Feeding our children is an overwhelming responsibility.
We can keep it simple by sharing this responsibility with them right from infancy.
Provide children with a wide variety of healthy foods, chosen from the major food groups but let them decide whether to and how much to eat.
Recognize that being a picky eater is part of what it means to be a toddler.
After a year of rapid growth, toddlers gain weight more slowly and their eating pattern changes and pleading or bargaining should not dictate your child’s eating patterns.
They tend to refuse unfamiliar food, so continue to offer new foods as an option with meals.
Find at least one food from each food group that your child likes and make sure that it is always available. Let the meals be reasonably timed in a proper meal setting – a family dining place where the meals are shared.
If you want to model good nutrition for your children, do not have foods that have high amounts of fats or sugar in your house but if you have them, keep them away out of reach.
Combining rewards with food and eating is not a solution for helping your child learn about eating healthy. Let your child realize that dessert is a part of the meal, not a treat to follow finishing the plate of food or trying a new food.
You can try sneaking fruits and veggies into the foods you make but always remember that it’s a better idea to try to get them gradually used to eating more fresh foods.
Let them help you to prepare food – getting them involved in mealtime will shift the responsibility of eating to them.
According to the site baby-medical-questions-answers.com, a growing infant needs a diet high in fat – almost 50 percent of the total daily calories.
Toddlers need about 900 to 1000 calories a day for optimum health and growth yet they may not eat this amount every day. Aim for a nutritionally balanced week, not a balanced day. These calories should be in the form of fruits and vegetables, protein, dairy and grains. The growing infant child should get most of his/ her calories from solid foods.
Small portions are a must, starting with one to two tablespoonfuls of each food. The choices are varied from the different food groups, keeping in mind that toddlers need more fat.
Children are the wealth of our future. The battles with your children over food and eating may exhaust you and discourage you but don’t let anything dissuade you from trying what is best for your children.
Encourage them to discover healthy eating so that they will discover the secret of the art of healthy, happy and active living.
– Nandini Menon, Community Action Plan for Children (CAPC)