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Show Doctor in the Kitchen by Laurence M. Hursh, M.D. Consultant, National Dairy Council YOUR PRESCHOOL CHILD The most rapid growth in relation rela-tion to size occurs in preschool children, especially from one to three years of age. This means they need more of the body-developing foods even though their total food consumption consump-tion cannot equal that of older children and their parents. Doesn't this suggest that you'd better see that they get the most important foods in adequate amounts? Stomachs Hold Only So Much You will need to help your preschooler learn to like the foods that offer him the most protein, minerals, and vitamins for their weight and bulk. After all, small stomachs can hold only so much, and we must be sure that less nourishing foods, such as concentrated concen-trated sweets and cookies, don't crowd out the important bodybuilding body-building foods. Don't worry about your child eating some food between meals. Some children cannot hold a lot of food at any one time. Studies at nursery schools show us that if snacks are eaten far enough ahead of mealtime, the child's appetite for lunch and dinner will still be good. Can Become Too Hungry We have even found that if a child becomes too hungry or too tired before a meal, he may become be-come so irritable he will fail to eat Well when mealtime does come. The rapid growth of the preschooler pre-schooler does, usually, slow down, often around three years of age. With this, his appetite will also be reduced. If you know this is to be expected, you will not become be-come alarmed when it happens. Good snacks for children are milk, fruit, vegetable relishes, juices, cheese, bread and butter sandwiches. These foods, as parts of the four food group pattern ve talk so much about, will help make sure your young child is getting the nourishment he really real-ly needs. For Forming Good Eating Habits To help the youngsters form good eating habits early, here are some pointers: Serve small portions por-tions of foods, using manageable-size manageable-size glasses for milk and juices. "Finger" foods are fun. Bite sizes of cheese, hard-hoiled egg or tomato, to-mato, cubes of meat, carrot strips, and small sandwiches will go "down the hatch" easily. Keep food temperature moderate, moder-ate, rather than too hot or cold. Keep seasoning modest, too. Others in your family can pep up their food by using their own additional addi-tional seasoning. Don't worry if your child Indulges In-dulges in a "food jag" eating a certain type of food repeatedly. If you don't make an issue of it, he should get back to a more varied diet shortly. Try "disliked foods in a new way, or with a food he likes. It may help. And always set a good example by following good food habits yourself. |