Q: What size portions do three to five year old children need?

A: As a parent you want to ensure your child has all the nutrients they need to grow up healthy and strong but you also don’t want to overwhelm them with large servings. So use small plates and start children off with less and encourage them to ask for more if they are still hungry.

 

For each year of age, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends one tablespoon of every food offered at a meal. That means three-year-olds would start with three tablespoons of every food offered, and if they eat it all, they can ask for more. Don’t make the mistake of scolding children for not finishing all you have served or forcing them to overeat. You need to encourage them to eat until they are satisfied not stuffed. If you think that this is a waste of food serve less in the first place and respect your child’s ability to recognise when they have had enough.

 

It’s not a good idea to hand out sweets and snacks straight after lunch or dinner if they did eat too little. Eventually, they will learn to gauge their own appetites and get most of what they need at regular meals.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 1:30 am and is filed under Ask Marilyn, Children's Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.