Dieting is hard especially for children. With your toddler’s unpredictable mind and taste buds, it can be overwhelming to train him how to eat healthy. But, once you know how to mix fun to his toddler diet, you can be sure your toddler will enjoy scooping up his food – even those green leafy vegetables.

Start The Day Right

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Most often, a toddler who skips or eats little during breakfast tend to be edgy, ill-tempered and worse, obese. Make it a habit to start your toddler’s day with good breakfast. Cut pictures of healthy breakfast foods (cereal, pancake, yogurt, sandwich, etc.) and paste them on papers. Each night, let your toddler go through his “healthy-yummy menu” and have him decide. The fact that you let him choose his meals will make him look forward to eating breakfast and in no time, he will be cleaning his plate without noticing the carrots you added to his sandwich.

Know When to Strike and When to Give In

After breakfast, determine when your little one is most hungry and set meal times just before his stomach begins to rumble. By doing so, you can prevent his mood swings from spoiling his appetite. During times wherein your toddler just cannot seem to finish his meals, just give him a few portions of his food and let him finish the rest once he feels hungry again. The trick here is to never force your toddler. Once he knows he can voice out his concerns and you listen to him, the more open he is to sticking to his healthy diet.

Offer Variety

Toddlers always love to have plenty of options. You can still keep feeding your little one yummy meals sans processed foods. The secret to making your toddler eat with gusto is to provide colorful, bite-sized and well-proportioned foods. Incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into your toddler’s mini meals. Chicken pita is a delicious mini meal. Just add 2 tablespoon of hummus to soft whole-wheat pitas, add a few slices of grilled chicken strips, baked sweet potatoes, corn tortillas and his favorite dressing. For dessert, slice few pieces of strawberries and mix it into plain yogurt. Or, cut his favorite fruits into cubes. Place all of them in a bowl and serve it with whipped cream.

Never Miss Meals

While it is challenging to let your toddler eat what you want him to, skipping meals do not also make sense. This will only throw off his energy, disrupt his eating schedule and will give your toddler the idea that it is perfectly okay to miss out meals. What you can do is to give him something to eat, a few bites of crackers, oatmeal or fish is better than nothing.

Assess His Schedule

Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner will keep your toddler energized for the whole day. If your toddler does not finish his food during lunch, maybe his morning snack is too heavy or it is too close to lunch time. Know your toddler’s appetite and moods so you can effectively adjust his schedule.

Give Your Toddler A Break

But only do it once in a while. Sticking to a toddler diet may make your toddler apprehensive. Give in to his whims. The objective is to make your toddler eat well. So once a week, have a day where the both of you can indulge in sweets, ice cream, chips and sodas. This will serve as his reward. Do not worry, this will not disrupt his eating routine. It will just make him feel great and more motivated to stick to his diet plan.

Ice cream. Hamburger. Fries. Chips and sodas. These are the normal staples in the diets of American families. What is worse than the sodium, fat and calorie are the toddlers who rely on these foods to nourish their body. As a result, a lot of health complications occur. Hence, having a well-balanced and nutritious toddler diet is very imperative. Toddlers get a lot of benefit from eating healthy – brain cells are stimulated, disposition is always bright and happy and the immune system is protected from common health issues.

Problem # 1: Constipation

Constipation is a normal occurrence in toddlers. Generally, this happens due to poor diet and too much intake of fatty and oily foods. You know your little one has this ailment if he vomits, has stomach aches and becomes irritable.

How Dieting Can Fix It:

Resolving this common health problem is pretty simple. A change in your toddler’s diet can instantly relieve his discomfort. Incorporating more fiber and fluids into his daily meals improves his bowel movement since these two make the stool soft, making them easier to pass. Fruit juices are excellent sources of fluid. The skin of apples and pears are considered roughage which helps the digestive area to run smoothly. Staying away from fatty foods and dairy products (e.g. egg, cheese and milk) for the mean time also helps alleviate this intolerable condition. A toddler diet composed of cereals, wheat, broccoli, spinach and grapes taste good and will ease your toddler’s problem in no time at all.

Problem # 2: Energy Deficiency

With all the physical play your toddler does on a regular basis, his energy level may take a toll. While toddlers naturally have a high stamina, giving him a carbohydrate-rich diet will not only increase his energy but at the same time protect his immune system from inviting viruses.

How Dieting Can Fix It:

The perfect toddler diet consists of 4 to 6 small meals every day. Spacing out your little one’s meals will help control blood sugar and maintain good energy levels throughout the day. A well-proportioned diet of healthy fats like almonds and fish coupled with fiber-rich servings of fruits and vegetables can instantly perk up your toddler’s energy level. Sugary foods and drinks such as sodas, juices and cakes only add calories. The more fat he takes in, the lesser energy he gets.

