How many calories does your child need? 40 calories per inch, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. That’s for kids aged 1-3 years old.  A toddler that is 29 inches tall needs about 1160 calories, which is almost what many moms would be eating (a 1200 calorie diet) if she’s trying to lose weight!

1. Remember fat in your toddler’s diet is very important

The difference is that your toddler can eat fat (the right types) and lots of it. Did you know that the brain is primarily composed of fat? It is! Toddlers are still at the age where their developing brain needs a lot of fat. Restricting fat at this time of your child’s life can actually cause damage to his ability to learn and think. So leave the fat-free diet foods that you eat out of the reach of the toddlers! And don’t give baby skim milk or even 1-2%. Whole milk is fine for toddlers.

Now there are differing opinions on meal planning. The following menu plans are what’s recommended by the USDA.

Breakfast

• 4 oz milk
• ¼ cup juice, fruit or veggie
• ½ slice bread or ¼ cup cereal or 1/3 oz. fortified cereal
• ½ oz meat, poultry or fish OR ½ oz cheese or ½ large egg or 1 tablespoon peanut butter or other nut butter or 2 tablespoons cooked dry beans and peas or ½ oz nuts and/or seed or 2 oz yogurt

Lunch

• 6 oz milk
• 1 oz meat or 1 oz cheese or ½ large egg or ¼ cup dry beans or peas or 2 tablespoons nut butter or 4 oz or ½ cup yogurt or ½ oz. nuts
• ½ cup veggies, fruits, 2 servings
• 1 serving grain

2. Toddlers have different dietary needs to adults

The problem is that the USDA doesn’t give any recommendations for snacks or dinner! Some experts on websites will recommend that parents use the Food Pyramid for determining what their child should eat every day. This is what the Food Pyramid would recommend your toddler has daily -:

6 servings grains

3 servings vegetables
2 servings fruits
2 servings milk/dairy
2 servings meat/protein
Some fats and sweets

They say that a child’s serving sizes are 25% the size of an adult’s serving; and that the Food Pyramid is a good way to remember what to feed your child! Before following this line of thought please consider the following…

3. Get the balance of carbohydrates,fat and protein right to fight childhood diseases

If you think rationally about the meal plan above that is based on the Food Pyramid, you’ll see that it is high in carbohydrates and low in fat and protein. But you know from your science classes that:

1.    High carb diets cause insulin release that is tied to obesity and diabetes.

2.    Toddlers under the age of 2 have fast growing minds that need a high fat diet.

3.    Because toddlers are growing so fast, they need more protein. Protein builds the muscles, tissues, blood vessels and nerves; every part of the body.

So as you see, there is a problem here between what the experts are telling you and what is reality. The reality is that diabetes and childhood obesity have hit epidemics and the experts don’t know what to do about it.  But all they have to do is look at the facts.

4. Toddler serving sizes to include more nutrition

Did you notice that the serving sizes could easily have been:

• 2 servings of grains and 5 servings of vegetables (Vegetables provide a better source of natural fiber and are loaded with nutrients. And in every nutritional study of children, very few kids are ever eating as many vegetables as they should.)

• 4 or more servings of protein, which would double the amount of high quality protein in the baby’s diet and make it easier to grow strong bones and tissues. The higher protein level will also prevent zinc and iron deficiency, two of the most common nutritional deficiencies found in kids. The higher protein levels would also contribute to the baby having better detoxification ability to ward off environmental toxins.

• 3 servings of fruit, which would raise the antioxidant levels and protect the baby’s body from oxidation.

• at least 40% fat in the diet, which means 480 calories coming from fat each day. Breast milk is up to 55% fat, and baby can be breast feed for up to 3 years. It would make sense to duplicate the composition of breast milk in terms of protein, fat and carbohydrate levels.

• 2 servings of milk

Changing these serving sizes would keep the calories about the same, provide the brain with plenty of essential fats, keep the toddler’s colon working optimally (what a great start in life that is!), while keeping the calorie count about the same. It just makes sense.

5. Don’t overdo grains in your toddler’s diet

While searching the internet to see what other experts were recommending, I was absolutely horrified to find that dietitians were recommending breakfasts like this for toddlers:

1/3 cup cooked cereal
½ banana
½ slice toast with ½ teaspoon butter
4 oz whole milk

This is 3 servings of grains! Many adults that are carbohydrate sensitive can’t even handle 2 servings of grains at a meal and dietitians are recommending three servings for babies? Be really careful what you do for your toddler’s menu planning.

6. Developing healthy eating habits from the start is easier than retraining later

Our toddlers deserve the best start in life. They deserve a healthy start and an absolute zero risk of diabetes at an early age. Remember to give them higher protein, which by the way does not cause kidney damage. Give more vegetables, which will provide your toddler with lots of fiber and B vitamins and plenty of beta-carotene. I’ll give him fat and not feel guilty about it because I know his brain needs it and I want him to be so smart that one day he can outshine me. And I’ll give him less grains so that he won’t be predisposed to diabetes and allergies.

That’s what I’ll do because I’ve spent all the time researching this topic and asking tons of questions to people who have a thorough knowledge of how the body works biochemically, physiologically and a sound understanding of nutrition. And I bet I will know what will happen. In 10 years, the experts will say, “Why didn’t we recommend high protein, high fat and high vegetables? It made so much sense. How could we have been so wrong about grains?”

Before taking on any medical or nutritional advice consult your family doctor.