Eating Right, Starting Young

Parents, providers, and nutrition experts share tips for helping infants and toddlers eat nutritious food

By Claudia Miller

Over-stressed parents of infants and toddlers may feel that feeding their kids healthy food is too hard, on top of everything else they’re dealing with. A recent Feeding Infants and Toddlers survey by Gerber Foods found that almost one-fourth of children under two weren’t eating fruits or vegetables every day—and the most common vegetable was French fries. The survey also found infants drinking soda and most toddlers eating daily sweets and salty snacks.

These food habits take a toll on babies’ health. “Parents are seeing the immediate effects of overweight children,” says Diana Dixon, nutritionist for the child care food program in Chula Vista. More overweight children have diseases that used to be seen only in adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even arthritis.

“Children who drink too much juice or soda will end up at the dentist” with cavities, says Stephanie Clark, child nutrition program manager at 4C’s of Alameda County. And “kids who have a healthy diet...may [have] more energy than children with poor diets.”

But there’s hope: Parents, child care providers, and nutrition experts offer advice on nutritious foods for infants and toddlers—foods that busy parents can prepare and picky tots will eat.

Breastfeed infants

Breast-feeding is best for infants for the entire first year, says Mary Ann Ferrera, nutritionist at the Contra Costa Child Care Council. “The nutrition in breast milk is superior, and there are studies showing that breastfed babies tend not to be obese later in life.” Child care providers can set up an area for moms to breast-feed and feed breast milk that the mother pumps, says Clark.

Some parents feed babies only breast milk for the first year. But Clark says infants should be given baby rice cereal at around four months, pureed fruits and vegetables at six months, and pureed meats and other proteins at seven to eight months.

Learn what toddlers need

Toddlers generally should eat about 1,000 calories per day—some days less, other days more.

Most should eat three meals and two snacks a day—eating about every two hours, says Clark. “The more active children are, the more frequently they need to eat.” Toddlers should drink water throughout the day, milk (whole milk until age two, then low-fat or nonfat) or water at mealtimes, and 100 percent juice (high in sugar) only at snack time, she adds.

Prepare quick snacks and meals

“I know what it feels like when I’ve worked all day and I’m tired and my daughter is hungry and crying,” says Jennifer Hill. She’s a family child care provider in Fremont and the mother of two children, now eight and ten.

“I tell parents to sit them in the kitchen with some yogurt and some Cheerios while you prepare dinner. Later, if you add a little protein at dinner and some fruit and veggies, they’ve had a complete meal.”

Another tip for busy parents: have healthy snacks—such as carrots, cheese sticks, or low-sugar cereals—ready to hand out as soon as you walk in the door. Hill also suggests parents make food on the weekend and heat it for dinner during the week—for example, roasting two chickens and cooking extra rice.
Be creative with vegetables

“When I make the snacks fun, the children eat them,” says family child care provider Ana Mujica. She makes happy faces out of carrots, celery, and cheese. “They eat parts of the face and before they know it, they’re eating the vegetables,” she adds.

“I like to make spaghetti sauce,” says Hill, “because you can always chop broccoli, zucchini, or even a garden burger into it....It’s hardly noticeable.” You can also mix fruit into yogurt, make fresh fruit popsicles, make muffins with chopped fruit (strawberries or bananas) or grated vegetables (carrots or zucchini).

Try preparing foods differently. Sometimes Hill sprinkles cinnamon on raw apples. Sometimes the children eat raw carrots, other times, they’re cooked. If children don’t like chunks of melon, try melon balls.

Make changes in your toddler’s diet slowly

It’s never too late to add healthy food to your children’s diet. You can mix new foods with your child’s favorites—adding tuna or peas to macaroni and cheese, making a checkerboard sandwich with a slice of white bread and one of whole wheat, or adding cheese sauce to broccoli. You can also mix brown and white rice and add whole wheat flour to recipes.

“My oldest boy hates vegetables and fruits,” says Maria Valencia, a Chula Vista mother of two boys, four and seven, “so I have to be creative. I’ve learned to serve strawberries with a little bit of whipped cream or mix blueberries into smoothies.

When Valencia cooks traditional Mexican food, she makes it healthier by using lean ground turkey instead of beef and adding minced carrots. “It’s so small, my boys don’t even know it’s there,” she says. She also uses corn instead of flour tortillas and cooking spray instead of oil. Parents can also cut fat, says Joan Thompson, registered dietician at La Clinica de la Raza, by mashing beans with garlic instead cooking them in oil and not browning rice and noodles in oil before cooking them.
Teach kids to make good choices

Ferrera suggests teaching toddlers to label healthy foods as “everyday foods” and less healthy snacks and desserts as “sometimes foods.” But if you’re buying healthy food for your kids and junk food for yourself, be prepared for constant battles!

Parents should remember that it’s ultimately up to the children what they eat. “Don’t force children to try something new or finish their plate, because it will only backfire,” says Ferrera. “Parents can remind children that while they may have disliked a certain food in the past, they may discover that they like it later on.”

This article originally appeared in the May-June 2004 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children. This article has been reprinted with the permission of Action Alliance for Children.  www.4children.org