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My Child Has:
Preschool Nutrition
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Related Video: Feeding Children Healthfully
Picture of Christopher Duggan, MD, MPH
Christopher Duggan, MD, MPH
Watch gastroenterologist Christopher Duggan, MD, MPH, discuss the challenges of getting children to eat healthfully.
Helpful feeding information for your preschooler:
Preschool-aged children (ages 4 to 5) are still developing their eating habits and need encouragement to eat healthy meals and snacks. These children are eager to learn, especially from other people and will often imitate eating behaviors of adults. They need supervision at mealtime as they are still working on chewing and swallowing skills.

The following are some helpful mealtime hints for preschool-aged children:

  • Prepare meals, provide regularly scheduled snacks, and limit unplanned eating.
  • Poor behavior at mealtime should not be allowed. Focus on eating, not playing with food or playing at the dinner table.
  • Keep offering a variety of foods. Have the attitude that, sooner or later, your child will learn to eat most all foods.
  • Make mealtime as pleasant as possible. Do not put pressure on your child to eat, or force your child to clean his/her plate. Children will be hungry at mealtime if snacks have been planned and limited during the day.
  • Provide examples of healthy eating habits. Preschoolers mimic what they see their parents doing. If you eat a lot of junk food, your child will not learn to eat healthy.
Healthy food choices:
The USDA has revised their eating guidelines to help all age groups eat a variety of food while encouraging the correct amount of calories and fat. The new focus is on variety, moderation, proportionality, activity and gradual improvements to eating habits.

The "My Pyramid" plan can be personalized based on age, sex and activity level. Based on information provided, "My Pyramid" will recommend appropriate calories as well as fruit, vegetables, grain, meat/bean, milk and oil servings per day to ensure adequate nutrition.

More information can be found at Mypyramid.gov

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