Children learn how and what to eat from those around them, developing lifetime patterns that may be difficult to break. Parents should encourage positive eating behaviors very early on, with the goal in mind of teaching children to make healthy food choices on their own.
Children eat when they're hungry.
Providing them with healthy food choices and a flexible eating schedule goes a long way toward ensuring that they'll get the nutrients and vitamins they need for growing bodies and active lives. Even in infancy, a child's future eating behaviors may be influenced. Infants who are encouraged to eat cereals and baby food too early may develop a taste for high calorie-low nutrient foods. Therefore, starting to feed an infant solid food too early should be avoided. This will reduce the risk of food allergies and overfeeding.