spinach with cottage cheese, which her daughter adores. Nosko begins meals with lean proteins and salads. By the second course, her boys are almost full on the good stuff.

FIBRE
what it does
Aids digestion. Plus fibre intake is connected with a lower risk of develop-ing heart disease and type-2 diabetes later in life.

what kids need
For young ones, a gram for each year of age plus five grams per day. (So, a five-year-old needs 10 grams.) Preteens and teens should get at least 25 grams while teen boys need up to 38 grams.
premium approach
Whole-wheat pasta has about five grams of fibre per serving, but it’s costlier than white pasta unless you get a deal at the bulk store.
the cheaper route
Store-brand 100% whole- grain bread is an affordable basic. Romses also recommends unsweetened, quick-cooking oatmeal ““ a cheap breakfast ready in a minute in the microwave. Toss bran and wheat germ into everything. Janis Randall Simpson, a mom and assistant professor in family relations and applied nutrition at the University of Guelph in Ontario, makes healthy nuts and bolts with store-brand whole-grain cereals baked in the oven with a dash of oil and some spices.
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Nosko’s kids often nibble on fibre-rich veggies like carrots. For breakfast, they love granola bought in bulk and mixed with yogurt and flax or hemp seed (both great sources of fibre and other nutrients).

SOY
what it does
Isoflavons in soy have been associated with benefits for adult hearts, bones and hormones, and may play a cancer-prevention role.
what kids need
There are currently no
daily recommendations.
premium approach
Yummy soy milk is great in a glass or poured into soups. Look for a brand that’s fortified with calcium and vitamin D, says Romses. Tofu dogs are a healthy alternative to hot dogs: choose the brand with the lowest sodium count available and serve just once or twice a week.
the cheaper route
Jiggly white tofu costs very little. Slip it into spaghetti sauces, stews or chili to pump up the protein value of these meals, says Randall Simpson. Kids usually won’t know. “Put some in with the ground beef when you make your own burgers,” she adds; it saves money and saturated fat. A low-priced can of soy beans can also be subbed for kidney beans or chickpeas in most recipes.
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Nosko sautes tofu cubes in her vegetable-loaded stirfries and serves her boys carob soy milk, which has less sugar than chocolate soy milk.