How Much Do They Really Need to Eat?

Like most moms of toddlers, I struggled to get my children to eat at one point. But as I shared in my July 21 entry, once I changed my approach to getting them to eat (and basically stopped trying to get them to eat), they started eating. Faking lack of interest in whether or not they ate was more than a little difficult at first, but I found a food guide that helped put me at ease.

What I learned really surprised me. Take a look at what is recommended for a child to eat every day: 

Children 1-3 years old need...

6-10 of these choices: 

1/2 slice bread/tortilla/roll

1/2 pancake/waffle

1/4 bagel

1/2 cup cereal

1/4 cup cooked cereal

1/4 cup noodles/rice

3 small crackers

They also need: 

1-1.5 cups cooked or raw veggies

1-1.5 cups fresh/canned/frozen fruit

(Limit 100% fruit juice to 4 ounces a day)  

And 4 of these choices: 

1/2 cup milk/yogurt (whole milk up to age 2)

1 cup cottage cheese

3/4 ounces of cheese

1/2 cup pudding/custard

3/4 cup frozen yogurt

3/4 cup ice cream 

As well as 2-4 of these choices:

1 ounce meat/chicken/turkey/fish

1 egg

1/4 cup beans/peas/lentils

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1/4 cup tofu

One ounce is 2 tablespoons! When I read this I literally ran to the kitchen and measured out two tablespoons of chicken and realized it's a tiny amount of food -- faking disintrest had just gotten much easier for me! 

Children 4-5 years old need...

4-5 of these choices: 

1 slice of bread/tortilla/roll

1 pancake/waffle

1/2 bagel

1 cup of cereal

1/4 cup of noodles/rice

6 small crackers

They also need:

1.5-2 cups of cooked or raw vegetables

1-1.5 cups of fresh/canned/frozen fruit 

(limit 100% fruit juice to 6 ounces per day)

As well as 3-4 of these choices:

3/4 cup milk/yogurt

1 cup cottage cheese

1 ounce of cheese

3/4 cup of pudding/custard

1 cup frozen yogurt

1 cup ice cream

And 3-5 of these choices:

1 ounce meat/chicken/turkey/fish

1 egg

1/4 cup beans/peas/lentils

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1/4 cup tofu

1/2 ounce nuts/seeds

I love that the necessary foods are listed as "choices" because letting them choose is what really empowers children and leads them to eat. Recently my son, practically a vegetarian by choice, has stopped eating many of the veggies he normally eats. When I start panicking and thinking "he's not eating enough vegetables!", I remind myself that he doesn't actually need to eat all of these choices every single day. It's my job to offer him and his sister all of these foods, but I have to look at the big picture; did they eat enough vegetables, fruits or whatever this week, not on Monday or Wednesday. My goal is to help them become life-long healthy eaters and I'm glad I found these guidelines because as much as I want them to eat well, I don't want them to overeat.  

6 small crackers, 1 cup of fruit, 1 pancake -- these are not large amounts of food! What matters most I think is to offer food throughout the day at specific mealtimes (no grazing or nonstop snacking!) Children in these age groups should eat three meals and two to three snacks a day.

I have found that actually writing down what my kids eat really helps me see how balanced or unbalanced their diet is and to course correct. 

So, how much do they really need to eat? Not that much. 

*I got these guidelines from www.mypyramid.gov last year but when I visited the web site to post a link here, I found that it's no longer available. I imagine they're revamping everything to match the new "My Plate" campaign. 

*Please e-mail me at themommystreetjournal@gmail.com to let me know if you'd like the printable version of the food guide which also includes recommendations for women.