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Nutritious meal times |
Food |
 Eating nutritious food and learning good meal-time behaviours are important for children due to the rapid growth and the major developmental changes that they undergo. Meal times can also be an opportunity for learning and developing social and motor skills, and for being introduced to new foods. Skills such as
hand-washing, table manners, and carrying on a conversation at the dinner table can be developed and reinforced. Age-appropriate motor skills can be fostered by encouraging children to use child-sized utensils and encouraging children to clear their dishes and utensils from the table. Child-sized furniture and
hand-washing sinks help children feel comfortable.
Make sure that the children wash their hands both before and after eating. Serve food "family style" and eat as a group. This gives the provider the opportunity to promote good table manners by setting an example and gives the children the chance to follow that behaviour and talk with other children. Serve small portions, but offer additional servings to meet individual needs. Don't force a child to eat. Young children vary the amount of food they consume from day to day and may also have very strong likes and dislikes. And don't use food as a reward or punishment.
 Make sure that children with special needs receive particular foods or assistance, in eating, that they may require. Check with the health care professional for specific instructions. Children cannot be viewed simply as miniature adults on similarities and differences between children and adults. Environmental factors related to children can affect their risk from foods, pesticide residues or other substances. Most notably, children's dietary patterns differ from adults in both quantity and types of foods consumed. In relation to body weight, children eat more food than adults to meet their demands for rapid growth. This is particularly true among
pre-schoolers.
 Also, children's consumption of certain types of foods such as fruits and fruit juices can be quite different from adults. In addition to these basic dietary differences, variables such as nutritional status, socio-economic level, culture and geographic location can profoundly affect a child's health risk from certain substances. Several biological factors in children can make them either more or less sensitive than adults to various substances. Children have higher rates of breathing and blood flow, and many of their organ cells multiply at a faster rate through normal growth. Also, the rate at which certain drugs or chemicals pass through cell membranes in children varies from adults, influencing potential toxicity.
In addition, children's metabolism of certain chemicals may be more or less efficient than adults. Some scientists believe this phenomenon may be due to children's greater capacity to safely eliminate the drug by non-toxic metabolic pathways. The immature immune systems of infants and children can also place them at greater risk from infection, including microbiological contamination of foods.
Courtesy: Kid Source
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