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I've never been one to carve fruit into snowflakes or mold rice into animal shapes for my kids' lunchboxes. But I'm no slouch either. This morning's assemblage included edamame and fennel salami from a butcher at our farmers' market. The kids do eat well.
And as long as I'm on lunch duty, they'll have plenty of protein options—because don't we all need more protein? At least that's the message I get at the grocery store. Haven't you noticed? From savory snacks to ice cream to bottled water, it's all about the protein content these days. It makes me worry whether my girls are getting enough. But how much is enough?
For answers, I turned to Dr. Natalie Digate Muth, a pediatrician and nutrition expert in Carlsbad, California, author of The Picky Eater Project and a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Protein is necessary
The first thing Muth tells me: "Overall, kids need way less protein than we think they do." This is good news. I feel better already.
Kids do need protein, though. As the Institute of Medicine puts it, it's "the major structural component of all cells in the body." It's crucial for building and repairing muscles and providing energy for growing kids, but really, every cell, tissue, and organ needs protein to work properly.
But there is such a thing as too much protein, and to my surprise, Muth says that's more the issue.
"Given its importance, of course we want our kids to eat enough, but be assured, most kids eat far more protein than they need," she says. "Protein isn’t really stored in the body so too much of it doesn’t make kids any stronger. Rather, it is broken down and then stored as fat in the body."
So how much protein do kids need?
It depends on age, gender, and weight. If you want to do the actual math, children ages 4 to 13 need about .45 grams of protein for every pound of body weight, says Muth.
Generally speaking, that's 3 to 5 ounces—or roughly 20 to 35 grams—of protein a day, says Muth.
Or think of it this way. A palm-sized portion of meat or fish is equivalent to about 3 ounces of protein—20 grams. An 8-ounce glass of milk is 8 grams of protein. Just 1 tablespoon of peanut butter is 5 grams of protein. Get all three and your kid is ahead of the game.
Teens' needs run a little higher: they should consume .4 grams of protein per pound of body weight, or about 46 grams of protein for girls and 52 grams for boys a day.
What kinds of protein should kids eat?
Meat, poultry, and fish are obvious go-tos. Often called "complete proteins," these foods have all the essential amino acids—the building blocks of protein—in the right amounts that the body needs. (Soybeans, quinoa, and hemp are vegetarian complete proteins.)
But nuts, legumes, seeds, dairy, and eggs are also great protein sources, especially when combined, the AAP says: a bowl of rice and beans, say, or nut butter spread on whole-grain bread, or even hummus and pita. That way, these so-called incomplete proteins balance out what they lack individually in certain amino acids.
The key is variety—and keeping it real. "I suggest getting as much protein and all nutrients as possible from 'real food,' as minimally processed and packaged as possible," says Muth. Most of our kids don't need a scoop of protein powder in their morning smoothie, and can snack on granola bars instead of protein bars.
With that, I'm off to buy more (but not too much) edamame.
