If your toddler is turning away pretty much everything that you serve on the plate, you may have a picky eater on your hands. It certainly is worrying when your little one creates a fuss about eating on a regular basis.
A decrease in appetite is a common woe for many parents that can leave you cooking up some creative ways to serve regular food. When this doesn’t work its magic too, you are left to worry about how your child will receive his share of nutrients for the day.
Appetite loss is the lack of hunger or the desire to eat anything. This is common in children between the age of two and six. This usually happens because your kid’s growth rate slows significantly after the first year. In the first year, your child may have put on about 5 to 6 kg in weight. However, between one to six years, they will put on only about 2kg per year. They may even go for three to four months without gaining any weight.
The child’s brain has an appetite centre that regulates the food intake and directs the child to eat as much as they require to grow and conserve energy. Since they aren’t growing as fast anymore, they tend to have a weaker appetite, which is also called as psychological anorexia.
While a slow rate of growth may be the leading cause of loss of appetite in toddlers, there may also be others reasons.
If your child is sick and has a fever, a sore throat or other symptoms, there may be a decrease in appetite during the process of recuperation.
Sudden changes such as instances like loss of a loved one can cause stress to kids and trigger a loss of appetite in kids. It can also cause them to become more anxious and aggressive towards others.
If your toddler has access to junk food in between meals, then his appetite is bound to drop during meal time. This might also lead to a variety of health problems along with obesity in children.
Drinking too much liquid, except water, in between and during meals can cause a loss of appetite as your child will feel fuller.
If your child has iron deficiency anaemia, then he or she may feel weak and see a decrease in appetite.
When your toddler isn’t physically active and is spending too much time in front of the TV or sitting, then it will hamper his digestion, causing a loss of appetite.
You may sometimes mistake your toddler’s nature decrease in appetite as lack of appetite. Here is a chart of nutrients that your toddler needs on a daily basis.
Food Type | Two-year-old | Three year old | What can be given (example) |
Fruits | 1 cup | 1 to 1 ½ cups | · Fresh juice · Fruit puree · Whole fruits
|
Vegetables | 1 cup | 1 to 1 ½ cups | · Mashed or chopped vegetables · Raw green leaves · Vegetable juice · Corn |
Grains | 85 grams | 100-150 grams | · Bread · Poha · Rice or Daliya(porridge) · Roti
|
Protein Foods | 55 grams | 85-100 grams | · Cooked meat, chicken, seafood · Eggs · Lentils · Cooked beans or peas |
Dairy | 2 cup | 2 ½ Cups | · Milk · Curd · Paneer |
Increasing appetite in toddlers involves a lot of patience and observation. Once you identify the reason for the lack of appetite, you can cater to the solution accordingly.
Tips to Boost Your Toddler’s Appetite
In case your child is a picky eater you can follow the following tips and home remedies to increase appetite in toddlers.
In the attempt to boost your child’s eating, do not engage in the following,
If you notice the following, you may need to consult a doctor as soon as possible.
It is possible that every often parents misunderstand the child’s changing needs for a serious loss of appetite. This I when they tend to fuel the problem by forcing the child to eat or complaining that their child doesn’t eat. It is essential that you exercise patience if your toddler isn’t consuming the normal amount. Check his or her weight and height against the age and you’ll usually notice that there is little to worry about.