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A healthy balanced diet provides your preschooler with all the vitamins and nutrients that he needs to grow, but sometimes it can be hard to achieve. Don't panic – most children go through a fussy eating stage. Here are some ideas to help you.
How can I encourage my preschooler to be a good eater?Keep calm and offer your child nutritious foods, but let him decide how much he will eat. Be confident that he knows better than you how much food is enough for him.
Keep to regular meal and snack times, taking into account your preschooler's daytime naps. Offer three regular meals and two or three small, nutritious snacks. Examples are:
- vegetable sticks or breadsticks with hummus
- pancake, scone or bun with a cup of milk
- cherry tomatoes and cubes of cheese
- yoghurt with berries or fruit slices
- fruit and milk smoothie
- a small sandwich
- fresh fruit
It's better not to give your child a main meal just before a nap, as he is likely to be too tired to eat. Give him a small snack or drink instead and a meal when he wakes up. Snacks which are evenly spaced between meals will help to avoid the frustrations of being over-hungry.
Make meals interesting and fun. Always give both a savoury and sweet course with main meals. This gives your preschooler two opportunities to consume nutrients, and increases the variety of foods your child is eating.
Nutritious puddings are a valuable part of the meal. Always include one and don't use it as a reward for eating the savoury course. Examples of nutritious puddings include fruit salad with yoghurt, fruit crumble and custard, rice pudding with stewed fruit or a muffin or pancake with some fruit slices.
Eat with your preschooler as often as possible and eat what you want him to eat. Children learn to like foods by trying them, but will often only try new foods that they see other people eating. Remember that you are his role model and encourage him by making positive comments about foods at mealtimes such as, "Mmm, these are delicious", "Mmm, these are my favourites".
Preschoolers have individual tastes for the flavour and texture of foods. Some like their food bathed in sauces, while others prefer it dry. Some like every food to be kept separate from the others on the plate. Many preschoolers do not like stringy meat or foods that are difficult to chew.
Respect your toddler's preferences but don't cook him a completely separate meal. Always offer the same foods that everyone else is eating whenever you can, but make sure at least one of the foods is something you know that he likes. With time, tastes change, so it is important to keep offering your preschooler all the foods the family eats.
Which foods should I offer my preschooler?Each day, offer a variety of foods from the four nutritious food groups:
Starchy foods (carbohydrates)
Offer these at every meal and some snack times. They include breakfast cereals, pasta, rice, couscous, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yam, plantain and any foods made from flour such as bread, crackers, scones and pancakes.
Fruit and vegetables
Preschoolers may take some time to learn to eat a variety of these, particularly vegetables. Keep offering them at each meal so that your preschooler learns that they are always part of a normal meal. Fruits are often more popular. Cut them into finger foods to make them easier to eat and always include fruit as part of the second course or pudding.
High iron and high protein foods
Offer these at one or two meals each day. They include meat, fish, eggs, nuts and pulses. Pulses are foods such as kidney beans, chickpeas, hummus, lentils and dhal. Offer soft, tender cuts of meat as some preschoolers find hard, chewy meats challenging. Choose good-quality sausages, meatballs and burgers that have a high lean meat content and a low salt content. They are popular and nutritious for toddlers.
Vegetarians or children who refuse to eat meat should have some pulses, eggs, nuts or beans at two or three meals each day to get enough iron.
Milk, cheese and yogurt
Offer your child these foods about three times a day. Dairy products provide plenty of calcium for growing bones, but are extremely low in iron. Preschoolers need less milk than babies and should not be given large bottles of milk. Offer about 120ml (4fl oz) of milk in a cup as a drink. In total, your preschooler should have no more than 350ml (12fl oz) a day. Large drinks of milk will reduce your toddler's appetite for other foods, especially those higher in iron.
Children aged two and over can have whole milk for drinks, but could change to semi-skimmed milk if that is more convenient for the family. Semi-skimmed milk has similar amounts of protein and calcium, but is lower in vitamin A than whole milk. Skimmed milk should not be given to children under five years old.
You could consider using a growing-up milk if your preschooler is a very faddy eater as these milks are fortified with some iron. Many preschoolers who eat poorly do not get enough iron and may get iron deficiency anaemia.
What should my preschooler drink?Offer six to eight small drinks throughout the day. One with each meal and with each snack. Your preschooler may need more fluids in very hot weather or if he is particularly active as he can become dehydrated quite quickly.
Do try to phase out bottles and give all drinks, including milk, from cups and beakers. Sucking drinks (other than water) from a bottle slows down the drinking process and prolongs exposure to harmful sugars. This increases the likelihood of dental decay and erosion of tooth enamel.
Milk and water are the safest drinks to give between meals. Keep fruit juices to meal times as the acid in juices can damage teeth when they are given between meals or several times a day. Sugary, acidic drinks such as squashes and fruit-juice drinks also cause tooth decay if drunk frequently between meals. If you offer them, dilute them well and keep them to mealtimes only.
Which foods should I limit?Foods high in fat and sugar give preschoolers some extra energy which they need for their growth. They include foods such as butter, margarine, oils, cakes, biscuits and ice-cream. Include them in small quantities. Cake or biscuits can be offered, along with fruit, as a pudding. If your toddler is inactive, for example, if he spends a lot of time sitting watching television, you should only offer these foods in very limited amounts. Otherwise he may become overweight.
Sweets and chocolates and other sugary foods can be included at meal times for occasional treats, but they can damage your preschooler's teeth if he eats them frequently between meals. They can also reduce your child's appetite for healthy foods.
Salty foods: The Food Standards Agency recommends only 2g of salt a day (equivalent to 0.8g sodium) for preschoolers. It is difficult to calculate this, as some foods naturally contain salt, but these tips will help you avoid too much salt:
- Keep crisps and other salty snacks to occasional treats – no more than once a week.
- Don't add salt to food at the table.
- Use herbs and spices rather than salt to flavour food you are preparing.
- Keep processed foods to a minimum and where you have the choice, use the lower salt variety.
Oily fish, such as sardines, mackerel, salmon, fresh tuna, trout and eel, are a particularly good source of omega 3 fats and vitamins A and D. As some may contain traces of toxins which can build up in the body, it is wise to limit how often your preschooler eats oily fish. This is a particular problem for girls because there is a possible risk that high levels of these toxins could cause health problems in any babies they may have in the future. Twice a week is the recommended limit for girls. It is safe for boys to eat oily fish up to four times a week.
Nuts: According to the Department of Health, toddlers who have family members who suffer from hayfever, asthma, eczema or food allergies should not have peanuts or peanut butter before they are three years old. However, the Food Standards Agency has said this advice should be withdrawn, because there is not enough evidence to support it. Walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts should be fine if they are chopped very finely or ground or as a nut butter.
Additives and sweeteners used in foods have all been tested for safety. However, large amounts of sweeteners, often found in drinks, should be avoided if possible. Dilute drinks containing sweeteners with plenty of water.
High-fibre foods: Using all wholegrain foods may make preschoolers feel too full before they have eaten enough. Offer a mixture of white and wholegrain cereals and bread and slowly increase the quantity of wholegrains as your child gets closer to five years old.
Which foods should my preschooler avoid completely?
- Raw or partially cooked eggs and shellfish can cause food poisoning. Make sure they are well cooked right through if you offer them.
- Large fish that live for many years, such as shark, swordfish and marlin, may contain high levels of mercury and should not be given to children.
- Whole nuts may cause choking so shouldn't be given to young children under the age of five.
- Tea and coffee should be avoided as they reduce the absorption of iron from foods.
- Fizzy drinks can damage teeth.