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Toddler Nutrition

This photo is licensed under cc by sa 2.0 by Pink Sherbet Photography

I'm sure that no one has to tell you that it's important to make healthy choices for yourself and for your toddler.

But with the ever-expanding choice of foods available in Australian supermarkets these days, it can be confusing and sometimes even difficult to select foods that are the best for your health.

Here are some toddler nutrition issues that cause concern for many parents, and some guidelines to help you make those healthy choices.

Variety

Offer a variety of foods, even though your toddler can be very selective about which foods she will and won't eat.

Here's The Skinny on Fat...

Fat is an essential part of your toddler's diet. They need it as a source of energy and for brain development. However don't go jumping up and down with joy thinking you and your toddler can go out and eat MacDonald's, KFC and other fried foods everyday because "it's for her brain development".

In fact these are just the sorts of food you should avoid as they are high in fat but low in essential nutrients.

Always use full-fat dairy products in the food you offer your toddler, up until they are about 4 to 5 years of age, where you can gradually reduce the amount of fat and even use reduced-fat dairy products if you wish.

My view is that if you are a vegetarian or vegan, there is really no need to stop your toddler from eating meat, chicken, eggs, cheese, milk or yoghurt.

These foods all supply valuable nutrients for growth. Note that if you give your toddler a low-fat diet, it may affect her growth.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fat which is essential for making certain hormones as well as nerve and brain cells. Toddlers (and adults) do not need to eat cholesterol as the body makes its own.

Foods such as eggs, meat, chicken and dairy products contain cholesterol, and cutting back these foods from your toddler's diet does not prevent high cholesterol when they become adults.

You should however limit the intake of saturated fats (like butter, cream, and margarine) found in foods such as biscuits, cakes, pastries, chocolate, fast foods and some dairy products.

Sugar

Problems such as tooth decay and toddler diarrhoea are caused by excessive sugar in toddler's diets. Sugar also gets in the way of good eating habits.

Limiting the amount of fruit juice consumed by your toddler is a good way of reducing the amount of sugar in her diet.

Salt

The taste for salt (or sodium chloride) is acquired over time. If you do not add a lot of salt in your toddler's diet, she will not develop a taste for it.

It is okay to add a little sprinkle of salt on your toddler's food for culinary purposes, but I'd say that it’s best to avoid it if you can. Our bodies do not need so much salt, and the naturally-occurring salt in foods such as fish, meat, eggs, milk and vegetables is enough to meet the body's needs for sodium.

So it's a good idea not to start giving babies salted foods in the first place!

In addition to not adding salt to your toddler's food, also try to avoid giving your toddler foods which are high in salt, such as processed foods, fast foods, many snack foods, certain biscuits and crackers, and even some breakfast cereals. Be sure to read the nutritional information on the packaging!

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