Family Nutrition

WIC - Children FAQ's

From Bright Futures in Practice:  Nutrition

• How can I teach my child healthy eating behaviors?
• How can I make mealtimes enjoyable?
• My 2-year-old's appetite has changed.  Should I be worried?
• How much should I feed my child?
• My child sometimes dawdles during meals.  What can I do?
• What can I do about my picky eater?
• How should I handle food struggles with my child?
• My child wants to eat only peanut butter sandwiches.  What should I do?
• How can I get my child to try new foods?
• What should I give my child to drink?
• How can I help my child, who does not drink milk, get enough calcium?
• Should I give my child a vitamin and mineral supplement?
• What should I do if my child seems overweight?
• How can I help my child like her body?
• Should my child eat low-fat foods?
• How can I prevent my child from choking?
• What can I do to make grocery shopping with my child pleasant?
• How can I encourage my child to be more physically active?

How can I teach my child healthy eating behaviors?

• Be a positive role model - practice healthy eating behaviors yourself.
• Eat meals together as a family.
• Understand that your child will like or dislike certain foods.
• Let your child decide whether to eat and how much.
• Offer a variety of healthy foods, and encourage your child to try different ones.
• Let your child participate in food shopping and preparation.
• Teach your child where foods come from and how foods are grown (for example, plant a garden or visit a farm, orchard, or farmers' market).
• Do not use food to reward, bribe, or punish your child.

How can I make mealtimes enjoyable?

• Serve meals and snacks on a predictable but flexible schedule.
• Let your child decide whether to eat and how much.
• Be patient and understanding if your child makes a mess while she learns to feed herself.
• Use your child's favorite plate, bowl, cup, and eating utensils.
• Give your child the opportunity to share the events of the day.
• Praise your child for trying new foods and for practicing appropriate behavior at the table.
• Create a relaxed setting for meals.  Put stresses of the day aside.
• Do not insist that your child eat all the foods on her plate before dessert.  Consider serving dessert with the meal.
• Let your child leave the table when she has finished eating.

My 2-year-old's appetite has changed.  Should I be worried?

• Children grow more slowly from ages 1 to 5.  Young children's appetites are usually smaller than those of babies.
• Children's appetites change a lot from day to day, even from meal to meal.  If your child is energetic and growing, he is probably eating enough.

How much should I feed my child?

• Children usually eat small portions.  Offer small portions, and let your child ask for more if she is still hungry.
• Children 2 to 3 need the same number of servings as children 4 to 6, but they may need smaller portions - about 2/3 of a serving.
• By the time your child is 4, she can eat serving sizes similar to those eaten by older family members:  ½ cup of fruits or vegetables; ¾ cup of juice; 1 slice of bread; 2 to 3 oz of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish.
• Children 2 to 6 need two servings of milk, yogurt, or cheese per day.

My child sometimes dawdles during meals.  What can I do?

• It is normal for children to lose interest in an activity, including eating, after a short time.  They are also easily distracted.  Try to reduce distractions (for example, television) during meals and snacks.
• Routines are important to children.  Serve scheduled meals and snacks.

What can I do about my picky eater?

• Look at your child's eating over time rather than at each meal.  If your child is energetic and growing, he is probably eating enough.
• Offer your child food choices and let him decide.
• Continue to serve a new food even if your child has rejected it.
• Let your child participate in food shopping and preparation.
• Do not use food to reward, bribe, or punish your child.

How should I handle food struggles with my child?

• Your child may struggle with you over food in an attempt to make decisions and become independent.
• Do not struggle with your child over food.  Struggling over food may make her even more determined.
• Let your child decide whether to eat and how much.

My child wants to eat only peanut butter sandwiches.  What should I do?

• Food jags in children (when children want to eat only a particular food) are common.
• Offer smaller servings of the favored food, along with other foods to ensure that your child eats a variety of foods.
• Jags rarely last long enough to be harmful.  If your child is energetic and growing, he is probably eating enough.

How can I get my child to try new foods?

• Offer small portions of new foods - perhaps 1 or 1 tablespoons - and let your child ask for more.
• Encourage your child to try a new food, but don't force her to eat it.  She probably won't try new foods if she is tired, irritable, or sick.
• Continue to serve a new food even if your child has rejected it.  It may take several times before she accepts the food.
• Serve your child's favorite foods along with new foods.  She may be more willing to try new foods if her favorites are on her plate.
• Be a positive role model - eat new foods yourself.
• Introduce a new food in a neutral manner.  Talk about the food's color, shape, size, aroma, and texture, but don't talk about whether it tastes good.
• Make trying new foods appealing by involving our child in shopping and preparing the food.
• Be creative.  For example, cut foods into various shapes using cookie cutters and create fun names for foods (for example, "little trees" for broccoli).

What should I give my child to drink?

• Your child may not indicate when he is thirsty.  Make sure he drinks water often, especially between meals and snacks.
• Your child should consume about 2 cups (16 oz total) of milk per day.  Drinking more than this may reduce your child's appetite for other healthy foods.
• Children younger than 2 should drink whole milk.  Older children can drink 2 percent, low-fat, or skim milk.
• Offer juice in small amounts (4 to 8 oz per day).  Drinking more than this can reduce our child's appetite for other healthy foods.
• Serve your child juice in a cup, not a bottle.  Juice served in a bottle can cover your child's teeth with sugar for long periods of time and contribute to early childhood caries (baby bottle tooth decay).

