Changing Your Child's Eating Habits

Childhood is a great time to learn healthy eating habits. Healthy eating can help your child feel good and stay at a healthy weight. It can help your child have plenty of energy to learn and play.

Healthy eating includes:

• Offering your child a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy.
• Limiting sweet liquids, like soda, fruit juices, and sport drinks.
• Choosing foods that are lower in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.

Changing your child's eating habits can take time. That's common. You can start with small changes and add to them over time.

Getting started

Here are some ideas to help you start thinking about making healthy changes to your child's eating habits.

• Get support. Your child's doctor can help you find a dietitian who can help you with making healthy changes.
• Talk with your child about what kinds of changes might work for your family. Discuss eating habits or certain foods you might want to change. And talk about anything you want to keep.
• Make one small change, and see how it works. Try things like offering water when your child is thirsty or serving fruits as snacks. Or add one vegetable to your family's dinner.

It takes time to adjust to new habits. Remember that you can control how fast you make any changes. You don't have to change everything at once. Making small, gradual changes can help your child adjust to new eating habits. And you may find that after awhile your family likes this new way of eating.

The decision to change and how you do it are up to you. You can find a way that works for your family.

Helping Your Child to Eat Well

Childhood is a great time to learn healthy habits that can last a lifetime. Here are some ways to help your children learn healthy eating habits.

• Set up a regular meal and snack schedule. Most children do well with 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks a day.
• Provide a healthy breakfast for your child. Some ideas are whole-grain cereal with milk and fruit, nonfat or low-fat yogurt, or whole-grain toast with peanut butter.
• Eat as a family as often as you can. Keep family meals pleasant and positive.
• Start with small, easy-to-make changes. Try adding more fruits and vegetables at meals and snacks. For example, put some fruit on your child's morning cereal, and include carrot sticks in your child's lunch.
• Offer new foods.
  • When trying a new food at a meal, be sure to include another food that your child already likes.
  • Don't give up on offering new foods. Children may need many tries before they accept a new food.
• Provide healthy options.
  • Get healthy snacks that your child likes, and keep them within easy reach.
  • Limit sweet drinks. Encourage your children to drink water when they are thirsty.
  • Make fast food an occasional event.
• Let your child decide how much to eat.
  • Children can tell when they are full. When we try to control how much children eat, we interfere with this natural ability.
  • A child's hunger can vary from meal to meal and day to day. Allow your child to decide how much to eat from the options you provide.
• Avoid using food as a reward. Find other ways to reward success in school or sports. And don't reward desired eating behavior (such as trying a new food).
• Be a good role model. Your own eating and lifestyle choices are a powerful teaching tool. Your child sees the choices you make and follows your example.

Children's vitamin and mineral needs

Children need a variety of nutrients (such as protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins, and minerals) for normal growth. But at certain stages, children have special vitamin and mineral needs.

Infants

Breastfed babies need vitamin D.

• Vitamin D supplements are needed for most babies soon after birth. This includes babies fed breast milk or a combination of breast milk and infant formula.
• Infant formula is fortified with vitamin D, so formula-fed babies do not need a supplement.
• Talk with your doctor about how much and what sources of vitamin D are right for your child.

Babies need a source of iron.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends iron supplements for babies fed breast milk or a combination of breast milk and infant formula. Supplements should start at 4 months of age for full-term babies and by 1 month of age for preterm babies.
• Use iron-fortified formula for formula-fed babies.
• When you start your baby on solid foods, include high-iron infant cereals or meat baby foods.

Children ages 6 months to 16 years

Some children this age may need extra fluoride. If your child needs extra fluoride, your dentist may recommend supplements.

• Use these supplements only as directed.
• Keep fluoride supplements out of the reach of children. Too much fluoride can be toxic and can stain a child's teeth.

Children ages 9 to 18 years

Children ages 9 to 18 years need extra calcium and may not get enough calcium from the foods they eat.

• Encourage your child to eat calcium-rich foods such as milk, yogurt, cheese, and canned salmon with bones. Calcium is also added to foods such as calcium-fortified orange juice, some cereals, fortified soy milk, and tofu.
• If your child doesn't get enough calcium from foods, your child may need a calcium supplement. Ask your doctor to recommend one. Be sure to choose a supplement that includes vitamin D. The body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium.