An obese child is more likely than a child of normal weight to become an obese adult. Since medical and perhaps psychological problems have been linked to obesity, it is important to prevent it. Encourage children to eat moderate amounts of a variety of foods which are high in nutrients. Try to promote physical activity in children and limit TV watching to one to two hours a day. If you are worried about nutritional deficiencies in a child's diet, examine the child's food intake over a period of time.
Children eat more food some days than others.
By recording the food eaten over several days, you will see that deficiencies in the diet on one day are usually made up on another day. This is called a food jag and typically occurs among toddlers. As long as the preferred food is nutritious and the jag does not last long, there is nothing to worry about. It will take children anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to learn to feed themselves. Children's appetites may suddenly decrease around the age of two due to a decrease in their growth rate.