Clinical Reference Systems: Pediatric Advisor 10.0
Meals for Children
Children depend on regular meals. Meals allow you to
present a variety of food to children in a pleasant and
matter-of-fact way. Children won't accept everything you
serve right away, but over time they will.
See:
Eating Basics: Helping Your Child Eat Well
A Healthy Diet
MEALTIME BEHAVIOR
Eating is a complicated skill that children learn slowly.
At the family table they learn to sit quietly while they
eat. They gradually learn to use forks and spoons (it helps
if you give them child-sized utensils). However, they may
continue to use their fingers a lot until they are about
10 years old. They learn to try new foods and politely
refuse foods they don't like or don't want to try. As they
get older, they learn to wait for food in a restaurant while
they are hungry.
PLANNING MEALS
Treat your children the same way you treat other members of
your family. Prepare their favorite foods some of the time,
but don't serve just foods they like.
Offer several foods from which your children can pick and
choose. Try to include at least one food they like. If you
have prepared an unpopular meat (like chewy pork chops), try
to serve also a popular starch (like rice) or a popular
vegetable (like corn). Include bread with meals. Children
usually eat bread if they can't manage to eat anything else.
DON'T MAKE SUBSTITUTES
Even when served a variety of food, children may choose not
to eat at all. That is their choice. Don't become a
short-order cook. Don't prepare an alternative to the meal
or keep the jar of peanut butter on the table. Short-order
cooking gives children a strong message that you don't
expect them to learn to eat the food you make for them.
TAKE IT EASY ON THE COOK
Your problem is time. Planning is essential. You can get
along on simple food. Depend on the grocery store to do
some of your work. You can buy meats that are already cut
into serving-sized portions, frozen vegetables, or already
washed salad greens and vegetables. You can use
high-quality mixes or prepared foods. A fast-food dinner
from the deli once in a while is OK.
WHAT A MEAL SHOULD PROVIDE
A meal should provide a variety of food. A meal does not
need to be a buffet, but you need to serve choices from the
basic food groups:
- bread, cereal, rice, pasta
- vegetables and fruit
- meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cooked dried beans
- milk
- butter or margarine for bread, salad dressing.
- Bread, cereal, rice, pasta
Serve a starchy food plus bread. Keep in mind that your
children will generally eat starchy foods when all else
fails. Let them eat as much bread as they want. Don't
worry if they have the rice but skip the stir-fry or eat
the spaghetti but skip the meat sauce. Eventually
they'll get around to having the whole dish.
- Vegetables and fruit
Vegetables are challenging for children, but they will
usually learn to like them. Don't push. Make
vegetables available and eat them yourself. Deep-yellow
fruits such as cantaloupe and peaches have many of the
same nutrients that vegetables have. Because it's the
vitamin A in these foods that's important, you can
substitute the fruits for vegetables.
- Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cooked dried beans
Make meat moist, tender, and easy to chew. Don't feel
you have to avoid red meat. It's an important source
for iron and zinc. Choose cuts of meat that are low in
fat. If you don't eat red meat yourself, consider
offering it to your children because of the iron and
zinc in it.
- Milk
After a child is weaned from breast milk or formula,
give him whole milk until he is 2 years old. Whole milk
is all right for older children, too. So is 2%, 1%, or
skim milk if your child likes it and drinks it well, and
if he has other good sources of fat in his diet.
- Fat
Children need fat with their meals to make the food
taste good. If food is too plain, they won't eat it.
Children also need fat with a meal so they don't get
hungry right away. Fat gives the meal its
stick-to-the-ribs quality. At times, children have
growth spurts and need extra fat so they can get enough
calories.
In general, be moderate in the amount of fat you use in
preparing a meal. However, use some fat and sauces in
cooking to make the food taste good. Put butter,
margarine, mayonnaise, and salad dressing on the table,
and let your children use them if they want to.
CALL YOUR CHILD'S PHYSICIAN DURING OFFICE HOURS IF:
- You and your child are struggling about eating.
- You worry that your child isn't eating the right food.
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