Nutrition Guidelines for Toddlers and Tips for Encouraging Healthy Eating in Your Toddler.
Developed by Sue Gilbert.
Use this as a guide as a source for information regarding nutrition and as a way to improve a toddler's experience with mealtimes. Remember, meal times are a great opportunity to have fun and communicate with your child, but they may be messy too. Get out your camera to capture these moments!
Reference cards should be considered a guide and are not meant as a substitute or to replace recommendations provided by you, the healthcare provider, as you have a more personal understanding of each of your patients.
Download this in PDF format to print for your patients: Toddler_nutrition.pdf.
|
Nutritional Guidelines for Toddlers
Toddlers need at least 1,000 calories a day to meet nutritional needs for growth and energy. The best way to provide these much-needed calories is to schedule three meals and two snacks a day.
|
|
To get the necessary calories and nutrients each day serve:
- Milk or other calcium-rich food: yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu, green leafy vegetables. (2-4 servings)
- Cereal, bread, rice, pasta, noodles (4 or more servings about 1/3 of an adult-sized portion)
- Vitamin C-rich juice (4 oz. daily)
- Vegetables: raw or cooked (2 or more servings)
- Fruit (2 or more servings) — offer at least one citrus fruit daily
- Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nut butters, beans, tofu (2 servings daily, each portion at least 1/2 oz.)
|
|
Specific Nutrients Needs of Toddlers:
- Iron: Needed to supply a growing blood volume and for proper brain development.
- Fat: Needed for calories, for absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and for brain and visual development.
- Zinc: Needed for the metabolic processes of cell division and growth.
- Calcium: More than half of kids get less than the recommended amount.
| |
Earth's Best is Specially Forumulated for Toddlers
- Made with organic ingredients
- Fortified with iron, zinc and B vitamins
- Never any trans fat
- No artificial colors or preservatives
- Sized for little fingers to hold
|
|
Tips for Encouraging Healthy Eating in Your Toddler
Offer a wide variety of wholesome foods in a non-pressured, supportive setting and according to a regular, predictable schedule.
|
|
Try to:
- Present new foods at least twice a week.
- Offer new foods along with old favorites.
- Serve small, toddler-sized portions to not overwhelm your child.
- Foods should be easy to chew.
- Food should be bite-sized.
- Toddlers like colorful foods.
- Try changing the meal venue—serve lunch in the playhouse, present the snack as an afternoon tea party.
- Toddlers enjoy playing with their food; it is a part of learning about it.
- Let toddlers help in food preparation.
- Grow a vegetable garden.
- Make food attractive—arrange it in the shape of an animal, a face, etc.
- Offer limited choices. For example, ask, “Do you want orange juice or apple juice?” instead of “What do you want to drink?”
- Eat as a family as often as possible. Kids learn by imitating what they see.
- Help ensure that they come to the table hungry.
- Don’t use food to bribe, cure boredom or as a pacifier.
- A toddler’s eating is erratic and unpredictable, but if viewed over several days, will balance out in terms of average daily needs.
|
|
