Mealtimes with selective eaters can be challenging, and mothers often bear the brunt of it. Fussy eating toddlers have strong preferences and will resort to tantrums if their favourite food is not on the table. For right growth, they require a good mix of macro and micro nutrients that comes from five food groups – vegetables, fruits, protein, dairy and cereals. The age from two to six is the primetime for children to get the right amount of nutrients that lay the foundation to help them grow to their maximum potential.
How can mothers with toddlers who are selective eaters ensure their kids are getting the right nutrition for right growth?
Dr.Harish Shetty, Psychiatrist at Nityanand Clinic, Mumbai says, “Food consumption patterns and preferences are formed very early in life. Toddlers’ eating behaviour is determined by food habits of parents and how they perceive food. The ecosystem around the child plays a critical role in establishing and promoting behaviours that will persist throughout his or her life. Dietary habits are shaped at a young age and maintained during later life with tracking over time.”
Identifying types of fussy eating behaviours
It is important to understand what constitutes picky eating or selective eating. Toddlers are classified as picky eaters if they display at least two of the following behaviours:
- Eating only a limited number of foods
- Being unwilling to try new foods
- Refusing to eat vegetables and/or foods from other food groups
- Showing strong food likes and dislikes
- Displaying behaviour that disrupts mealtimes
Dr Irfan A. Shaikh, Head Pediatric Nutrition – Scientific & Medical Affairs, Abbott’s nutrition business says, “By the time children turn three, most of them have tried about 70 foods and they generally like 40-50 of those, typically consuming 11-14 solids and liquids in a day. However, food selectivity is when a child refuses to eat foods of particular colours, tastes (sweet, salty, bitter or sour), textures (soft, crunchy, pureed or lumpy) or consistencies (solid or liquid).”
Addressing fussy eating or selective eating in toddlers
Toddlers are able to decide what they want to eat. Getting them to eat something they don’t like has to be a conversation or sometimes, even a bargain. Force feeding is not a solution and can itself be the cause of resistance in the child.
Here are some proven ways to ensure that toddlers form the right feeding habits and get the right nutrition:
- Maintain a Food Diary: Make a list and track what they routinely eat and drink on an average day. Next, keep a watch on what they eat or drink when variety is offered, while noting which foods they refuse: do they hate certain textures, flavours, colours or consistency?
- Create a Food Chain: Food-chaining is a long-term but effective technique to introduce your child to newer foods if he or she is highly selective (eats less than 15 foods and refuses entire groups of food). By looking for common characteristics in the food your child likes, such as flavour, texture or colour,you can begin introducing foods that are similar or prepared in a similar manner.
- Anchor Foods: These are foods that anchor the diet and provide basic nutrients for children who are growing normally but consume limited variety. If a child eats one of each of these foods, then a parent can be reassured that they are getting adequate nutrition. A wholesome diet should ideally include all five food groups – dairy (calcium), fruits (vitamins), cereals (carbohydrates), meats and nuts (proteins), and vegetables (minerals).
- Incentivise Meal Times: With older children, parents can try to set different goals to eat new foods, and gratify them with a sticker or by maintaining a progress chart each time they try a food without a prompt.
- Nutritional Supplements: The stress of meeting the child’s wholesome growth and nutritional requirements can also be mitigated by introducing them to paediatric nutrition supplements. It is advisable to consult a doctor for an informed view on what is best for the toddler and additional measures that can ensure the child receives essential nutrients.
Step by step
Even as parents undertake efforts to set the right eating habits, the important thing is to be realistic and patient: feeding difficulties can take time to improve, but the positive part is that most children make progress as they grow. Following the eight principles of feeding can be very effective: avoid distractions at mealtimes, feed to encourage hunger, limit how long meals last, serve age/texture appropriate food, tolerate age-appropriate mess, encourage self-feeding, maintain a neutral attitude during meals and consistently offer new food.
