2 years baby eating food
Feeding & Nutrition Tips: Your 2-Year-Old
Log in | Register
Ages & Stages
Ages & Stages
With your two-year-old's blossoming language and social skills, they're ready to become an active mealtime participant. They should no longer be drinking from a bottle, and can eat the same food as the rest of the family. Their diet should now include three healthy meals a day, plus one or two snacks.
Here are some tips to help your little one develop healthy, safe eating habits and get the nutrition their growing bodies need.
Mealtime tips for toddlers
Try not to fixate on amounts of food they are eating.
Avoid making mealtimes a battle.
Pay attention to adopting healthy eating habits—including sitting as a family at mealtime.
Focus on making healthy food choices as a family.
Unsafe foods for toddlers: choking risks
At two years old, your child should be able to use a spoon, drink from a cup with just one hand, and feed themselves a wide variety of finger foods. However, they are still learning to chew and swallow efficiently and may gulp food down when in a hurry to get on with playing. For that reason, the risk of choking at this age is high.
Avoid these foods, which could be swallowed whole and block the windpipe:
Hot dogs (unless cut in quarters lengthwise before being sliced)
Chunks of peanut butter (Peanut butter may be spread thinly on bread or a cracker, but never give chunks of peanut butter to a toddler.)
Nuts—especially peanuts
Raw cherries with pits
Round, hard candies—including jelly beans
Gum
Whole grapes
Marshmallows
Raw carrots, celery, green beans
Popcorn
Seeds—such as processed pumpkin or sunflower seeds
Whole grapes, cherry tomatoes (cut them in quarters)
Large chunks of any food such as meat, potatoes, or raw vegetables and fruits
The best foods for toddlers include:
Protein foods like meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, nuts, seeds and soy
Dairy such as milk, yogurt, cheese or calcium-fortified soymilk
Fruits and vegetables
Grains such as whole wheat bread and oatmeal
It is normal for toddlers to choose from a limited number of foods, reject foods entirely, and then change their preferences over time.
Never force your child to eat something they do not want to eat. The best approach is to let your child to choose from 2 to 3 healthy options, and continue to offer new foods as their tastes change.
Offering a variety of foods and leaving the choices up to your child will eventually allow them to eat a balanced diet on their own. Toddlers also like to feed themselves. So, whenever possible, offer your child finger foods instead of cooked ones that require a fork or spoon to eat.
Supplements for some children
Vitamin supplements are rarely necessary for toddlers who eat a varied diet, with a few exceptions.
Vitamin D. Infants under 12 months of age require 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin D per day and older children and adolescents require 600 IU per day. This amount of vitamin D can prevent rickets—a condition characterized by the softening and weakening of bones. If your child is not regularly exposed to sunlight or is consuming enough vitamin D in their diet, talk to your pediatrician about a vitamin D supplement.
See Vitamin D for Babies, Children & Adolescents for more information and a list of vitamin D-enriched foods.
Iron. Supplemental iron may be needed if your child eats very little meat, iron-fortified cereal, or vegetables rich in iron. Large quantities of milk (more than 32 ounces [960 mL] per day) also may interfere with the proper absorption of iron, increasing the risk of iron deficiency anemia.
Calcium. Your child should drink 16 ounces (480 mL) of low-fat or nonfat milk each day. This will provide most of the calcium they need for bone growth and still not interfere with their appetite for other foods—particularly those that provide iron.
Note: Children stay on whole milk until they are two years of age—unless there is a reason to switch a baby to low-fat milk sooner. Whole milk contains approximately 4% milk fat. It may help to gradually switch your child from whole milk to a lower-fat milk.
Therefore, many pediatricians recommend that children get reduced fat (2%) milk for a few weeks before switching them to low fat (1%) or no fat (skim) milk.
More information
- Sample Menu for a Two-Year-Old
- Feeding & Nutrition Tips: Your 3-Year-Old
- Selecting Snacks for Toddlers
- I Need a Treat: How to Tame Your Child's Sweet Tooth
- Diagnosis and Prevention of Iron Deficiency and Iron Deficiency Anemia in Infants and Young Children (0-3 Years of Age) (AAP Clinical Report)
- Last Updated
- 9/6/2022
- Source
- American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Obesity (Copyright © 2022)
The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.
