Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance caught flak a few days ago as he was campaigning through a Pennsylvania grocery store. Reaching for the eggs to talk about inflation, his children were running around behind him.
“Let’s talk about eggs,” he said to the cameras. “Because these guys [pointing to his kids] actually eat about 14 eggs every single morning.” Vance and his wife Usha have three children, which means that’s just shy of five eggs per child.
Can you eat too many eggs? “In most children, one to two eggs per day is safe to eat and provides nutrients that are important for good health; provided other dietary sources of cholesterol and fat are kept in balance,” says Dima Salhoobi, M.S., a registered dietitian and founder of Nourish and Lift Nutrition Counseling. Salhoobi adds that it’s best to consider overall health factors and daily protein intake when determining how many eggs are suitable for your child’s diet.
Eggs are healthy for children
Dima Salhoobi provides some additional guidelines about how many eggs to eat according to a child’s age. “Generally speaking, a toddler (age 1 to 3 years) should have 1 egg daily,” she said. “Eggs are one of the prime sources of proteins, vitamins, and minerals in young children.” It’s ok to begin slowly adding cooked eggs to a child’s diet at six months, starting with ¼ teaspoon mixed with other foods twice a week (per Australian Eggs). Infants younger than four months shouldn’t have eggs.
An egg per day is also fine for children up to 8 years old. As your child grows older through teen years, one or two eggs can fit into the diet depending on the nature of your child’s lifestyle, such as playing sports.
“Eggs provide a very good source of protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals, which are very much important for the growth and development of young children,” Salhoobi said. “However, the balance of nutrients needs to be maintained, as they require the intake of other food groups, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy products.”
Children shouldn’t have too much protein
High-protein diets might be popular among adults, but too much protein can be a problem for children, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Too much protein in children can damage the organs and risk dehydration. Even if your child is an athlete, protein supplementation could lead to weight gain or kidney stones.
Infants 6 months to a year old need 11 grams of protein every day, and children up until 3 years old need 13 grams, according to the Food and Nutrition Board. Children between 4 and 8 years old should have 19 grams of protein every day, and their protein needs increase to 34 grams until age 13. After age 13, protein needs differ between sexes, starting at 52 grams for males and 46 for females.
A large egg has just over 3 grams of protein, so you probably won’t overload your child’s diet if eggs are the only source of protein. If J.D. Vance’s children eat five eggs each morning, that’s 15 grams of protein from just eggs.