Normal and Therapeutic Nutrition

Normal and Therapeutic Nutrition 3(2+1)

Lesson 14:Nutritional and Food Requirements for Preschool Children

Dietary guidelines

• Diet should be adequate in quantity and quality for different nutrients, eg: in addition to milk, pre-school child should have 2 small servings of protein – rich foods. When the child is about 18 months old, finger foods such as carrots can be given.
• Proper elimination is usually maintained by a daily diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grain products.
• Diet should include variety of foods
• Food intake will improve if the food is interesting and attractive. Therefore flavour, colour, presentation can be changed to encourage the child to drink/ eat more.
• Foods should be slightly seasoned for food to taste better and child will like to eat.
• Child should never be forced to eat more than what he can eat.
• Person feeding the child should not show dislike towards the food which may lead to rejection of food by the child.
• Children are sensitive to flavours. Any change in flavour of food may lead to rejection
• Food preferences of the child should be taken into consideration
• Regularity of meal times should be followed.
• Different cooking methods and new attractive combination encourage the child to eat more.
• Child should never be hurried while eating the food. Atmosphere should be pleasant, peaceful and with no distractions.
• Foods like tea and coffee should be restricted as they over-stimulate the system
• Inclusion of curd in diet can decrease the incidence of diahorrea and cold.
• Unripe bananas and apples should not be given as they are difficult to chew and can choke the child.