How can I help my child, who does not drink milk, get enough calcium?

• Serve flavored milk (for example, chocolate or strawberry).
• Use dairy foods in recipes (for example, in puddings, milkshakes, soups, casseroles, and cooked cereals).
• Serve dairy foods for snacks (for example, cheese, yogurt, and frozen yogurt).
• Serve other calcium-rich foods (for example, tofu [if processed with calcium sulfate], broccoli, and turnip greens).
• If your child is lactose intolerant, try serving small portions of milk and other dairy foods frequently; milk with a meal or snack; yogurt or lactose-reduced milk; aged hard cheeses (for example, Cheddar, Colby, Swiss and Parmesan) that are low in lactose; or lactase tablets or drops in the milk.
• Serve calcium-fortified foods (for example, orange juice or cereal).
• If these strategies don't work, talk to a health professional about giving our child a calcium supplement.

Should I give my child a vitamin and mineral supplement?

• If your child is growing and eats a variety of healthy foods, she does not need a vitamin and mineral supplement.
• If your child does take a vitamin and mineral supplement, keep the bottle out of her reach.   The supplement may look like candy and consuming too many at once can be harmful.
• Talk to a health professional if you are considering giving your child a vitamin and mineral supplement.

What should I do if my child seems overweight?

• If your child is growing, eats healthy foods, and is physically active, you do not need to worry about whether he is overweight.
• Let your child know that people come in unique sizes and shapes and that he is loved just as he is.  Never criticize your child's size or shape.
• If others comment about the size or shape of your child, redirect their comments to your child's other attributes.
• Be a role model - practice healthy eating behaviors and participate in regular physical activity.
• Focus on gradually changing the entire family's eating behaviors and physical activity practices instead of singling out the overweight child.
• Plan family activities that everyone enjoys (for example, hiking, biking, or swimming).
• Limit to 1 to 2 hours per day the amount of time your child spends watching television and videotapes and playing computer games.
• Serve scheduled meals and snacks.
• Do not forbid sweets and desserts.  Serve them in moderation.
• Never place your child on a diet to lose weight, unless a health professional recommends one for medical reasons and supervises it.

How can I help my child like her body?

• Be a positive role model - don't criticize your own size or shape or that of others.
• Focus on traits other than appearance when talking to your child.

Should my child eat low-fat foods?

• Skim and low-fat milk are not recommended during the first 2 years, because babies and young children need fat for growth and development.
• After 2 years of age, children should gradually eat more low-fat foods.  As they begin to consume fewer calories from fat, children need more bread and cereals, fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk, lean meats, and other high-protein foods.
• It is important for children to consume enough calories to grow well.  When children are very active or having a growth spurt, their energy needs may be higher.

How can I prevent my child from choking?

• Stay with your child while he is eating.
• Have your child sit while eating.  Eating while walking or running may cause him to choke on his food.
• Keep things calm at meal and snack times.  If your child becomes overexcited, he may choke on his food.
• Choking can also result when children try to put too much food in their mouths at once.
• For children younger than 2, avoid foods that may cause choking (for example, hard candy, mini-marshmallows, popcorn, pretzels, chips, spoonfuls of peanut butter, nuts, seeds, large chunks of meat, hot dogs, raw carrots, raisins and other dried fruits, and whole grapes).
• Children ages 2 to 5 may eat these foods if they are modified to make them safer (for example, cutting hot dogs in quarters lengthwise and then into small pieces, cutting whole grapes in half lengthwise, chopping nuts finely, chopping raw carrots finely or into thin strips, and spreading peanut butter thinly on crackers or bread).
• Avoid letting your child eat in the car.  If he is choking, you won't be able to help him if you are driving.

What can I do to make grocery shopping with my child pleasant?

• Go shopping when neither you nor your child is hungry.
• Make a list in advance to save time at the store.
• Use a safety belt when your child rides in a shopping cart.
• Bring toys to keep your child busy.
• Set up clear rules of behavior (for example, no climbing out of the cart and no asking for candy), and praise your child for following the rules.
• Ask your child to help you look for food items.
• Talk to your child about what you are buying.
• If possible, do not rush your child.  Children love to look around and discuss what they see.

How can I encourage my child to be more physically active?

• Encourage active, spur-of-the-moment play.
• Limit to 1 to 2 hours per day the time your child spends watching television and videotapes and playing computer games.
• For every hour your child reads, watches television and videotapes, or plays computer games, encourage her to take a 10-minute physical activity break.
• Involve your child in family chores (for example, raking leaves or walking the dog).
• Plan at least one special physical activity (for example, a hike or bike ride) each week.
• Be a positive role model - participate in physical activity yourself.
• Play together (for example, play ball, chase, tag, or hopscotch).
• Enroll your child in planned physical activities (for example, swimming or dancing lessons or gymnastics).
• Work with community leaders to ensure that your child has safe places for participating in physical activity (for example, walking and biking paths, playgrounds, parks, and community centers).

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