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What’s on your child’s plate?

Photo: Nagara Gopal

Nutritious meal Children enjoy their meal

Very few parents are satisfied with the amount of food their children consume. To a doting parent’s eyes, the child’s bowl looks too small to hold sufficient nourishment. Moreover, some of the food is always left untouched. For anxious pa rents, the following is a rough guide to fulfilling your child’s nutrition requirements and keeping your peace of mind.

Children have small stomachs. Unlike adults who can get by on three square meals a day, children need a 3+3 deal (three small meal and 3 snacks). A child’s regular meal is a third to a quarter of an adult’s meal. And keep in mind that most adults eat way too much anyway. The best time for a snack is 2-3 hours before the next meal.

Hunger is a parent’s greatest ally when it comes to feeding. Parents should allow a child to develop hunger before offering food. Unlike the child whose stomach is always full, a hungry child is more willing to try a variety of foods. Instead of offering a bowlful of dal rice or curd rice, it is better to give a few spoonfuls of rice, followed by a few slices of fruit, some nuts, and so on.

During a day, a child’s food intake must include carbohydrate (whole wheat bread, rice, chapattis, etc.), vegetables (tomato, potato, peas, leafy vegetables, carrot, okra, etc.), fruit (apple, banana, fig, sapota, mango, orange, raisin, papaya pineapple, apricot, watermelon, and fruit juice with no added sugar), dairy products (milk, curd, cheese, etc), and protein ( lean red meat, skinless chicken, boneless fish, beans, lentils, nuts (crumbled to reduce risk of choking) and eggs).

Avoid overwhelming the child’s palate with too much salt or sugar. They steer the palate away from nutritious foods and inculcate a taste for foods like salted chips and chocolate that are rich in primary flavours and little else.

Every child will have some “off days” when nothing seems palatable. It is important for parents to wait such phases out rather than compensate with junk food.

Children who eat a variety of foods every day and are within the normal weight range for their age are unlikely to have nutritional deficiencies. Parents should stop looking anxiously at portion sizes, overlook the occasional untouched food bowl, and rest easy.

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