Children's Diet

Children's Diet

Here are some useful tips regarding dietary habits in children

* For children of age group between 1 and 3, never force them to eat.

Create a pleasant atmosphere while eating.

* A child's appetite is not same everyday. The amount of food a child

eats depends upon the appetite. Try to judge it and then give him

food. Forcing the child to eat a specific amount will cause

indigestion, vomiting, and bowel upset.

* During illness, a child is always reluctant to eat. Give the child

food which is semisolid in consistency, which is warm, and has a mild

flavor eg vegetable soup, chicken soup, porridge. Never give heavy,

spicy or fried food in illness.

* The children below 2 years of age cannot tell if they do not like the

taste of food. They will just cry and will not open the mouth. So,

taste the food before feeding them. A good mother will always be

aware of this thing.

* Even if a child likes a particular food item do not give him the same

everyday. After some days, he will start disliking it.

* If the child does not like a particular food eg green vegetable, try

to prepare it in different style. May be, he will like it in that

form. Eg, some children do not like spinach sabji, but if you give

them paratha, they like it very much.

* Give a child different menu everyday. Preparing a healthy and tasty

menu and presenting it in a pleasant way is an art itself. In India,

we draw different patterns of Rangoli to decorate the dishes. The

purpose of making it is to create a pleasant atmosphere while eating

which is very helpful for digestion.

* Do not allow the children to watch television at dinner. It

transforms the bad emotions (such as violence, scare, tension etc) to

our body via food. Sit with your child when he is eating and have a

conversation with him. Avoid scolding, preaching on unpleasant

subjects like his bad performance in examination etc.

* Try to prepare food according to season. Get information about the

gunas (qualities) of season as well as food and prepare food

accordingly. Eg in this winter season which is cold in guna, give

your child warm things like sesame seeds and gud (jaggary) which is

good to reduce the kapha dosha in body.