Unpredictable and unusual eating behavior is very common among preschool children aged two to five years. Often at meal and snack time there is a frequent struggle for control between parents and preschoolers of what to eat, how much to eat, and even when to eat. Children have different physical and emotional needs than adults. Recognizing these differences can help minimize tensions centered around food and make mealtime more pleasant. Here are a few tips to assist a parent in meal/snack planning and food selection. A little understanding, patience, and trust help as well.

• Children require smaller portions than adults. About one tablespoon of each type of food for every year of a child’s age is an ample portion size in most cases.

• Children need to snack throughout the day in addition to regularly scheduled meals. However small snacks and water is preferred so your preschooler will be hungry at mealtime.

• All children over the age of two are advised to follow the same low fat, low saturated fat, and low cholesterol diet as an adult. This is less than 30% fat, less than 10% saturated fat, and less than 300mg of cholesterol daily. It does not mean you need to eliminate any foods from your child’s diet just serve them in moderation and balance them with more frequent servings of other lower fat choices.

• Give preschoolers time to try new foods and recipes. If it they don’t go over right away, try them several times over the course of several months before giving up.

• A food may not be appealing due to the way it is presented of the form a food takes. Often, raw, crunchy vegetables are preferred over hot ones or finger foods are more desirable than those needing utensils.

• Remember, children have their own internal signals for hunger, satiety, and nutrient needs that guide them to make appropriate decisions about food. Forcing preschoolers to try every food or clean their plates is not helpful and may be harmful to a child’s future relationship with food.

• Try to provide balanced, varied and tasty meals and snacks. Offer foods from all the food groups: whole grain breads, grains, and cereals; fruits and vegetables, lower fat and nonfat milk products; lean trimmed meats and skinless poultry, fish, dried peas, beans, and nuts.

Snacks are a good opportunity to enhance the nutritional density of your child’s diet. Try some of these suggestions for healthy alternatives:

Healthy Snack Suggestions

• Yogurt (low fat or nonfat, preferably lower in sugar)
• String Cheese (part skim milk)
• Dry Cereal (whole grain, low in sugar)
• Crackers (whole grain, low fat)
• Plain mini bagels or whole grain breads—or with jam, low fat cream cheese, or peanut butter
• Juice cut with half water, 1% or nonfat milk
• Fruit
• Raisins, dried apricots
• Graham crackers, whole grain fig bars, vanilla wafers, animal crackers
• Pretzels
• Plain popcorn
• Tortilla with low fat cheese or peanut butter
• Mini carrots or cut raw vegetables and low fat dip
• Mini pizzas made with whole grain English muffins or pita bread, tomato sauce, and part skim mozzarella cheese.