When hungry, young children will focus on eating. When satisfied, their attention turns elsewhere. Playing with their spoon is more interesting than eating the food before them. Although parents may become concerned when the child dawdles over uneaten food, it is quite normal to see children lose interest in any activity in a short time. Imitate people around them Preschoolers can learn to like a wide assortment of foods by eating with friends and family members who enjoy these foods.
Children easily pick up subtle messages about how others view foods.
By adapting the Food Guide to take into account the smaller amounts of food preschoolers eat, it becomes a useful tool for everyone in the family over two years of age. Using one Food Guide for the family makes sense because children tend to adopt the same pattern of eating as their older siblings and parents. The following sections show how you can use the Food Guide to meet the needs of children during the preschool years, that is from two to five years of age. The preschool years are important years for learning to taste and enjoy an expanding number of foods prepared in different ways. The Food Guide provides further advice on making food choices through its key messages.