A parent's job is to encourage a child to eat a wide variety of nutritious foods in appropriate amounts. This guidance is not always easy but can be very rewarding as a child grows and develops into a healthy adult. What and how you feed your toddler can make a tremendous difference. Good nutrition is necessary for body growth, for maintaining or restoring health, and for the brain's and nervous system's growth and functioning.
Good nutrition helps a child learn, concentrate, and play and work with others.
A poorly nourished child may be restless, irritable, or more withdrawn than a well-nourished child. Food habits are among the most important things a child learns. For example, poor nutrition over a long period of time appears to be an important factor in causing or complicating such health problems as diabetes and heart disease. It may delay recovery from an acute illness with diarrhea or high fever, an injury, or surgery. Studies show that the kind of food parents and others provide for a child is the single most important influence on what a child learns to eat.