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The toddler hood and pre-schooler years
are all-important for establishing good health, self-help, and healthy
eating habits because the eating patterns formed during this time are
apt to persist. In addition, a regular schedule needs to be set up for
washing, toileting, eating, sleeping, playtime, etc. Accustomed
regularity encourages children to accept routines without too much
dawdling or unhappy encounters. Parents need to understand the tempo of
young children, and provide un-pressured regularity for managing their
daily routines.
Healthy Eating Habits
While ages 2 to 6 is important period for
establishing healthy eating habits and nutritional health, it is also
the span of time when eating problems often begin. The manner how the
eating problems are to be handled would immensely affect not only the
child's health but also his ego. Even though the child's eating
capacity is reduced, his growth needs continue to be demanding.
Therefore, parents should waste no time in establishing high
nutritional health standards and sensible healthy eating habits. Here
are some suggestions:
* A three-meals-a-day routine, with casual morning and afternoon snacks
that contain a balance of carbohydrates and proteins, minerals, and
vitamins, and short on sugar and salt, should be followed.
* Junk foods with their empty calories must be avoided. Foods prepared
with preservatives, artificial flavors, and coloring must never be
allowed.
* Young children can learn to enjoy raw vegetables and foods prepared
with little or no salt and sugar content. Wholesome and healthy food
can be attractive to look at and enjoyable to the palate.
Promoting Healthy Diet for Nutritional Health
Ages from 2 to 4 are the best years for
developing food tastes and a zest for healthy eating. Below are
suggestions on how parents could encourage healthy diet in the toddler
and preschooler:
* Try not to overload the children’s plates. The sight of too big a
helping often seems to make children less eager to eat. They do better
if they are offered small portions and are allowed to ask for more if
they want it. How much the child eats varies from day to day and week
to week depending on a number of things like the child's health,
activity, and even the weather.
* Do not get frantic if your child goes on food jags and insists on the
same food at every meal, every day-for example, peanut butter
sandwiches.
* Children are not addicted to sweets at birth. If started early
enough, your child will like sugarless and unsalted foods, and prefer
their natural goodness. Children develop a taste for sweets because
adults teach them to do so. After all, most of the adults in their
lives prefer their foods sweetened or salted.
* Sometimes parents use sweets as a bribe, which makes children regard
sweets as something special. Of course, no food should ever be used as
a reward or a punishment.
* Mealtime should be a time for bringing the family together for
nourishment and providing children with opportunities for exploring new
food tastes and textures, for socializing, for learning to use
tableware, and practicing manners.
* Many pediatricians believe that the idea of food allergies has been
greatly overstated; that most children can eat almost all foods without
trouble. It seems that even such serious problems as asthma and eczema
are rarely related to food allergies. If possible, encourage your
children to take a tiny taste of everything you prepare. However, if he
is violently opposed to a given food, do not make an issue of his
rejection. After a reasonable period of time, remove the food. You can
try to present it at a later time.
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