Feeding Your Preschooler

Feeding your 1-3 year old is a challenging, but rewarding, task! It is important to recognize that parents and children have different roles in feeding.¹ A parent's responsibility is to offer healthy foods and to decide when and where meals and snacks will be served. It is the child's responsibility to choose what to eat, and how much to eat.¹

Children’s appetites can change from day to day, but they know when they have had enough to eat.¹ Most kids stop eating when they are full. Trust their cues. Your child will get enough to eat if you offer regular meals and snacks and let them choose from what is served. Look at what your child eats over a period of time and don’t focus on a few small meals. You are an important role model for your child. If you eat right, are active and have a positive attitude, your child will follow your lead.