A balanced diet helps children stay healthy as they develop, providing energy and nutrients to grow and thrive. C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital’s National Poll on Children’s Health asked a national sample of parents of children ages 3 to 10 about the food and diet choices they make for their child.
A third of parents (32%) think the Standard American diet is healthy for children, compared to 47% for a Mediterranean diet, 31% for vegetarian, 22% for plant-based/vegan and 13% for keto/low-carb diet . Some parents report trying alternative diets for their child, including 8% Mediterranean, 9% vegetarian, 6% plant-based/vegan, and 4% keto/low-carb.
When grocery shopping or meal planning, parents say they try to limit the amount of certain foods to help their child maintain a healthy diet, including limiting foods with added sugars (59%), processed foods (54% ), fat (17%) ) or meat (8%). Nearly all parents (94%) report trying at least one strategy to get their child to eat vegetables as part of a healthy diet, such as serving vegetables every day (59%), preparing vegetables the way their child prefers (53%). %), trying vegetables that their child has not eaten before (41%), letting their child pick out vegetables in the supermarket (41%) or helping them prepare the vegetables (25%), hiding vegetables in other food (25 %), or a reward for finishing vegetables (19%).
When determining portion size for their child, most parents (69%) feed their child slightly less than adults in the family; Fewer parents let their child choose how much to eat (23%), use predetermined portions from the package (5%) or give their child the same portions as adults (3%). Only 15% of parents say the family rule is to eat what’s on your plate, while 54% say you should try a little bit of everything and 31% say no dessert if you don’t eat dinner. Most parents (71%) give their child seconds, although some parents say only if their child eats everything on his plate (21%) or only if it concerns healthy things (6%). Sixty-one percent of parents say they will make something else if their child doesn’t like what other family members are eating.
Parents describe their biggest challenges in ensuring their child gets a healthy diet, as the child is a picky eater (51%), the cost of healthy food (32%), the child does not like healthy food (27%) and food waste (23%), and not having time to prepare healthy food (12%).
Highlights
- 1 in 3 parents think the Standard American Diet is healthy for children ages 3 to 10.
- 1 in 8 parents let their child eat everything on their plate.
- 3 in 5 parents will make something else if their child doesn’t like what other family members are eating.
Implications
Feeding young children can be difficult due to their general avoidance of unfamiliar foods and their frequently changing food preferences. Preschool and primary school age is an important time to develop healthy habits around eating patterns and taste preferences, but parents often wonder whether their child is eating enough and getting the nutrients he or she needs.
Only a third of parents in this Mott Poll rated the standard American diet as healthy for children; this may reflect parents’ recognition that the standard American diet is characterized by high amounts of saturated fats, added sugars, sodium, and refined carbohydrates, which can generate excessive calorie intake beyond nutritional needs. This can contribute to obesity and weight-related diseases.
Family dinner rules can promote or hinder a child’s healthy diet. Experts often recommend that “parents provide, and the child decides”; this means that parents are responsible for providing healthy options, where the child can choose what foods to eat and how much to consume. Requiring children to eat everything on their plate, or forgoing dessert unless all other foods are eaten, can lead to overconsumption, especially if portion sizes are too large for the child’s age. Portion size is critical to limiting the risk of childhood obesity, but it can be difficult for parents to “right size” a child’s portion. The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers a visual aid called MyPlate that can help parents estimate the recommended balance of major food groups and provides guidelines for estimating portion size.
An important role for parents is to make good choices when shopping so that children have healthy options for meals and snacks. Many parents do not use this approach. Parents may have difficulty identifying unhealthy foods because added sugars or processing may be evident in foods marketed as healthy options. Some parents may not be aware of the extent to which certain foods can negatively impact their child’s long-term health, such as the link between “ultra-processed” foods and an increased risk of developing obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. In other situations, parents may give in to their child’s request for unhealthy foods or prefer those foods themselves.
Vegetables contain a variety of essential nutrients, but parents often struggle to get their child to eat them. Offering vegetables every day contributes to awareness. Involving children in choosing and preparing vegetables, as well as creative presentation or using healthy dips, can convince children to try a vegetable they are initially resistant to. Parents must be persistent in the hope that over time, children will be more open to eating vegetables regularly.
Many parents will make something different if their child doesn’t like what the rest of the family is eating, but often the alternative food is less healthy. Rather than letting the child choose an alternative menu, parents should provide a balanced meal and encourage the child to try at least a small amount of healthy foods that may not be his preference. And since children learn by watching and imitating, parents should model the behavior of a well-balanced diet as their child’s eating habits and taste preferences mature.
Some parents consider Mediterranean, vegetarian or plant-based diets as healthy alternatives, but relatively few have tried these for their child. Parents may be unsure whether these diets provide adequate nutrition for young children, or feel unsure about how to ensure that such diets meet a child’s nutritional needs. Particularly with diets that limit animal products, parents will need to ensure that their child gets enough protein from alternative sources such as meat substitutes, tofu or legumes.
Although ketogenic diets have become popular among adults, they are generally not suitable for children. Ketogenic diets are useful in treating certain types of epilepsy; Outside of that specific situation, parents should avoid feeding children a ketogenic diet because it puts them at risk for deficiencies in the nutrients they need to grow and thrive.