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Eating
Habits |
My child just refuses to eat? I am worried he will become weak or sick? Guide me.
Remember that children eat only when they are hungry. If your child refuses to eat, he is
not going to become ill or undernourished by the next meal-only hungry.What you can do:
- Introduce vegetables before fruits as it allows for a
greater variation in preferred tastes, rather than just the sweeter ones.
- Milk is not essential after one year of age, provided
protein, calcium and vitamin D are available from other sources. Vitamin supplements are
generally not necessary if your child is growing well, except in cases of most restrictive
diets.
- Regular morning and afternoon snacks should be considered
the norm, especially for toddlers. As long as these snacks are nutritious (cheese, yogurt,
fruit) they will not interfere with mealtime and will help the child to improve total
caloric intake.
- Don't fight wars you can's win
Attempting to force a child to eat when he does not wish to can lead to parent-child
conflict. Put yourself in his position, will you eat one chapati extra, after having
finished your meal, just because it will make your mother happy?
- You should try to eat foods you want your children to eat so
as to set a good example for them.
- Put small portions on large plates (and refill as required)
rather than large portions on small toddler plates. This is a more successful feeding
maneuver than verbal encouragement to "eat more".
- Make dishes look appealing, maybe join a short course in
food decor.
- Provide variety, even you can't eat aloo mutter everyday.
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