Food Cravings Through the Years
Most parents come to notice that their child has food cravings. They will want only 1 type of food for an extended period of time. But did you know that actually has a reason that follows the child’s growth and development? Think about the following basic food cravings most children have.1-2 / 2.5 years old: Fats/Dips (Your brain is ~60% fat and it is growing the fastest at this time of development.)
2.5 - 7 years old: Carbs/Starch (Carbs provide quick energy for a person that never stops moving. Have you ever seen a young child stop moving on their own initiative?)
7-9 years old: Protein (Sustained energy and muscle growth is provided in this very short stints of the physical body playing catchup while the child is in school all day. It also prevents sugar highs and lows while in a classroom.
10-14 years old: Carbs/Starch (In order for a child to go through puberty, they must first have an adequate, not too much, amount of fat. This carb craving period increases the fat on their body to prepare for puberty.)
Picky Eaters
The battle of food. You want your child to eat healthfully and they say “GROSS” or “ICKY” to every new food you put on the dinner table. How do you get a child to change their mind about new foods. It is not easy, but it can be fun with the right outlook. This is because FOOD IS FUN! Because food is fun, make the trying new foods an exciting experience. Get excited about it yourself as a parent and involve the children. You can’t expect your child to be excited about something you think is a chore.
To help make the experience enjoyable consider that parents and children have roles/responsibilities in the food thing. Don’t go outside your role and the conflict will disappear. It is the parents responsibility to provide scheduled feeding times (every 3-4 hours) and nutritious balanced meals. It is the childs role to choose whether to eat or not. If the child does not choose to eat than there is no alternative given until the next meal/snack time. (This is addapted from a book called “Child of Mine” by Ellyn Satter.)
A child will not starve themselves. It is inate to want to live. Eating is important for living and so your child will not starve themself. As a parent it is scary to give this control of how much food to eat back to your child at the age of 6 months, but it works.
If your child is a picky eater consider how much they are drinking during the day. If they drink their calories, they will not be hungry for food. Milk (goat, cows, rice, etc), formula, juice in too much quantity can spoil a small child’s appetite. How much is your little one drinking during the day?
Also consider that their afternoon snack is too close to their dinner time. If you are not hungry you are less likely to try a new food. The child is the same way.