Feeding
Your Toddler - Do's And Don'ts
Making sure your toddler gets a healthy, balanced diet is fairly simple
but don't assume what's good for adults is necessarily the best choice
for a toddler.
Low-fat,
high fibre food, for example, can prevent under-fives getting the maximum
vitamins from their food - despite being highly recommended for a grown-up's
diet.
Convenience
foods
Frozen and chilled food is generally nutritionally sound. Food that's
dehydrated or tinned may fill the stomach, but doesn't have the nutrition
of fresh food. Dehydrated food has a great deal of salt, which will put
strain on the kidneys of under-2s. Processed foods also have chemical
colourings, flavourings and preservatives, the effect of which is unknown.
Drinks
Avoid sweetened drinks. They're bad for
your baby's teeth and give her a taste for overly sweet things. Even those
labelled 'no added sugar' contain enough fruit-sugar to harm the teeth.
If she's thirsty, boiled cooled water is best. If she's hungry between
meals, she can still have a bottle of milk.
Calories
Many foods are sold as 'low calorie' and restricting
calorie intake is common among adults. Low calorie foods are not suitable
for toddlers. They need extra calories to fuel their growth.
Avoid sweetened breakfast cereals and salty chips.
Give her complex carbohydrates, like bananas, bread or pasta, to fill
her up and give her enough energy to keep going. Toddlers eat little and
often. As well as eating 3 times a day with you, she'll also need nutritious
snacks to keep her going between meals.
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