A toddler diet that consist of the 7 energy foods – almonds, blueberries, green tea, olive oil, oranges, salmon and spinach give ample nutrients into the body increasing his alertness and vigor.

Problem # 3: Common Colds

Cold is the most popular virus infection and children are very prone to it. Common colds typically last for a week or two. In this period, your toddler is susceptible to acquire various ailments when proper treatment is not observed. Although dieting cannot resolve this illness completely, it can however shield the body from the dreaded bacteria attacks.

How Dieting Can Fix It:

Armed with the right medication, common colds can be treated in no time. Having a balanced diet that consist of green leafy vegetables, fiber-rich fruits and a lot of water greatly helps restore your toddler’s body in tiptop condition. Hot soups like chicken and corn soup keeps your toddler’s body hydrated, helps reduce nasal cavity swelling and provide protein for building antibodies that fights off viruses.

Problem # 4: Allergies

Allergy is most common to toddlers. They can get it from nuts, wheat, soy and dairy products. To help counteract it, child health experts advise parents to supply their children whole foods instead of processed foods.

How Dieting Can Fix It:

Consuming a whole foods diet that focuses on whole grains, fruits and vegetables will minimize your little one’s contact to chemicals found in processed foods. Eating a whole foods diet is the best way to control potential allergies as well as reduce the outbreak of your toddler’s present allergies. In addition, using a whole food diet is much easier to establish than a processed diet since with processed foods you need to meticulously read the labels first to make sure the ingredients do not contain any substance that can cause allergic reactions. Also, whole foods are rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that are all beneficial to your toddler’s body. Not only do you get to feed your toddler chemical free meals but you are also guaranteed that this natural diet can enrich your toddler’s overall development.

A healthy lifestyle is very essential to every individual especially with children. For during this phase, nutritionally-dense foods are significantly important for the proper growth and development of toddlers. As your little one continuously advances, his body needs to be able to adjust and adapt from all the physical and mental activities he does. Your toddler’s brain gets more developed as he grows older and what better way to achieve all these than by practicing a balanced diet.

Why Toddler Diet Is Essential to Your Toddler’s Health

As more and more health complications endanger toddlers from growing into fine young adults, the need to implement an appropriate toddler diet is highly suggested by most child health experts. To give you more encouragement, here are some benefits your little one can get from eating healthy:

Minimizes Chances of Getting Sick

At this stage, your toddler is prone to acquiring bacteria and germs that can often lead to sickness. Illnesses such as flu, cough, runny nose and respiratory syncytial virus are major enemies of parents and toddlers, and what better way to prevent him from getting the most common infections than by letting him eat healthy foods. A good diet containing vegetables and fruits have antioxidants which are a good source of vitamins and minerals. These helps block his immune system from easily obtaining any diseases. Plus, a diet consisting of whole foods do not contain additives (e.g. fish, soy and wheat) and are less likely to cause allergies.

Ensures Proper Overall Growth

A toddler diet does not only boost a particular organ or area in your toddler. What it does is to evenly distribute all the nutrients and minerals throughout his body. In this way, every area gets all the proper nourishing it needs. His brain, blood, muscles and organs are well taken care of which in turn results to a proper mental, physical, emotional and cognitive development.

Strengthens Teeth and Bones

With all the physical activities your toddler does on a daily basis, he needs something strong that can fortify his bones. A toddler diet that is rich in calcium and fluoride helps develop strong teeth and strengthens weak bones. Incorporate his diet with milk, orange juice, eggs, cheese, spinach and other green leafy vegetables which are good examples of calcium giving foods.

Improves His Energy Level

With a balanced diet, your toddler can get just the right amount of calories he needs to fuel his entire day. He is able to eat a little of everything healthy which is more important than eating only a single healthy food in a day. In addition, having a balanced toddler diet can help his high metabolic rate. In this way, he no longer needs to eat something sweet (e.g. candy, chocolates, sodas, etc.) each time he gets hungry to replenish lost energy. Also, since his body and mind are in a good state, they would synchronize effectively which helps boost his energy level.

Controls Weight

These days, it is a common case for toddlers to have weight problems. Toddlers being obese at such an early age have doubled over the last two years. A toddler’s diet consists of ample proportions of food which are very imperative to help his weight be proportionate to his age and height.

The best way for you to determine the correct diet for your toddler is to contact his doctor. By doing so, the doctor will be able to evaluate your toddler’s health and condition and recommend a diet plan your toddler will love.