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Toddler Nutrition and Development

Posted on Monday, 24 October 2011 01:02PM by Carina Venter Registered Dietitian, PhD

There are many aspects in a toddler’s life that should be taken into account to ensure a happy child that is developing well. These include amongst others being loved, played with, keeping active, setting boundaries and routines and getting enough sleep. Nutrition however, also plays a fundamental part is this.

Where does it all start?
Most parents start the weaning process hoping that this early feeding experience will lead to children with an appetite and preference for healthy foods such as whole grains, fruit and vegetables. Research has after all shown that the variety and types of foods we offer our children during the first year of life, to a great extent determine their food intake in later childhood.

It is therefore very distressing for parents, when spinach, beet root and butternut squash eating infant, turns into a toddler who refuses food once eaten quite happily! This is however a normal occurrence and is often referred to as the “neophobic phase” i.e. children start to refuse some foods and are reluctant to try new foods - often referred to as faddy eating. The good news is however that babies who have received a wide range of weaning foods are less likely to become extremely faddy and pass through this phase without any serious consequences.

The importance of the family diet
It is important that parents are re-assured during this “difficult” feeding stage and realise that the most important factor which determines what toddlers eat, is the example set by their parents and siblings – prompting them to continue to eat familiar foods and try new ones.
Parents therefore need to understand about healthy food choices (which does not always have to a be a so-called healthy food), in order to set the desired example – so don’t be hesitant to try the Benjoy range of healthy snacks.

Guidance from the Government
There currently appears to be considerable confusion over what a healthy diet for infants and toddlers is, with many parents feeling that the advice given to them is inconsistent as highlighted by a poll from the Infant and Toddler forum in 2009 (www.infantandtoddlerforum.org). The Department of Health (DH) recommends that toddlers should be fed family meals and snacks, taking into account that they need less fibre and slightly more fat than adults. Therefore, if a family consumes a high fat, low fibre diet to start with, following the DH becomes less applicable for the toddler!

The working mother
Although many parenting duties in the UK are shared between parents, it is important to note that in the UK, 63% of mothers are working, with 29% working full-time (www.workingmums.co.uk), putting a strain on the amount of time to prepare meals and snacks vs. playing and spending time with the children.

Excess or deficiencies?

Toddlers diets in the UK is in many ways a diet of excess, with significant amounts of biscuits, savoury snacks, chocolates and soft drinks being consumed and this may play a role in the increase in the rising numbers of obese toddlers.
However, the opposite is also true with many UK toddlers’ diets deficient in essential vitamins and minerals. Up to 82% of toddlers consume a diet providing less than the recommended intake of iron. A further 95% of toddlers consume less vitamin D than the recommended amounts and about 50% have a low vitamin A intake. Did you know? The Department of Health recommends for children up to five years: Vitamin supplements should be given unless adequate vitamin status can be assured from a diverse diet containing vitamin A & D rich foods and from moderate exposure to sunlight.

Dietary guidance for toddlers

Healthy eating guidelines for toddlers as, as set out by the Food Standards Agency Department of Health and British Dietetic Association can be summarised as follows:

Toddlers and young children need a healthy balance of nutrients which will be supplied by including foods from all 5 food groups on a daily basis.
Toddlers and young children need a diet which is higher in fat and lower in fibre than that recommended for adults and children over five years.
Three meals and two to three nutritious snacks per day should provide all the nutrients and energy toddlers need – taking into consideration that not all children will need to snack this often.
Nutrients of particular importance to toddlers and young children are vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, Iron and zinc and calcium.
Omega-3 fatty acids play an important role in brain function, visual acuity and allergy prevention in young children.
Foods to avoid are: large quantities of salty and sugary foods, and acidic drinks, drinks with sweeteners, raw eggs, raw shellfish, some large fish and whole nuts.
Toddlers and young children should have six to eight drinks per day to ensure adequate hydration.
As the toddler gets older, they will gradually eat more (see www.infantandtoddlerforum for information on toddler portion sizes).

Five Food Groups
1)     Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods;
2)     Fruit and vegetables;
3)     Milk and dairy foods;
4)     Meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein;
5)     Foods and drinks high in fat and/or sugar

A combination of foods from these groups should be offered, starchy foods, fruit and vegetables ideally at each meal and some snack times. Milk and dairy foods should be offered three times per day. Meat and alternatives can be offered twice per day for non-vegetarians and three times per day for vegetarians. Some sugary at fatty foods can be offered at meal times. Remember: There is a place for sugary foods in a toddlers diet, but more than four servings per day can increase the risk of obesity and dental caries[5]. Food intake should be evaluated weekly rather than daily – the amounts that toddlers eat vary from day to day based on activity, emotional and wellness factors. The emphasis should always be on offered and not forced to eat!

At Benjoy we understand parental confusion about what toddlers should eat. We understand parental confusion about how much children should eat; trying to find a balance between the accelerated growth, increased activity and the amount of food/calories toddlers need. We have therefore developed our range of snacks alongside healthy eating guidance, taking into account common nutrient deficiencies in the UK, to make life a little bit easier (and less messy) for parents to provide tasty, healthy snacks to 1-5 year old children taking into account the particular nutritional needs and suitable textures for this age group.

Our freeze dried strawberries is the equivalent of 60 strawberries (8-12 depending on the size) and provides more than 50% of toddlers daily Vitamin C requirements (RNI).

Our crunchy grapes is the ideal solution for children who prefers bite-and-dissolve textures (like some puffed crisps), but a so much better alternative. It is the equivalent of 55g grapes (a small bunch) and a good source of natural anti-oxidants also called flavonoids.

Our mini vegetable crisps contains 4 types of vegetables: Parsnip, Beetroot, Carrot and Sweet potato. It contains 5 important nutrients, folic acid, iron, calcium, omega-3 fats and beta-carotene (converts to vitamin A). We are particularly proud that our crisps provide almost 50% of a toddlers vitamin A requirement, which we know toddlers are likely to be lacking in. Our multigrain bites are made from a specially selected blend of grains (rice, quinoa, oat and wheat) to provide a range of minerals and flavoured with either apple and strawberry juice/carrot and tomato– so no added sugars or flavours.

With our multigrain munchers we improved the nutritional profile even further by adding seeds to the mixture of grains, flavoured with tomato and roast peppers.
These munchy little snacks are a source of iron and calcium and provide almost 40% of the recommended intake of omega-3 fatty acids for 1-3yrs and almost 30% for 4-6yr olds (there is no official RNI for Omega 3 just a recommended intake).

RNI refers to Recommended Nutrient Intake and is an amount of nutrient recommended that would provide sufficient amounts of that nutrient for > 90% of the population of a certain age group.