Easy Feeding Guide: What Two -Year-Olds Eat
Inside: What do two year olds eat? Here’s an easy guide that explains what two-year-olds need to eat and how to feed them. You’ll leave with a good understanding of what and how to feed your toddler!
When my son turned two, his feeding took a turn for the “I don’t want to eat it.” As a dietitian, you can imagine, I had some feelings about that. Feeding toddlers can be so tricky and I want to help walk you through what two-year-olds eat so that you can feel confident!
It may feel overwhelming to be feeding a two-year-old (at least pat yourself on the back, you made it through feeding a one-year-old!), so I’ve put together this easy feeding guide to walk you through the process.
How Two-Year-Olds Eat
Two-year-olds are so great! Playing, learning, and so curious about the world, they want to learn to do everything by themselves. I know it has it’s inconveniences, but it’s great for us in the feeding department.
We can help them use their desire to do things by themselves to help two-year-olds eat better!
Two-year-olds can pick up small things and big things with their hands, and they may be extremely interested in using utensils. They may want to use big person utensils so they can be just like you! That’s great! We want them to eat, they want to use the utensils, perfect!
By now, toddlers need to be eating primarily table food – solid food that the family is eating (with choking hazards removed). Foods like pouches, purees, puffs, “baby foods,” etc. aren’t around very much, if at all.
If your toddler isn’t eating much, that’s okay. It’s normal for the amount of food they eat to vary from day-to-day. Often two-year-old picky eaters start to emerge because of a new fear of foods and a greater ability to discern bitter flavors.
Related: Get your Picky Toddler on the Road to Eating More Foods
What balanced meals do two-year-olds eat?
Toddlers are notorious for eating like birds one day and packing food down the next day.
Toddlers may start eating much less food than they did when they were babies, and they still have small stomachs. Plus, they may start displaying more picky eating that you saw in the past. All of these things make it really important to come up with meals that are balanced and have a lot of nutrients.
I’m sure, however, that you know all the “problems” that arise when feeding toddlers. I’ll share a basic meal formula with you that will make it easier to feed your toddler through all the toddler things:
Protein food + fat source + fruit and/or veggie + energy food = balanced meal
Let’s get into each of these.
Protein foods that your two-year-old can eat (when cooked soft)
Protein comes in more than just meat. There are lots of protein foods that your two-year-old may be able to eat. Make sure they are cooked soft and diced, or served in safe ways.
- Dairy: milk, cheese, yogurt
- Tofu
- Lentils
- Hummus
- Lamb
- Pork
- Beef
- Meatballs
- Eggs
- Chicken
- Fish
- Peanut butter or nut/seed butters (spread on a cracker or bread, or mixed into something)
- Ground up nuts or seeds mixed into other foods like yogurt or applesauce
- Beans
Serve a protein food at every meal and snack.
This trick and having a toddler feeding schedule, can help toddlers not ask for snacks every 10 minutes!
Fat sources for your two-year-old
Toddlers need fat for their brain development and for energy. We can serve foods that already have fat in them like meat or dairy, or we can add fat to our cooking and serving. Here are some great sources of fat for two-year-olds.
- Avocado oil
- Avocado
- Full-fat dairy: milk, cheese, yogurt
- Nut and seed butters (spread on crackers or bread, or mixed into other foods)
- Fatty fish (salmon, sardines)
- Ghee
- Butter
- Coconut oil
Fruits and veggies for two-year-olds
Your two-year-old can eat any fruits and veggies that you serve with your own meals and snacks, as long as they are prepped in a safe way. The more the merrier! The more often your toddler sees fruits and veggies, the higher the chance they will try it and start eating it. Serving a green and an orange veggie daily helps them get enough vitamin A and other important vitamins and minerals.
Here’s a short list of green and orange veggies to focus on:
- Carrots (served cooked soft, or shredded)
- Sweet potatoes
- Pumpkin
- Broccoli
- Cooked greens
Other fruits and veggies like bell peppers, oranges, strawberries, and kiwi fruit help your child get the vitamin C they need to absorb iron into their body.
