How to feed the child with poor appetite

 

    




To correctly feed the child is a kind of measure of our parental competence, and poor appetite in a child jeopardizes this competence. An urgent need to do something if the child does not eat, because we feel that children need to "push" food at all costs, even against common sense (after all, behind – the years of scarcity, social upheaval, wars, famines.) Whether it is a child? About the children's appetite and food manipulation says our expert, pediatrician, nutritionist Elena Motova.

 

 

Food without appetite
Understand and remember that force-feeding is absolutely unacceptable. The child's body system self-regulating, and if a child at a particular point in time does not want to eat, it does not mean that he has a poor appetite: it is in the emergence of feelings of hunger the child's body is ready to take food, digest it and turn it into building material for their growth and development. Eating without an appetite, and under duress (the time has come, and if you don't eat right now, skinny and sick), simply will not be absorbed properly and will not bring nothing but harm.
If the child does not want to eat, reasonable parent send him to work up an appetite before the snack, dinner or next family meal. Nothing to worry for this time he was not going to happen, we are so constituted that they can live without food for quite a long time, but the next time the kid will eat with pleasure and without additional parental effort.





Food manipulation
After the first year of life, when the child is actively growing and are almost always happy parents of a good appetite, there are other times when growth slows down and food is replaced by the dominant knowledge of the world and himself. Therefore, the food becomes less important and the baby during the meal, distracted, rejects certain foods, eats little and selectively.
Very often this natural stage of development of the child afflicts parents, they are worried about the question: "What to do if a child does not eat?". And start persuasion.
Even those of us who will never feed the baby against his wishes, I beg to eat a spoonful for dad, mom or grandma, distract and entertain, satisfy all the requirements and whims, if only to feed at any cost. The consequences of this "wanted as better, and it turned out as always" – the increasing problems with appetite and nutrition as they grow older.
Children are great psychologists, and the understanding of how their food is important for moms and dads, gives a huge scope for manipulation. The child agrees there are only two or three of their favorite products, only eat under the TV or sitting on your dad's shoulders when it is fed with a spoon. Every Breakfast, lunch or dinner turns into conflict, and for the eaten porridge or soup child wants a new toy.
I did not exaggerate, all the above are real stories from my pediatric practice.

As the appetite of the child is associated with energy?
Modern preschooler — a child of the big city who walks two hours in the kindergarten, and the rest of the time is dedicating more peaceful pursuits. A student who for lessons, computer, electives and clubs in General have forgotten what the movement. Are you surprised that such a healthy child's poor appetite? Food replenishes spent energy, if a child or an adult leads a sedentary life, its energy consumption is minimal.
Poor appetite in a child and you want to eat better? Sunday is a hike in fast food cafe is to go to the Park to ride bikes, but if you limit time at the computer and TV, will be able to run in the yard or go camping. You will be surprised after a walk in the woods or swimming in the lake, but just on a picnic, your maloezhka'll eat whatever you offer him.
The who strongly recommends that children five to seventeen years of age at least one hour a day to devote to "physical activity of moderate to high intensity" and better, if this time will be more.
Active lifestyle, Hiking, outdoor games, physical training at home and at school is necessary if you want a healthy baby with a good appetite. Another condition for a – movement should be fun!





Problem eating behavior in children
The trouble with modern children (and adults) that they absolutely do not know what the feeling of hunger. The natural mechanism of hunger-saturation of replaced food out of obligation, without appetite. And it's scary because these highly complex processes are regulated by hormones of the internal organs (stomach, intestine, adipose tissue, pancreas), and structures of the brain, leading role in the control of eating behavior is played by the hypothalamus. What do you think happens if, instead of the hypothalamus and hormones the amount of food eaten all the time governed by someone else's unauthorized volition? The system gets out of order, and sometimes breaks down. Energy balance, which represents the balance between energy from food and that which is spent on the activity, disturbed.

How to understand a little or a lot.
The most common question the doctor whether enough food is received by the child. Strange to think that the abundance of food someone can be malnourished, more likely the opposite. Parents, I asked to keep a food diary, that is to record everything the child eats during the day at least a week, was very surprised when we together analysed the results. In most cases it turned out that their boy or girl eat enough quantitatively but not always qualitatively. In fact, the amount of food a child eats may increase very slightly from one year to three years. Children aren't machines that require more or less the same amount of gasoline per kilometer. Today your toddler can eat very little, but make up for it tomorrow or next week.

How to stop worrying about food?
If you want to tackle the baby food for a long time did not leave you, I suggest as much to worry about the fact that the child does not eat. Every hour ask the child if he wants is, all the free time in the kitchen, inventing new tasty dishes for him, discuss with the tragic tone of appetite/weight/food habits of the child with all who will listen.
But seriously, do not have to be a nutritionist or a pediatrician, to once and forever get rid of the problems with food, but it is absolutely necessary to remain calm, patience and common sense.
The rolling of a healthy child from time to time there are periods of time when growth is slowing, the intensity of exchange processes decreases, so he eats little or rarely. Impact on appetite hormones, heredity, and even the time of year, and even with them there's nothing we can do about it. Just accept the fact that sometimes the child refuses to eat and this is perfectly normal.

 

  

 

Source: www.gastronom.ru