http://www.todaysparent.com/preschool/foodnutrition/article.jsp?content=20061204_103611_5012&page=1
"I'm Not Hungry"
How to avoid mealtime battles with your preschooler
By Teresa Pitman
When I announce that dinner’s ready, four-year-old Sebastian is more upset than eager. “I’m not hungry!” he says. “I want to keep playing hockey with Uncle Dan!”
Sebastian, in fact, has a long list of things that are more interesting, fun and important to him than eating — and he’s not the only preschooler who feels this way.
“Worrying about their child not eating enough is almost a universal concern among parents of preschoolers,” says Robert Issenman, president of the Canadian Paediatric Society. “But preschoolers actually need only about 100 or 200 more calories than a one-year-old.”
Plus, children this age are caught up in learning about the world and exploring the environment (or, in Sebastian’s case, playing hockey). They just aren’t focused on food because there are so many other interesting things to do.
Tara Leigh Vandermeulen says her five-year-old daughter, Maggie, often insists she’s not hungry, but then qualifies it. “She says, ‘The top part of my stomach is for good food and it’s full, but the bottom part is for junkie food and it’s not full yet.’” She helpfully points out the different sections of her belly, and then holds her hand out and asks for a cookie that she’s confident will fit into the “junkie food section.”
Pretty typical, says Issenman. “Children this age are developing their own tastes, and trying to exert more control over their environment. They choose foods that taste good to them and are easy for them to eat.” Hence the preference for snacks like juice, chocolate bars and other munchies.
While your child may not seem to be eating enough to survive on, Issenman says researchers who have actually recorded what preschoolers eat find that, over time, children do get sufficient calories and nutrients — provided healthy foods are made available to them.
“It’s natural for parents to worry,” says Issenman, “but try not to let that worrying turn into nagging your child about food or turning mealtimes into a power struggle.”
Instead, a parent’s job is to offer a variety of nutritious foods. Your child’s job is to decide how much to eat. If you each do your part, Issenman promises, it will work out.
Mealtime strategies that work
- Limit juice and don’t go overboard on milk — water is a better choice. “A cup of juice has as much as or more sugar than a cup of Coke,” says Robert Issenman, president of the Canadian Paediatric Society. A three-year-old who is drinking three glasses of milk and three glasses of juice daily will be too full to eat much actual food.
- Don’t let your child graze all day long. Set out snacks and meals for about 15 minutes, then take away any food your child doesn’t eat — without commenting on it.
- Don’t let your child watch TV while he’s eating. Research has shown that the distraction of TV at mealtimes can create eating problems.
- Offer a variety of foods at each meal, but don’t feel you need to be a short-order cook, preparing one food after another until you find something your child likes.
- Trust your child. Your goal is to encourage your child to listen to his body to know when he’s hungry and when he’s full. “Small children really have very good systems to know what they need to eat,” adds Issenman. “You don’t want to override that by constantly bugging them to eat more.”