If you can, add a fruit and/or veggie at every meal and snack. Adding color helps them get the nutrients they need and helps keep them familiar with veggies and fruits.
Energy foods for two-year-olds
Two-year-olds need lots of energy! That’s why we need to provide plenty of energy foods like whole grains, starchy veggies, and fruit. It’s easy to find yourself in a constant cracker cycle with toddlers (goldfish tantrums, anyone?). Crackers are fun, for sure, but variety is the best. So, see how many different foods you can serve for energy each week.
Here are some nutrient-dense foods that may be good to add in to what you serve:
- Oats (cooked)
- Sweet potatoes
- Quinoa
- Beans/peas/lentils
- White potatoes
- Bread
- Dried fruit that has been cut into small pieces, cooked and softened, or cooked into things
- Homemade muffins
Prevent choking when deciding what to serve your two-year-old
When deciding what your two-year-old will eat, make sure that you are not serving any choking hazards.
Here are some common choking hazards:
- Tough meat
- Chunks of nut butters
- Hot dogs and sausages
- Chunks of cheese
- Gum
- Hard candy, chewy candy
- Raw veggies
- Marshmallows
- Whole grapes and cherry tomatoes
- Popcorn
- Whole nuts and seeds
To prevent choking:
- Modify – soften or dice
- Sit – make sure your child is sitting in a chair while eating
- Avoid some foods that cannot be modified
- Be prepared if something does happen
What do two-year-olds eat?
Here is a sample menu for the foods that could be served to your two-year-old. I have NOT included portion sizes! What? Am I crazy? Because, yes, that is the most common question I get about feeding toddlers. The thing is, the most important thing about feeding toddlers is learning that it’s their job to decide how much to eat! (Note: This is part of the Division of Responsibility in feeding.
Read to learn more!)
Start with small portions, about 1-2 tablespoons of each type of food on their tray or plate. They will let you know if they want more of a specific type of food. They won’t eat what they don’t want to eat.
Breakfast: Fruit smoothie with a piece of toast and peanut butter
Morning Snack: thinly sliced cheese and apples
Lunch: Leftover spaghetti and meatballs with broccoli
Afternoon Snack: homemade muffin, milk, and strawberries
Dinner: deconstructed tacos with beans, chopped lettuce, tomatoes, ground meat, shredded cabbage, and other toppings
Need more meal ideas? Get tons of healthy snacks and lunch ideas for toddlers.
Feeding My Two-Year-Old Is Really Hard for Me
Actually figuring out what to feed your two-year-old is only the half of it. Feeding toddlers can be really tricky, frustrating, and even defeating.
If you’re struggling with your child because they won’t eat any of these foods, you may have a two-year-old picky eater on your hands.
Here are a few places where you can find help for your specific issue:
- Getting your toddler to eat: the 1 most important thing you can do
- Everything you need to do if your toddler is not eating
- Create your toddler’s feeding schedule in 5 easy steps
If you need more help, here’s help for a few common themes in child feeding:
- My toddler is throwing food!
- My toddler is not eating dinner
- My toddler is refusing to eat anything but milk
If you’re looking for a guide that lays it all out in one place, you may enjoy my free child feeding guide: From Stress to Success: 4 Ways to Help Your Child Eat Better Without Losing Your Mind.
why this happens, reasons, what to do at home
The lack of calories, like their excess, affects the state of health, the state of the body and the amount of energy. In childhood, as in adulthood, nutrition to a large extent affects the quality of life and affects important physiological processes.
Overeating combined with a sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity. WHO estimates that 30 million children are overweight and 15 million are obese, with girls being the most common (1).
The eating pattern is formed at an early age and is more difficult to change as the years go by. Therefore, parents should pay attention to what and in what quantity their baby prefers to eat. Why does a child eat a lot and what to do about it? To understand this problem will help nutritionist, nutritionist and pediatric endocrinologist Maria Gerasimova .
How much a child should eat at different ages
Sufficient food helps the body to function normally. It is important that the diet is varied and rich in trace elements, minerals and vitamins.
There should be three main meals and two snacks per day.
