Rosalee Brown

This is in response to the worried mother who wrote about her three-year-old daughter who has just started basic school and will not eat. Mom is not sure what to feed her for breakfast and dinner.

Now, for most parents with older children, they can certainly identify with this mother, as they have been there, and, hopefully, are now wiser.

A child's appetite usually follows their rate of growth and therefore food intake is not consistent. After the rapid growth phase and ferocious appetite of infancy, the two to three-year-old and older suddenly become picky eaters, in response to a slower growth rate.

I have been there more than once, as my granddaughter, who had a hearty appetite and will be two years old in a few weeks, seems to be losing interest in food much to her mother's dismay.

Don't worry

The comforting fact for mothers is that although these children seem to be eating nothing, by the mothers' standards, and the amount from meal to meal varies widely, their energy intake from day to day is constant and the children know how to regulate their needs. Studies that followed children in this age group for a period of time have borne out this fact.

The role of the caregiver is to provide the age-appropriate foods and remember not to force feed the children. Allow them to set the limits. A general rule of thumb is to initially offer approximately one tablespoon of each food for every year of age for your toddler, and remember one new food at a time.

You will also have to be patient with a new food by offering it on many occasions without a fuss before the child may become interested.

The food groups are important in feeding this age group as well. Taking the child's likes and dislikes into consideration, give food from various groups. Some children may only tolerate them as individual foods. For example wanting only noodles at one meal and at another time only chicken, another time only a piece of fruit and another time a glass of milk. Your job is to keep tab, ensure all that is offered is nutritious and has a role to play in healthy food habits. The child will decide when and how much.

Lunch away from home

Another problem parents face is lunch away from home. Parents tend to want to send special status foods to school and most times the child refuses to eat them. Going to school for this age group involves many changes in routine as at home they may eat whenever they want to while at school they may be placed on a schedule.

These changes, in addition to their reduced food needs, will create a seemingly reduced intake. Toddlers are developing independence as well and may want to try new foods that other children may be having, or may even refuse foods that are unfamiliar when offered at school.

So what is a mother to do?

Provide a healthy food environment by consuming a wide variety of wholesome foods from all the food groups of staples, food from animals, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and small amounts of healthy fats/oils.

Rave about tasty, delicious foods to the toddler without forcing him or her to partake.

Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.