Ask a Nurse: Is My Child Eating Enough?

How do I know if my child is eating enough?


As a general rule of thumb, children will eat when they are hungry and stop eating when they are full. If your child is growing well (progressing along the normal height and weight chart), he is probably getting adequate nutrition.


Here are two important things to remember when it comes to your child's eating habits:

1. Children have small stomachs and, therefore, need to eat small meals frequently. They should eat every three to four hours, which means about three meals and two or three healthy snacks every day.

2. Child-size portions are not the same as adult-size portions. Children need about 1/4 to 1/3 of an adult serving portion. An easy way to remember this is that a child portion is about 1 tablespoon for every year of life. For example, if you want to serve your 3-year-old toddler some peas, he only needs 3 tablespoons.

For the healthiest (and happiest) children, try to encourage your kids to eat a variety of foods from each food groups.

If you have a question you would like Nurse Brittany to answer, e-mail it to healthyhappychildren.blogspot.com.