|
|
|
|
 |
|||||
|
Health Home |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
| Health home > Public Health nutrition > Child nutrition > Child nutrition tip sheets > Toddler and preschooler nutrition | |||
|
|||
Child nutrition
|
|||||||
| Table 1 - What are the common characteristics of toddler eating? |
|
| Table 2 – Common toddler feeding problems |
|
The growth of a typical toddler or preschooler is much lower than that of babies. Around 2-2.5kg weight gain and 10-12cm growth per year is typical after the first birthday. Young children need small, frequent meals and snacks due to the small size of their stomachs. The gastrointestinal tract is continuing to mature, but this is still incomplete. High fibre diets and/or large volumes of sweet drinks may contribute to toddler ‘diarrhoea’ so these should be avoided.
Young children enjoy becoming independent eaters. Toddlers are commonly described as ‘grazers’, preferring small, frequent meals and snacks. This can be a problem if snacks take the place of more nutrient-dense meals. A recommended guide is to allow for 3 main meals and 2-3 small snacks per day, providing at least 90-120 minute gaps between eating occasions.
Food preferences and eating habits seem to be formed early in life, but are also easily changed at this age. Young children may appear to become fussier, and have many food dislikes, even to foods previously enjoyed.
Although fussy eating and an erratic appetite tend to be a feature of normal development of young children there are still significant opportunities to positively influence young children’s eating behaviours. Early development of poor eating habits may progress to poor eating habits as adults, and may impact on the incidence of diet-related lifestyle diseases. Early research into the eating habits of young children suggests that healthy children ‘self-select’ enough energy and nutrition, if given the opportunity. This research showed that ‘infants allowed to choose their own food might eat a lot of particular foods for a while, but would, over time, select a balanced diet’. This theory depends on the child having access to a variety of healthy foods from which to choose.
A number of studies have shown that young children will choose more familiar
foods compared with less well-known foods. Young children are known to ‘prefer’ the
foods consumed by their parents and friends.
A mother’s own food likes and dislikes also have a strong impact
on a child’s food preferences. Newly tasted foods seem more likely
to be accepted between 2 and 4 years, compared with 4 and 8 years.
Early exposure to a range of foods plays an important role in setting up a hierarchy of food preferences and food selection by the toddler. Infants have been shown to increase their acceptance of a new food after repeated dietary exposure to that food, for example 10 exposures over ten or more days. Frequently parents of young children ‘give up’ offering new foods if the child has not accepted it after 2 or 3 attempts.
The family environment plays a key role in developing children’s eating. The opportunity for exposure of young children to different foods and different eating environments is greater than ever before. The parents should choose food that is safe and appropriate for the child and offer it in a positive and supportive fashion. Encouraging words such as ‘try it, you’ll like it’, may prompt the child to try a new food.
Children are responsible for deciding how much or even whether they eat. This is known as the ‘division of responsibilities’ philosophy. It is aimed at teaching parents to base feeding on the developmental readiness of the child and information or cues coming from the child. It demands that the parent learn to recognise and respect a child’s feeding cues that indicate hunger, satiety and food preference. The preferred feeding style is ‘responsive’, compared with ‘controlling’ and ‘relaxed’.
This means that:
Some cultures will have different accepted cues for eating. These need to be checked and explored with the parents. Practical advice for parents includes suggestions for fostering children’s preferences for healthy foods and how to promote acceptance of new foods by children. Parents need to understand the consequences of coercive feeding practices and be given alternatives to restricting foods and pressuring children to eat. Providing parents with easy-to-use information regarding appropriate portion sizes for children is also essential, as are suggestions on the timing and frequency of meals and snacks.
Toddler diarrhoea
This is the most common form of diarrhoea in childhood, usually occurring
without failure to thrive. There is no single cause, but low fat diets,
high fibre diets and/or excessive sweet drinks intake have been linked.
Most children do grow out of the problem between 2 and 4 years of age,
however some of the practical aspects of toilet training and socialisation
may be compromised during this time.
Choking
Choking from food presents a real concern, particularly for young children
in group settings, such as childcare centres. There is evidence for the
exclusion of whole nuts in young children. For all other foods, a focus
on strategies such as establishing suitable mealtime environments and
sitting quietly whilst eating are more significant than concern about
exclusion of healthy foods.
Fats
Previous dietary recommendations for fat intake by toddlers have suggested
a gradual reduction in dietary fat from 50% of energy during infancy
to around 30% energy from fat during the primary school years. Current
Dietary Guidelines for Children, recommend that children over the age
of 2 should have a gradual reduction in dietary fat to 30% fat from energy
by the age of 5 years. This rationale is 12 November, 2007quo;s dietary fat, and up to 30% of saturated
fats are currently derived from dairy products. These recommendations
are also consistent with US guidelines.
In practice, reduced-fat milks and dairy products may be used in children over 2 years. Skim milks may be incorporated in the diets of children 5 years and over.
The advice to reduce total fat consumption in young children needs to be taken in context with the toddler’s total diet. In many cases, a preferred first option may be to limit the child’s fat intake from ‘snack’ and convenience foods such as chips, biscuits and take-away foods.
More than half of all Victorian primary school children seen by the School Dental Service have signs of dental decay, with around 80% of the dental decay experienced by 5 year olds untreated. Dental caries occur when the combination of bacteria in the mouth, foods useable by the bacteria and susceptible teeth are in contact long enough to allow bacterial by-products to attack the tooth structure.
The greatest potential for primary prevention of dental disease occurs in preschool children. Good oral hygiene, access to fluoride and appropriate diet are all important factors in the prevention of dental caries. A full summary of the Victorian Department of Human Services Oral Health Promotion Guidelines can be found at the Oral Health Promotion portal.
These habits are to be encouraged from an early age. Children need to have their teeth brushed at least twice a day. Young children up to the age of seven years require the assistance of an adult to help with brushing. Extended use of bottles containing either milk or sweet drinks (including fruit juices, cordials, syrups and soft drinks) may result in dental caries. A 1991 US national nutrition survey found that around 17% of children aged 6 months to 5 years were put to sleep with a bottle with contents other than water.
Unflavoured milk and milk products, whole fruit and vegetables are less likely to cause decay than sucrose, sugar added to manufactured foods, soft drinks, cordials, fruit juices, honey, muesli bars and fruit straps.
Tip and fact sheets from the What's There to Eat? resource can be copied and handed to parents and carers of young children. Information can help with issues related to the eating habits of families and children and covers the age range 0 to 8 years.
Prepared by the Department of Nutrition and Food Services Royal Children's Hospital
The document below is a summary of the information on this page.
Toddler and preschooler nutrition - summary tip sheet (36kb, pdf)
Last updated:
12 November, 2007
This web site is managed and authorised by Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, Public Health Branch, Rural & Regional Health & Aged Care Services Division of the Victorian State Government, Department of Health, Australia |
Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy Statement | State Government of Victoria Home | Download Help For general enquiries to the Department of Health telephone 61 3 90960000 |