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Home › Articles › Toddlers › Toddler Nutrition

Toddler Nutrition

Building a Healthy Relationship with Food

By Alison Gamble

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Here are some suggestions taken from The Yale Guide to Children's Nutrition Status, by William V. Tamborlane, M.D.:

  • Prepare relatively simple meals.
  • Present the child with small portions on a small plate.
  • Allow the child to ask for more food and drink.
  • Do not insist that the child finish the meal before having dessert. Consider serving the dessert with the meal to de-emphasize dessert.
  • Praise the child for trying new foods and for exhibiting appropriate behavior at the table.
  • Use mealtime as a time to discuss positive things such as good deeds, good behaviors or nice work done that day.

Carrot There are going to be many challenges with your toddler. Food is definitely going to be a big one. However, try to remember your child has never tasted the foods being served to her. Here are some of my own recommendations:

  • Draw on your own experiences. I know I wasn't very adventurous as a child or teenager with foods. I only wanted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch from junior high school through high school. As an adult I am now more eager to try new things.
  • Be sensitive to your child's needs. There is absolutely no reason a child should feel guilty because she doesn't like a certain food, or she doesn't finish the food on her plate. It is completely up to the parent to create a positive relationship between the child and food.
  • Food is a necessity of life. It is not to be used as a reward, or taken away as a punishment.

I cannot stress enough the importance of creating a positive relationship with food. The amount of young girls with eating disorders is unbelievable. Although not the norm, boys are susceptible, too. While we can blame the fashion magazines and the rest of the media for imposing perfect body images on us, the relationship with food begins at home. As a parent, you control that relationship 100 percent from the get-go. Please do all you can to prevent a negative relationship between your child and food.

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