The Benefits of Having a Well Nourished Child

You are what you eat. This applies to children just as it does to adults. The benefits of making sure that your child eats properly straight from age 0 to 19 are many.

Here is what you can accomplish for your child if you try to bring them up right and teach them to shop well and eat well —

• An emotionally balanced individual who is less likely to suffer from mood swings or depression because the proper nutrition has allowed their brains to develop correctly
• A physically healthier person who is less prone to diseases of all kinds (this is especially true of kids who were breastfed and not fed bottled milk all of their lives.)
• A person who is not likely to develop allergies or other disorders (also the result of being breast fed instead of bottle fed)
• A person who is less prone to obesity (because they have not been exposed to sugar at a young age)
• An individual that has a healthy self-image and does not need to resort to behaviors like bulimia or anorexia (because he or she has not grown up in a household where food is used as emotional blackmail or as a punishment or a reward)
• A calm productive person who does well in school (because a well nourished brain is one that is able to focus and does not develop problems like ADD)
• A richer adult who does not blow money on expensive junk food or impulse purchases at the grocery store (because he or she does not experience cravings)

• A person who can cook healthy nutritious meals and pass good lifestyle habits through to the next generation

Above all you will be raising an individual who is accountable for himself or herself and who is less likely to be a burden on the medical system! Obesity costs Canadians and Americans millions of dollars each year. The system is overloaded with people who think that food comes from a restaurant, box or package. Possibly the best thing you can do is teach your child to buy healthy produce and cook it. Teach them about the evils of too much salt, sugar and fat earlier in life so they do not develop a taste for it.

Furthermore any children that your children have are likely to be healthier as well – good nutrition is a gift that keeps on giving onwards through those who descend from you!

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What to Expect When Your Toddler Starts Eating

Once your baby reaches the one month stage he or she is no longer an infant. The first three years of life are a period of incredible growth in all areas of a baby's development.

Be sure too to read this chapter no matter how old your child is…a lot of wisdom here applies to children and also adults, especially in the nutrition sections.

From one year to two years old the child will learn how to feed him or herself many different foods. You might also see the toddler begin to use utensils such as a fork or a spoon. The toddler will be using actions and words to communicate thoughts and feeling. He or she may be showing you want he or she wants to eat, what he or she finds delicious and what he or she does not want to eat.

You might find the child is more willing to try new foods and be more willing to depend on herself instead of you.

The toddler is also going to start becoming quite messy. They love to play with their food and paint everything with it, including the tray, the big and you. Many toddlers will throw food and plates for fun and also drop food on the floor.

From two years to three years old the toddler might start choosing which foods to eat. He or she might use words to express thoughts and feelings.

This is the age at which your toddler will learn how to tell you he or she is full. This is very important in the long term for the health of your child. Knowing when to stop eating stops your toddler from growing up to be and overweight child.

Pay attention when your toddler makes a fuss about eating a certain food. It could be that the food is too strong in taste, too hot or even that your toddler is having a mild allergic reaction to it.

A happy toddler is not screaming, crying and protesting while eating. He or she may play with the food but usually they see meal time as a positive, even creative experience.

Understanding that your toddler needs to play with food helps they develop in a healthy way later in life.

From one to three years old, your toddler's palate will expand and so will your menu.
• Offer 3-4 healthy choices during mealtimes
• Offer 2-3 healthy snacks a day.
• Stop making separate meals for the toddler and integrate what the whole family is eating into the toddler diet
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One of the most important things you can do for a toddler is to eat at the same time every day. This helps them get used to the idea of meal-time

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