Food Habits for children

You will be surprise to know that formation of foods habit gets its foundation in the first year of life & continues to become more established during the pre school years. Just as providing nutritionally balanced food is important there are other factors, which are equally important & which parents should take care .to avoid letting a child develop a negative attitude towards foods or developing poor & unhealthy food habit.

Encourage self-feeding:

Initially it will be a messy, time consuming, & demanding exercises. The children may spill & scattered food, or like to eat with the fingers rather then a food be patience, & allow the child to indulge him. Children must be encouraged to feed themselves. It is advisable to let the baby feed themselves at the start of the meal & after while when the baby tries off playing with the food , take over & help him finish the meal by feeding him.

No force-feeding.

If there is disinterest in food try to discover out the cause instead of forcing the child to eat. The child may not be hungry due to lack of physical activity or it may be too tired to eat. Too much concern & attention from parents can also cause problem. If a child refuse to eat just remove the plate with out fuss & chances are he will be ready to enjoy the next meal. Some time over indulgent parents promise a chocolate a candy bar or some toy etc. if the child finishes its food. It is not advisable to use such bribing tactic as they create problems instead of solving them.

           

Mealtime should not be story-telling times.

Do not distract a child attention from food by telling stories, so that you can feed him. By doing this not only you encouraging an undesirable habit but also discouraging the child from recognizing the foods he is eating it may help if you talk about the food you are feeding & what it does to make their body strong, healthy & beautiful.

         Size of serving

Due to small stomach capacity, a pre school child generally cannot eat a large meal at a time. Therefore in between small snacks are very important. Parents should not satisfy their needs by satisfying their needs by giving them sweets, chocolates, biscuits, cakes, pastries, chips, puffs etc which is not nutritious but has only empty calories which is going to ruin the child’s teeth & also kills the appetite for the next meal. Routine drinking of cold drinks, beverages, milkshakes, slush’s, candy should be discouraged.

Serving of the foods

How you serve the food is very important, as today’s generation children are very particular about the taste, co lour, appearance, smell etc. introduction of new food may create problem with some children; so when ever new food is introduced always introduce it with a food which child is already familiar with. If they like it then its fine but, if they don’t like it don’t make issue of that or don’t discuss with some other mother in front of the child.

Physical activity

In today’s scenario children amongst most affluent class have involved them selves in sedentary activities like indoor games, watching T.V., playing computer games or video games, now new technology has came that is to go online or surf the net. While sitting at home they tend to eat junk food while watching T.V. or playing games like chips, soft drinks, burgers, chocolates, biscuits etc. All this sedentary activity gives invitation to all possible diseases, which becomes major diseases in adulthood. Parents should guide them & should include some disciplined habits by restricting timings of T.V.or playing video games & encourage them to go for out door activity like playing cricket, football, cycling, swimming etc.

Some suggestion:

v     Avoid giving children foods with sugar try to give them with out it. Don’t serve them puddings, cakes, pastries, chocolates etc.

v     Give fresh fruits rather than sweets.

v     Make sure your children take good breakfast not only milk.

v     Always use whole grains rather than refined or processed foods.

v     Serve baked or grilled food rather than fried. (e.g. boiled potatoes can be given instead of  potatoes chips)

v     Serve whole fruit rather than fruit juices.

Thus many food related problems can be solved once parents realize that in this phase of childhood growth, appetite & food habits develops which has to guide in proper way or else chances of very erratic habits develops. Continue letting child what he wants to eat & don’t force feed. Serve healthy meals, which are frequent & nutritious.

 

Nutrition for Preschoolers

Nutrition for Preschoolers

              Mrs Gupta is always running behind her 3 year old Rahul as he is very naughty and fussy in eating. She is always complaining that Rahul doesn’t like roti sabzi! Nowa days in the junk food revolution which kids like roti sabzi! In this article u will get the tips to make roti sabzi in junk form.

            Today’s children cases numerous influences, determine the food intake and habits. It is well known that habits likes and dislikes are well grounded in the early years and carry through to adulthood, where change is often met with resistance and difficulty. The major influences on food intake in the developing years include family environment, media, peer group and illness or diseases.

             In recent decades, changes have occurred in the joint family, there are more nuclear family where mostly both parents are working, so many children eat one or more meals at babysitting house or daycare centre or at school. A child whose parents are divorced for them eating out and treats may help allay the divorced parent’s guilt or may be used to win back a child’s affection. Remember! Parents and older siblings are significant models for younger children as they learn and imitate the individuals in their immediate environment.

                Tele- vision negative effect on child’s nutrition most of the food commercials targeted to children are for cereals, candy, chips, colas, sweets, fast food establishments and snack foods. All these foods are high in sodium, sugar, and fat which leads to dental decay/ obesity and malnutrition. The commercial message appears to children to eat the food because it is “chocolaty” or “fun” or “giving you energy” rather than on any rational basis such as nutrient needs. In addition there are rarely advertisements for foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables or whole grain cereals and breads.

              Television can also be determined to growth and development by encouraging inactivity and passive use of leisure time instead of engaging in sports, playing outdoors or doing creative work. A pattern of inactivity and watching television with munching chips and colas may be a factor in excessive weight gain for children. The older they get , the more they are influenced by their peer ,and this includes food attitudes and choices. This may be manifest in the child by a sudden refusal of a food and a request for a current popular food. These behaviors usually represent a phase that will change. During illness usually have a decreased appetite and food intake. They need additional psychological support, love and affection with extra nutritional care.

How to overcome all these factors:

Preschool children, because of their smaller capacity and variable appetites, do best with small servings of food offered several times a day. It is important for mother to begin the day with a good breakfast. This helps to keep the child alert and active most children eat 4-6 times a day; making snacks as important as meals in contributing to the total day’s nutrient intake. Their snacks need to be carefully chosen so that they are dense in nutrients and are not limited to cookies, soda and chips. Whole some snacks enjoyed by many young children include fresh fruits, cheese, hard boiled eggs, raw vegetables stick, milk, sprout chat, whole grain biscuits or vegetables/ paneer / cheese sandwich, colorful  popcorn.

Foods which are attractive to look at make the preschooler want to eat. We are all familiar with biscuits like a cartoon face, ladoos with a centre of one colour- outside another colour, sandwich with different colour layers, sprout toppings biscuits, sprouts bhel, vegetable roll or name it Frankie! The possibilities are so many if all mothers put their imagination to work they would be able to create interesting healthy snacks and lunch with less use of fats and sugar and more use of cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits.

Children will grow and develop optimally when they are provided with adequate nutrition. Parents and others are working with children need to be mindful of the important of social, emotional and psychological aspects of food and eating.

For a child to achieve total well being and a positive self concept, he / she needs not only food but also love, support and appreciation of his or her own uniqueness.