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Children's
Nutrition
Some Basic Ideas
By Karsten Alexandria, ND
Positive Steps For Growth
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Offer small, child-sized portions, and seconds
only if the child asks for them.
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Have children pay attention to smells, textures,
flavors, and temperatures of foods as they chew.
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Allow time for eating. Do not rush children.
A child will begin to feel full about 20 minutes after starting to
eat. The average time it takes children and adults to finish
a meal is 12 minutes.
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Teach and model slow eating for children.
Avoid gobbling the food; enjoy and savor the food during
meal and snack times. Chew slowly and thoroughly before
swallowing.
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Offer snacks which are low in fat and sugar.
Avoid soft drinks, pastries, cookies, candy, and salty or greasy
food items. Serve these only occasionally.
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Use fruits, vegetables, yogurt, low-fat cottage
cheese, 100 percent fruit juices, finger sandwiches, low-fat
crackers, low-sugar cereal, toast, and enriched breads for snacks.
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Increase play activity and decrease television
time.
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Do not allow children to eat while playing,
listening to stories, or watching television. This may lead
to eating without paying attention to eating (what's called
"unconscious eating") and past the point where the child feels
full.
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Avoid overfeeding children. Set reasonable
limits to seconds or portion sizes, especially for foods which are
popular with children. Avoid allowing the child to drink too
much juice. Offer water if the child is thirsty.
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Learn when each child is full or whether the child
knows when he or she is full.
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Have children pay attention to what they are
feeling while eating to increase the awareness and the enjoyment
of eating, and have children tell when they are feeling full and
satisfied.
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Encourage children to drink water when they are
thirsty throughout the day. Sodas, diet beverages, and
powdered drinks are not recommended.
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Avoid using food as a punishment or reward.
Tips on Managing the Underweight Child
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Give children the time and attention they need
during meal or snack time. This has a big impact on the
amount they eat.
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Provide direction and skills on how to eat food
well. This will improve the child's ability to eat the foods
and nutrients needed.
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Give formation and direction on how to eat new or
unfamiliar foods. This increases the child's comfort level
to try new food.
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Reinforce a child's attention to the meal time
activity. This will increase how much the child is eating.
This works well for children who are easily distracted.
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Provide the properly sized cups, plates, and
utensils.
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Provide child-sized portions and amounts.
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Serve foods at proper temperatures. Children
will generally not eat food which is too hot or too cold.
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Avoid offering sweets, chips, sodas, or other
empty-calorie (poor nutrient-rich) foods to a child whom you feel
has not eaten enough during the day.
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Offer small meals and snacks.
Dietary habits are an important skill learned during
childhood.
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Adults must set good examples and provide the
nutritional needs of young children.
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Children will learn to eat a variety of foods if
offered a variety of healthy foods. To get complete
nutrition, a child must eat a variety of foods.
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The foods children eat provide the calories and
nutrients needed for development, growth, and daily well-being.
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Children need extra calories for growth and
increased activity and metabolic rate.
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Lifelong beliefs, attitudes, and habits about food
and health are established in early childhood.
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A child's day-to-day early experiences with food
and eating mold the way they think and feel about nutrition for
the rest of their lives.
Set a good example. If kids see others eating
a food, they will want to try that food.
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Don't reward kids' good behavior with sweets or
use them to offer solace when unhappy; this carries into
adulthood.
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Kids have a natural interest about food and their
bodies, and are thus an open learning window.
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A child's mouth has more taste buds and is more
sensitive than an adult's. They are not tasting like an
adult does.
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The brain runs on glucose, and thus if a child is
hungry, his or her behavior and academic performance can very well
be altered.
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The liver is smaller on kids -- it stores less
glycogen -- so feed kids at least every 4 hours.
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Don't ask a toddler what she wants to eat -- she
will just tell you her favorite food. Put a variety of
different foods on the table. If she doesn't like them say
okay. Don't be a fast-order cook.
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Let children feel, mash, look, and smell their
food. Don't let them play with their food to get you to
react. If they do, then get them down from the table.
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Kids like to eat with kids at small tables and
chairs with little plates and utensils.
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Kids like raw crunchy vegetables better than
cooked vegetables.
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Kids love soup, bread, muffins, shakes/smoothies,
yogurt, seeds, and nuts.
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Frozen snack ideas: fruit juice popsicle,
1/2 banana on a stick.
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