According to the recommendations of the Union of Pediatricians of Russia (2), the daily amount of food for children varies depending on age.
| from 1 year to 1.5 years | 1000-1200 grams |
| from 1.5 to 3 years | 1200-1500 grams |
increased not only the amount and calories.
| 1 to 2 years | 1200 kcal |
| 2 to 3 years | 1400 kcal |
At an early age, the need gradually increases not only for protein and energy, but also for essential vitamins and microelements, the most significant for growth processes and psychomotor development. The child's diet should contain iodine, zinc, iron, calcium, vitamin D.
Causes of increased appetite in a child
Eating problems in a child can begin at an early age. Overeating (eating in excess of the norm) in scientific language is called hyperrexia.
During the weaning stage, a baby's appetite is largely dependent on how his gastrointestinal tract functions. Digestive problems can provoke not only a decrease in appetite and refusal to eat, but also a desire to eat more.
Anemia can be a factor in overeating - a lack of hemoglobin, oxygen-carrying cells. Another common cause is high blood sugar: with diabetes, a child will have an irresistible desire to eat more. The lack of vitamins and minerals also affects the excessive intake of food: when they are not absorbed from food, the body begins to require more food.
Overeating may be due to the fact that parents initially choose the wrong type of food for the child or exceed the daily caloric intake. According to the Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, in Russia 20% of children aged 12 to 24 months of life are overweight due to excessive consumption of carbohydrates, sugar and confectionery and insufficient consumption of meat, vegetables and fruits (3).
Psychological problems often lead to eating disorders. They can be encountered by both teenagers and young children. When parents regard any crying of a child as a result of hunger, when delicious food is the main source of pleasure in the family, the stereotype is fixed in the baby: “when I feel bad, I have to eat.” The basis of such disorders is serotonergic insufficiency (4). Later, the child develops a mechanism: when he feels bad psychologically or physically, he tries to eat more than the norm. This stimulates the production of serotonin, which is involved in the formation of satiety and emotional comfort. In addition, it is not uncommon for children to be rewarded for good behavior with sweets. This can also negatively affect eating habits.
How else can adults help a child eat too much?
Photo: Val Thoermer, globallookpress.com - When a parent determines a portion for a child, forces them to finish eating, following the innate sense of hunger and satiety is disrupted.
It also happens when food / sweets become a reward, or some kind of manipulation is used to make the child eat this or that food, says nutritionist, pediatric endocrinologist Maria Gerasimova. - As a result, the child eats more than he should and really needs. And not what I would like. Gradually, this habit is fixed and leads to the fact that the child chronically overeats. With age, this eating behavior persists. In addition, a child who grows up with this approach does not distinguish between physical hunger and psycho-emotional craving for food; more often than other children, he tends to seize stress with something tasty, he is poorly versed in his own taste preferences.
Sometimes children experience overeating because they were previously restricted in their diet by their parents or because they themselves ate significantly less. A strict diet without a prescription can cause you to overeat on a permanent basis in the future. A baby in the first years of life can overeat due to the fact that his mother followed a strict diet during pregnancy, limiting the intake of nutrients important for the body.
Let's take a closer look at the main reasons that can lead to the fact that the child eats too much.
Diseases
The baby's body can fail even in the first weeks of life. Overeating can be caused by:
- diseases of the gastrointestinal tract,
- diabetes,
- hormone problems,
- diseases of the nervous system.
Certain types of gastritis can lead to compulsive overeating. The child is tormented by sharp pains in the abdomen, nausea and vomiting, hyperacid gastritis is accompanied by sour eructation and heartburn (5). With such diseases, nutrients are not absorbed properly and the child eats more even when he feels unwell.
In this case, parents should contact a specialist, it is not worth solving the problem on their own.
Sometimes the child eats a lot in the presence of parasites that feed on particles of the food they eat. In this case, the weight remains at the same level, but the appetite doubles.
A pathological desire to eat is one of the first signs of type 1 diabetes. The child is constantly tormented by the feeling of hunger, and the number of meals increases to 5-6. In this case, the weight may even decrease.
The specific cause will be determined by the doctor, who will prescribe the treatment in accordance with the diagnosis.
