Mid-Autumn Festival is coming. How can children eat mooncakes to satisfy their cravings and stay healthy? Here is the most comprehensive guide!

Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival in my country, and mooncakes are an indispensable delicacy during the festival. Children prefer this kind of high-sugar and high-fat food. So, how can we let children enjoy the delicious mooncakes while ensuring their health?

Cai Hua, nutritionist and deputy director of the Clinical Nutrition Department of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital , said that the "Guidelines on Snacks for Chinese Children and Adolescents (2018)" jointly compiled by the Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chinese Nutrition Society provides guidance on how children of different ages should eat snacks.

Whether it is preschool children aged 2-5 or school-age children aged 6-12, it is recommended to eat less high-salt, high-sugar, and high-fat snacks. During the festive season, eating mooncakes is inevitable. Here are some suggestions for eating:

The first thing is to choose the right mooncake.

Try to buy big brands, pre-packaged mooncakes, which ensure food safety. You can also clearly see the ingredient list and nutritional composition table, so you can eat with peace of mind.

When purchasing, it is recommended to choose low-sugar and low-fat mooncakes, or mooncakes in which added sugars such as white sugar and honey, and cooking oils are ranked low in the ingredient list. This can effectively reduce the health risks of children caused by excessive intake of sugar and calories, such as obesity and tooth decay.

According to relevant food regulations, for pre-packaged foods that claim to be low in fat, the fat content should be ≤3g/100g (solid) or ≤1.5g/100ml (liquid). For pre-packaged foods that claim to be low in sugar, the carbohydrate (sugar) content should be ≤5g/100g (solid) or 100ml (liquid). If the carbohydrate (sugar) content or fat content marked in the nutrition information table exceeds the content requirements for low-fat or low-sugar foods, then it is not a low-fat or low-sugar food. You can remember these numbers and follow these standards when purchasing.

Avoid mooncakes containing trans fatty acids , as excessive intake of trans fatty acids may affect children's growth and development and nervous system health. If the mooncake ingredient list contains words such as "cocoa butter substitute, hydrogenated vegetable oil, vegetable cream, vegetable butter, margarine, margarine, shortening, non-dairy creamer, margarine", etc., it means that it contains trans fatty acids, so try not to buy it.

For children with a history of food allergies, parents need to pay more attention to allergens. Before tasting mooncakes, parents should carefully understand the ingredients and ensure that their children have tried all the ingredients and do not contain any allergic ingredients to avoid unnecessary health risks.

When eating mooncakes containing large nuts or fruits, you need to pay attention to the chewing and swallowing of your child. Do not laugh or play while eating to avoid the risk of choking and suffocation due to insufficient chewing.

The second is to control the amount of food consumed.

Infants under 3 years old have an incompletely developed digestive system. High-sugar and high-fat foods are difficult for them to digest and increase the gastrointestinal burden. The Chinese Dietary Guidelines (2022) state that children aged 2-3 years old should not consume added sugars, and children over 4 years old should control their added sugar intake to less than 50 grams, preferably less than 25 grams. Commercially available mooncakes are not suitable for babies under 3 years old. Children over 3 years old can consume a small amount and order as much as they want.

Children can be encouraged to share mooncakes with family and friends. Sharing food can enhance parent-child relationships and friendships. This way, children can enjoy the deliciousness of mooncakes while controlling the amount they eat. A sociological study pointed out that sharing behavior can improve children's social skills and happiness. By sharing mooncakes, children can not only enjoy the deliciousness, but also learn the importance of sharing.

The third is to have a reasonable diet.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is inevitable that family gatherings will involve rich meals. Parents should pay attention to a balanced diet and ensure that the food is diverse. It is recommended that an average of more than 12 types of food be consumed every day and more than 25 types of food be consumed every week . Each meal should contain sufficient protein, vitamins and minerals. For example, when preparing a festive meal, livestock and poultry meat, aquatic products, soy products and fresh vegetables can be cleverly incorporated into the dishes, so that children can not only enjoy the delicious food but also take in rich nutrition.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, parents can prepare some nutritious and delicious snacks, such as fresh fruit slices, nuts, low-sugar yogurt or dairy products, to replace those high-sugar, high-fat snacks. These healthy choices can not only satisfy children's appetite, but also provide necessary nutritional support for their growth.

Fourth, innovate mooncake making.

Parents can try making healthy mooncakes with their children. By choosing healthy ingredients such as whole wheat flour, taro paste, potatoes, chestnuts, nuts, and dried fruits to make mooncakes, it can not only increase parent-child interaction, but also let children understand the production process and nutritional value of food, cultivate their cognition and love of food, increase nutritional value, and improve taste.

Fifth, special groups need to pay attention.

Some special groups of people need to be extra careful when eating mooncakes. Obese children and children with diabetes should not eat mooncakes . Children with diabetes should be careful when eating "sugar-free mooncakes". Some sugar-free mooncakes use sugar alcohol sweeteners, and eating too much may also cause bloating, diarrhea, abdominal pain and other problems. In addition, the fat content of sugar-free mooncakes is not less than that of ordinary mooncakes, and the calories are still high.

Children who want to control their weight should eat less mooncakes to avoid taking in too many calories. Children with dental caries who eat mooncakes may have their cavities deepened and pulpitis aggravated , so they should eat less mooncakes or brush their teeth and rinse their mouths as soon as possible after eating mooncakes to remove food residues in their mouths.

Hunan Medical Chat Special Author: Wen Qingzi and Cai Hua, Department of Clinical Nutrition, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital