What should I do if my child wants to eat all the time?
If you have a young child, it sure can feel like he's eating all the
time — and driving you crazy in the process with his constant refrain of
"I'm hungry." What you need to keep in mind is that because of his
small stomach, high energy level, and rapid growth rate, your child
probably is hungry all the time. Unlike adults, children don't
stay full for long, and they really do need to eat every few hours. In
addition, your child is probably having growth spurts, which will
require his body to take in more calories.
So don't worry too
much about your little bottomless pit. Children are born with an innate
sense of how much they need to eat, and you've got to respect these
inborn cues. That doesn't mean that you should give your child free rein
in the snack closet, but you should offer your child healthy food
whenever he's hungry, while making sure that he also gets plenty of
physical activity in his day as well.
Here are some suggestions for working with a constant eater:
•
Encourage healthy choices. When your child asks for a snack ten times a
day, don't let him choose chips all the time. Kids need less fat in
their diets than when they were babies, so shoot for about 30 percent of
total calories. While chips are an okay snack every once in a while,
try to steer your child toward more nutritious choices on a regular
basis, like fruit, cheese, and whole grains. Even crackers, popcorn, and
pretzels are
usually less fattening options.
• Don't force your
child to clean his plate. You may think that if you can get your child
to eat all of his macaroni now, he won't bug you in a few hours for a
snack. But making kids eat when they don't want to is not a good idea.
If children are taught to ignore their "I'm full" cues, that can lead to
eating problems down the line, including overeating and obesity.
•
If your child is using the "I'm hungry" refrain to delay bedtime (a
common stalling tactic), offer him a snack one to two hours before
bedtime — and then make it clear that the kitchen is closed for the
night. In addition, if it seems like your child is using food for
psychological reasons, it's probably a cry for attention. Try to spend
more time with him individually or make an effort to spend time together
as a family.
• Think about choking hazards. While grapes are a
great healthy food, they can choke a child this age — so cut them in
small pieces before serving. Other choking hazards include peanuts,
raisins, and raw carrot pieces. In addition, don't let your child run
around when he's eating, as this increases his chances of choking. It's
admittedly difficult to get a 3-year-old to
sit for a full meal,
so make it clear to him that if he gets up to run around, you'll take
the food away. Eventually he'll learn to sit still when he wants to eat.
As long as your child isn't
overweight
(according to the growth charts at the pediatrician's office) and
you're offering him nutritious foods, then your child's constant eating
is really not a problem. It just means you have to make more frequent
trips to the supermarket.
Little boy not in photo from story
