How much should my child be eating?
- ¨ Meals should be spread out throughout the day, many children are natural “grazers” and eat many small servings over the course of the day. The reason they are like this is mostly due to instinct and that’s how we’re supposed to eat during the day. Unfortunately as adults we feel the need to “live by the clock”
- ¨ A good rule of thumb is that a portion should be no larger than the palm of your hand when placed on your plate, look at the palm of you hand, then look at the palm of your child’s hand – it’s a good visual reference for a serving size
- ¨ Just because something says single serving on it doesn’t mean that it really is a single serving, it may be too much for some children in our “super sized” world
- ¨ Place a few bites of each thing on the plate at dinner time, if they are still hungry they will ask for more. Even though my daughter has eaten well over a kid sized portion, I’ll let her have more when she asks for more peas!
- ¨ When it comes to snack time it often helps to put the food into a snack size cup to actually see how much of something you are giving, crackers are a good example, its easy to overeat them out of the box but if you pour them into a bowl or cup it’s easier to find a proper portion. This is a big one for me, I have almost put my husband in time out for handing our little daughter a box of grahams!
Here are some portion examples:
Meat- 2 or 3 ounces cooked and cut up
Chicken nuggets – 3 or 4 pieces
Peanut butter – 1 nice sized tablespoon
Eggs – 1
Milk – 8 ounce cup
Yogurt – 4 to 8 ounces –
Fruit 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of cubed fruit
Baby carrots – 8 baby carrot sticks
Cheese – 1 or 2 slices of cheese
Things to Remember
- ¨ 2 ounces of meat on a Toddler’s dinner plate is actually a good portion, it may look small but remember that your child is also small so imagine the size of her stomach?
- ¨ A full cup of yogurt might be too much, if you choose not to spend the money of the individual child portions at the store, it might be easier to buy the larger container. It’s more cost effective and there is a better option for the organic options. A large container can last us a week and I fell I have better portion control.
- ¨ I hope this that you all found this article useful. I welcome comments and encourage all the moms out there that are pediatricians and dietitians to please add some helpful facts that I might have missed or should touch on.
Quick Facts on Calories and Kids
– a child that habitually consumes 500 calories more than is burned each day will gain a pound of excess body fat in just a single week
– counting calories is generally not advised by nutritionists nor is it necessary for healthy children
– an active elementary school child can easily burn 2,000 calories in a day
– a less active child that doesn’t or can’t get outside to play as much might only burn 1,500
– kids eat differently than adults and are generally better at burning their calories throughout the day
– watch out for empty calories in your childs diet, soda, french fries, supersized fast food, etc…
Average Nutritional Recommendations for Children
– 1000 – 1400 for a 2 to3 year old
– 1400-1600 for a 4 to 8 year old
– 1600-2000 for girls 9 to 13 years old
– 1800-2200 for boys 9 to 13 years old
– 2000 for girls 14 to 18 years old
– 2200- for boys 14 to 18 years old
– the calories number isn’t nearly as important as where those calories come from, good calories in fruits and veggies versus bad calories in junk food and soda
-watch portion sizes and encourage moderation if you are worried about overeating
– if obesity becomes a problem seek a pediatrician or nutritionist’s help
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