Imposed stimuli
Sometimes a child starts eating when faced with stimuli or signals from outside. For example, an association with the smell of some food may work. Or the kid was treated to a tasty treat for good behavior, despite the fact that the child has already had lunch. An unscheduled meal can also be "for the company."
Difficulties in identifying individual nutritional needs can occur at any age, but most often pass from early childhood into adolescence.
Eating as a response to external factors is classified as an eating disorder. This can also include overeating due to psycho-emotional discomfort, “jamming” of problems and excessive appetite due to restrictions.
Often, against the background of such overeating, weight gain occurs, which leads to severe emotional problems. A link has been proven: the higher the body mass index in children, the higher the level of depression (6).
Stress
Children in adolescence and adolescence experience stress no less than adults. The period of adaptation of the baby begins from the first days of life, it can be difficult for him due to the fact that he does not feel an emotional connection with his parents or at the age of 3-4 years he cannot socialize. In adolescents, stress is more often associated with studies, relationships with peers, self-acceptance.
In such cases, "sweets" act as a sedative. The child produces endogenous endorphins in response to excessive production of the stress hormone cortisol. Because of this, the desire to eat more increases, but the cause of stress remains.
Consequences of overeating in children
If a child overeats once, it is not terrible.
But the constant excess of the daily calorie intake and a sedentary lifestyle lead to consequences that affect the state of the body.
The most obvious is weight gain. If overeating occurs on an ongoing basis, it can lead to obesity. It, in turn, leads to cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, reproductive dysfunction, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and the digestive system (7). The diagnosis of "obesity" is made only by a doctor who will assess the child's condition and build a treatment system.
Due to overeating, a child may encounter a number of psychological problems that are not easy to get rid of.
Photo: uwe umstätter, globallookpress.com “Eating disorders are serious psychiatric illnesses that lead to physical health problems,” says nutritionist Maria Gerasimova. - These are the infamous anorexia (extreme self-restriction in food, which can lead to exhaustion and death), bulimia (overeating under stress and then self-cleansing from food by some means), obsessive-compulsive overeating (a way to cope with stress, anxiety and other factors).
Psychiatrists, psychotherapists, medical specialists (if indicated) should work with such patients.
How to stabilize a child's appetite
There are general recommendations that will help to normalize the appetite, as well as specific tips that will work for each age.
An important factor in the formation of eating behavior and an example for children is the eating habits of other family members, primarily parents (8). Already at the age of 2-3 years, the child pays attention to the habits of others and can adopt them. If it is customary in the family to eat at certain hours, the food is varied and rich in useful substances, it is enough to satisfy hunger, but not too much - then there should be no problems with overeating.
Parents usually take care of the baby's nutrition, but with age, the child begins to form his own diet, adding "extra" calories in the form of fast carbohydrates and sugar. As an option, talk about the nutritional value of food, that it is important not only the quantity, but also the quality of food.
Maria Gerasimova highlights the main preventive measures for the formation of healthy eating behavior.
1. Develop stable harmonious eating habits within the family.
- The best time to start is before conception: a varied mother's diet encourages the child to choose a varied and wholesome diet later on.
- Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is a factor that contributes to the harmonious formation of eating behavior: it is more difficult to overfeed a child with a breast (unlike formula from a bottle).
- Complementary foods Here everything is in the power of parents: you need to work with your anxiety as much as possible, transfer responsibility for your hunger and satiety to children. This is not always convenient for parents, but it is important from the point of view of the formation of harmonious eating behavior so that children do not overeat and follow the physical need.
2. If there is a tendency to obesity. It is important not to broadcast an assessment of appearance in the family, not to push the child to diets, not to work with specialists who advocate strict diets and urgent weight loss.
In the future, these restrictions can also lead to eating disorders, the formation of various deviations in the child and dietary thinking.
3. Proper diet. It is recommended to monitor the number of meals. Basically, there should be three of them: breakfast, lunch and dinner. In some cases, children are suitable for fractional meals: the number of meals increases, and the portion size decreases. If you can’t do without snacks, make them healthy: a small portion of nuts, vegetables with greens, sugar-free bars with a “healthy” composition.
Do not watch TV or scroll through your phone while eating. Teach your child to concentrate on the process, to chew food thoroughly. Otherwise, it's easy to overeat.
It is necessary to form the baby's eating behavior from birth. And at every age, use "tricks" to help avoid excessive calorie intake.
Up to 1 year
Most often, up to 6 months, the child is breastfed. After six months, they begin to introduce complementary foods.
At this stage, it is important not to overfeed the baby, especially if the mother continues to breastfeed or formula at the same time.
Fruit and vegetable complementary foods are of great interest due to the wide range of flavors. This provides a variety of diets, and also affects the prospects for consumption of vegetables and fruits in the future. Research suggests that if your baby is eating fruits and vegetables by 6 months, they are less likely to turn up their noses at school age (9).
Until the age of one, it is necessary to monitor the reaction of the baby to certain foods. You should not limit the child, but you should also introduce new products into the menu gradually, without overloading the small body. This also applies to the consistency of food: at 6-8 months it is better to make mashed potatoes, and after 8 months you can add food with pieces. Equally important is the portion size.
1-2 years
At this age, the child begins to choose the foods that he likes best.
Therefore, it is especially important to diversify the baby's diet with the help of fermented milk products, meat and fish, fruits and vegetables.
After 12 months, the child's gastrointestinal tract becomes accustomed to many foods that adults eat. Up to 2 years, the daily need for kilocalories is about 1200-1300. To prevent your child from overeating, you should not give him a lot of "liquid" calories, such as juices or liquid baby cereals. It is better to give preference to whole foods.
3-5 years old
Young explorers aged 3 to 5 come to the kitchen not just to satisfy their hunger: for many it is a real ritual. It is important to encourage the child that he adheres to the norms of nutrition, does not lean on sweets and moves a lot.
The weight of a single serving at 3-5 years old should be approximately 400-500 grams. Calorie content for a three-year-old child is 1550 kcal, for older children - 1950 kcal.
5-7 years old
In order for the child not to overeat, it is worth diversifying the menu.
It is optimal to pre-paint it for a week and make blanks. When cooking, use natural products.
The child will stop reaching for sweets if meals are balanced in terms of the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. And don't skip breakfast - it's the main meal that helps set you up for a productive day.
Older than 7 years
The temptation to eat more sweets or have another snack increases when the child goes to school. It is more difficult for parents to control his nutrition, but it is possible.
Make sure you have snacks in between classes by putting together a container of healthy snacks.
Do not scold a child if he began to bite, ate too much candy or ate too many pies. The best thing you can do is talk to him about it, find out the reason and try to help. Remind your child that food is meant to keep you healthy, improve your quality of life, and enjoy it.
Popular Questions and Answers
Parents may find some issues related to overeating in children.
We answer the most popular questions.
Why does the child eat a lot, but does not gain weight?
Some diseases may be the cause. For example, with parasitosis, a child will eat many times more, but at the same time his weight will remain normal. A similar situation can arise with a violation of the thyroid gland, with the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus.
If a child often asks for a supplement, eats more than usual, and his weight does not increase or even decreases, it is worth seeking help from a specialist.
How do you know if a child is eating enough?
In infants, you need to monitor the feeling of hunger, monitor the reaction to certain foods, pay attention to how the baby digests vegetables introduced into complementary foods.
Older children can be asked appropriate questions, if necessary, add snacks to the main meals. Remember that for each daily norm of food consumed is individual.
When should I see a doctor about binge eating?
A dietitian is involved at the stage when the patient is stable and able to work with his habits, change the diet. In patients with eating disorders, there is no question of weight correction until there is compensation for the underlying disease.
Sources
- Peterkova V.A., Remizov O.V. Obesity in childhood // Obesity and metabolism. 2004. No. 1. S. 17–19
- National program for optimizing the feeding of children in the first year of life in the Russian Federation. M.: Union of Pediatricians of Russia, 2010.
- Kazyukova T.V., Tulupova E.V. Nutrition in early childhood is the main factor in the formation and maintenance of health in later life // Pediatrics. 2012. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/pitanie-v-rannem-detstve-osnovnoy-faktor-formirovaniya-i-podderzhaniya-zdorovya-v-dalneyshey-zhizni/viewer
- Mikhaleva O.G., Berezina M.V. Modern view on the problem of obesity // Irkutsk State Academy of Postgraduate Education, 2011.
URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sovremennyy-vzglyad-na-problemu-ozhireniya/viewer - Savitskaya E.V. Features of gastroduodenal pathology in children of preschool and primary school age // Children's gastroenterology. 2008. No. 3. S. 35-37
- Zagrebaeva O.Yu., Solntseva A.V. Psychological aspects of the formation of various forms of obesity in children // Scientific research. 2016. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/psihologicheskie-aspekty-formirovaniya-razlichnyh-form-ozhireniya-u-detey/viewer
- Romantsova T.I. Epidemic of obesity: obvious and probable causes // Obesity and metabolism. 2011. №1. pp. 5–17
- Bulatova E.M., Butko P.V., Shabalov A.M. Eating disorders as a predictor of obesity and metabolic syndrome: is prevention possible? // Pediatrician. 2019. Volume 10. No. 3. pp. 58-60. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/narushenie-pischevogo-povedeniya-kak-prediktor-ozhireniya-i-metabolicheskogo-sindroma-vozmozhna-li-profilaktika/viewer
- Coulthard H.
, Harris G., Emmett P. Long-term consequences of early fruit and vegetable feeding practices in the United Kingdom. Public Health Nutr. 2010 URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/longterm-consequences-of-early-fruit-and-vegetable-feeding-practices-in-the-united- kingdom/526442B43D13F0E8B3974055429D37DE
8 reasons why a child refuses to eat
Our life is impossible without food. From birth, a child has an instinct for eating. And with age, he does not cease to understand whether he wants to eat or not. Therefore, forcing a child to eat on the part of the parents is wrong. If the child grows and develops normally, then let him eat what he wants and how much he wants. Forcing the baby to eat, you can easily break his natural sense of proportion, and then fight overeating and being overweight. All children are different and it is important to give the child the amount of food that will satisfy his needs. And these needs depend on various factors.
If the little one refuses to eat, try to understand the reason for this behavior.
1. The child is not hungry. Even if a long time has passed since the last meal, it is possible that the child is still full. Parents should take into account the calorie content of food and the energy consumption of the child. If the meal was high in calories, but after that the child watched cartoons and did not run in the yard, then he may not want to eat for a long time. Physical activity encourages the body to expend energy and the child will get hungry faster.
2. The child has no daily routine. It is advisable to feed the baby at about the same time. The optimal portion for a child is two of his palms folded together. In addition, it is necessary that the child every day spend time in the fresh air and go to bed on time. If the child has little active pastime, then do not be surprised that he does not eat well.
3. The child is sick.
Lack of appetite may be a symptom of some disease. Many children begin to eat badly when they are teething. Often the child refuses food when he has a fever. Before forcing a child to finish eating porridge, make sure that he is healthy.
4. The child "interrupts" the appetite. Sometimes snacking can cause a child to eat poorly at lunch or dinner. Do not give any cookies or sweets if you plan to sit down at the table soon.
5. The child does not like a particular dish. The baby may not refuse food in general, but simply milk porridge or borscht. Everyone has their preferences and kids have them too. Consider your child's preferences when planning menus. Accustom the little one to new tastes gradually, in the same way as complementary foods were introduced. Children are reluctant to perceive new tastes, but if given often and a little bit, they get used to it.
6. The child has psychological problems. Children subtly feel the psychological situation in the family.
Refusal to eat may be associated with a desire to attract the attention of parents to their person.
7. The child has developed a food neurosis. If parents force the child to eat regularly, without taking into account his desire, then the baby may develop food neurosis. Such children begin to cry at the sight of a plate, they can run away to another room and become hysterical.
8. All children are different. Do not compare your child with other children. All have their own physical characteristics. If the baby eats little, just make these small portions as healthy and nutritious as possible, but do not force him to eat more than he wants.
Do not treat the refusal of food as disobedience and whims. Try to understand what the problem is and solve it. Think and analyze your behavior, did you do everything as it should? If you realize what you did wrong, then try to quickly correct your mistakes. Use methods such as fairy tale therapy.
