Hello. I am looking for information for my children ages 3, 6 and 9. I would like to know the daily calorie requirements for them. Also, can you tell me how many servings of bread, fat, dairy they need per day?
We are trying to develop a healthy diet for my entire family to follow. Thank you for your time.
Have you tried my Healthy Kid Calculator®? If you send me their data (age in years and months, height, weight and activity hours), I will send you their individual results.
With regards to the servings of food, I would suggest your family follow My Plate. The number of servings for each child would depend on their age and individual calorie needs in their individual Your Nutrition Facts results.
Here are a general number of food servings for your children:
| Food Group | 3-year-old | 6-year-old | 9-year-old |
| Grains | 3 ounces | 4 to 5 ounces | 5 ounces |
| Vegetables | 1 cup | 1 1/2 cup | 2 cups |
| Fruit | 1 cup | 1 to 1 1/2 cup | 1 1/2 cup |
| Milk | 2 cups | 2 cups | 3 cups |
| Meat & Beans | 2 ounces | 3 to 4 ounces | 5 ounces |
| Oils | 3 teaspoons | 4 teaspoons | 5 teaspoons |
Your children are of the age that they can self select portion sizes and should be encouraged to make food choices based on your providing a healthy food environment. In other words, if you buy healthy foods that are moderate in fat and low in sugar and cook from scratch, your children can only make good food choices at home. Furthermore, since two of your children are school age and if they participate in school lunch, they are already making food choices outside your home. Why not model healthy food choices at home that they can carry over to when away from home?
A word of caution, a child needs sufficient calories to grow and develop and if calories are restricted it will limit their brain development if younger than 10 and interfere with genetic height potential. Children should continue to grow in height and weight until 18 years of age at least. Children also need regular exercise to help develop bones and muscles as well as energy levels. Parents can be good role models of exercise behavior as well as food behaviors.
