In reality, the parents themselves are mostly responsible for this. They do not inculcate the right eating habits in their children on time. Here is first an example and then the way to correct it –
Jiya, an 8-year-old girl, was once very fond of eating different types of things. But now the mere mention of food spoils his mood. The reason for this is his parents, who always put pressure on him to eat something or the other. While going to school, his mother forcefully feeds him something solid. There is so much food in her tiffin that she is unable to finish it; as soon as she returns home, her mother makes her sit down to eat again. As soon as Father returns from the office, he asks a series of questions like how much did he eat and what did he eat. For this reason, she is moving away from food.
Most of the children are troubled by this problem. Working parents are not able to give full time to their child, hence all their attention gets focused towards the child’s food and the problem starts from here. They put unnecessary pressure on the child to eat, hence the child’s mind gets diverted from food.
It is important for parents to have correct information about how much food is necessary for the health of the child. Generally, grains are fed to the child only after Annaprashan when he is six months old, but now pediatricians recommend giving solid food to the child from the age of four months. It is important to develop right eating habits in the child from the age of 4 months. For the first 3 months, the child is completely dependent on the mother’s milk. When he is 4 months old, apart from milk, start giving him fruit juice and some cereals.
What should be the diet of a small child?
4 or 6 months By feeding lentil water, thin semolina pudding, mashed banana, boiled apple and orange to the child from the age of 10, his health remains good. It can be started with rice in grains. Rice is nutritious and has the least amount of allergens.
5 or six months In case of constipation, he can be given vegetable soup, rice and lentil water, or choked thin khichdi.
Two-two and a half years Prepare and feed new recipes to the child, so that his interest in food remains. Give him something solid to eat three times a day. The habit of eating food develops in a child only when he is given food in the right quantity at the right time. The habit of eating all the time is not good.
3 to 5 years Do not give milk to the child before sleeping at night, give him milk only twice in the morning and evening. A 3 year old child can be given milk three times a day, but his dependence on milk should be gradually reduced. Get him into the habit of eating solid foods and reduce the amount of milk. Increase the food intake as the age increases, serve food to the child in a plate, include small amounts of pulses, rice, vegetables, curd, roti etc. in the food. By doing this the child learns to eat on his own, many times mothers do not allow the child to eat on his own because he fears that he will spill the food, but it is not appropriate to do so.
Give them minimum outside food and junk food. Keep a gap of at least 3 to 4 hours between meals. It is important for him to feel hungry. Only food eaten when hungry is healthy.
Often parents complain that their child does not eat pulses and vegetables, the habit of eating everything can be inculcated in the child and yes, it may take a lot of effort.
Complaints of constipation are found in children who do not eat grains, fibrous fruits and vegetables. Due to this their health is affected. Parents also have the misconception that their child does not eat anything, whereas the child eats as much as he needs. Complete physical development of a child is possible only when he is taking a balanced diet. An increase in the weight of a 3 to 10-year-old child by 2 kg and height by 2 inches in a year means that his nutrition is getting better. Giving nutritious food to the child on time is best for his health.
Discipline at home is very important, proper eating habits cannot be inculcated in the child by the efforts of the parents alone. For this the entire family will have to cooperate. It may happen that the parents discipline him, but the grandparents keep fulfilling his requests for chocolate or cold drink. Many times the child actually does not eat anything due to stubbornness.
By adopting some of the easy methods given above, you can develop the habit of eating on time and eating a balanced diet in your children.