Children are not picky about food, just not that hungry

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: You may think your child is a picky eater, but is he really? And if she is a picky eater, why?
Children need different amounts of food at different stages of their growth.
And with the best intentions in the world, we often try to feed our children too much.
When they refuse, we think they are being picky, but actually they’re just not hungry, says an American paediatrics professor.
"Many parents run to the paediatrician complaining that their children are picky eaters because they don’t eat as much as they did when they were infants or toddlers," said Ohio State University clinical professor of paediatrics Dr William MacLean.
But if everyone ate as much as they did at infancy, everyone would be ridiculously obese, he added.
He also said working mothers did not always realise how much food their children were actually eating.
"Babysitters, maids, grandmothers and even fathers give them snacks. Sometimes, they have a late, heavy lunch.
"So when mum comes home from work and her child doesn’t want any dinner, she thinks he’s not eating enough. She shouldn’t panic. She should ask how much the child has eaten," Dr MacLean said at a media briefing entitled Picky Eating; A Growing Concern that Cannot be Ignored.
He said certain medical conditions could lead to picky eating and should be investigated but often the parents were just trying too hard to get their child to eat.
Let the child eat by herself at her own speed, even if she does make a mess.
If the child is still too young to eat by herself, give him a time out and wait for a while if she refuses to eat.
He said it was important for the child to have a pleasant eating experience so that she wouldn’t associate mealtimes with bad things.
He also stressed that parents should be practical when it came to their children’s growth.
"Some children are skinnier than others, while others are shorter than the rest.
"Most don’t have trouble gaining weight over time. Some children come from parents who are shorter than other parents.
"Growth depends a lot on genetic potential," he said, adding that supplements could not replace nutritionally-balanced meals.
He said parents should keep track and measure the child’s weight and height to see if it was normal for her age.
If a problem arises, the measurements can help doctors determine whether or not the child could have an eating disorder.
MacLean has been a nutritional consultant for the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation in Rome and is the Scientific Advisory Board member for the Nutrition Research Institute of Peru.
The briefing was organised by Abbott Nutrition.