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Healthy Food
Child Nutrition Basics

By , About.com Guide

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Kids will often eat healthy food if it is available and they aren't only offered junk food.

Kids will often eat healthy food if it is available, they are given choices, and they aren't only offered junk food.

Photo: Tim Boyle / Getty Images

As parents work to avoid junk food, they often struggle to find alternative foods for their kids to eat.

What is the alternative to junk food? It is healthy food, of course. But what does it mean to eat healthy food? Is it all about eating only health food, whole foods, fruits, and vegetables and avoiding fast food?

Not necessarily. It is more about following the food pyramid and making healthy food choices.

Healthy Food

In general, healthy foods include:

Put another way, eating healthy food usually means avoiding:

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