Food choices and child behaviour

Children use a lot of energy in their day-to-day lives and as their parents and carers, we need to ensure their bodies are fuelled well. Children are growing and developing more than at any other time in their lives so eating sufficient nutritious foods and engaging in physical activity and play is vital to their overall health and behaviour.

Just like adults, it is recommended that children aged three to five years enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods every day for optimal health. Throughout their childhood, and particularly at this time, children are constantly learning new things about themselves and the world they live in. If they grow up in a household where they are exposed to a wide variety of nutritious foods, they are more likely to become adults who eat in the same way.

Dietary Recommendations

The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommends children aged three to five years eat nutritious foods from each of the five food groups every day.

The following daily serves are recommended for children across this age group:

To help you better understand serving sizes, the following information might be useful:

• A standard serve of vegetables is about 75g or:
  • ½ cup cooked green or orange vegetables
  • ½ cup cooked, dried or canned beans, peas or lentils
  • 1 cup green leafy or raw salad vegetables
  • ½ cup sweet corn
  • ½ medium potato or other starchy vegetables
• A standard serve of fruit is about 150g or:
  • 1 medium apple, banana, orange or pear
  • 2 small apricots, kiwi fruits or plums
  • 1 cup diced or canned fruit (with no added sugar)

For more information on serving sizes for children, visit the Eat for Health website.

Discretionary foods, or foods outside of the five food groups which includes saturated fat and added salts and sugars should be excluded from the diet completely or at least limited in quantity. They don’t add beneficial nutrients to the diet, but they are usually eaten as part of celebrations or parties and are often an enjoyable eating experience. Understanding the difference between food our bodies need and those we eat for enjoyment is important for children in this age range. Try to avoid labelling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ or ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ as this can create stigma around food choices and can lead to eating disorders in the future.

When it comes to drinking, water is the best option for everyone, but especially for children. Drinks with added sugars such as soft drink, juice and cordials are not necessary in the diet of children and can lead to weight gain and dental caries.

Fussy eating

Becoming fussy with the food they eat is very normal for children in this age range. Take Sarah for example, a four-year-old that is fussy with her food, to learn more about Sarah, click on the link at the end of this blog. Like Sarah, it is common for children to stop eating foods they previously enjoyed eating, or to refuse to try new foods. It is important you are patient with this behaviour and don’t limit your child’s foods just to the staples they are enjoying. Continued exposure to new, different and disliked foods is the key to eventually overcoming fussy eating behaviours.

Here are some more tips for how to manage  your child’s fussy eating:

• turn off the television and electronic devices during mealtimes and focus on spending time together as a family. This creates a positive environment where children will be more inclined to try new foods as they watch what adults eat and model mealtime behaviour
• don’t make a fuss if your child refuses to eat some foods. Continue to offer the food at mealtimes and encourage your child to try each food on their plate without adding pressure. It can take up to ten tries before a child accepts a new food so be patient and don’t expect their tastes to change overnight
• offer your child a wide variety of food choices from each of the food groups each day so they can see, taste and eat a range of foods. If they only eat a little bit at one meal you can rest assured knowing they have had other nutritious meals during the day
• get your child involved in shopping, food preparation and cooking as a way to teach them about food and where it comes from. This often makes children more inclined to try new foods or retry foods they previously disliked.

If you are having trouble with fussy eating, consider using the Division of Responsibility in Feeding as a way to retrain behaviour. Using this approach, you choose the foods your child eats, provide regular meal and snack times and make mealtimes a pleasant experience. Your child learns to enjoy eating the food you eat and learns to behave well at mealtimes. With this approach, your child chooses if they eat food provided to them and how much of the food they eat. Through this they also learn to listen to their own hunger and fullness cues which is a great life skill to learn.

Food and behaviour

Among children, food can have a contributing factor in behaviour such as hyperactivity, restlessness, forgetfulness, antisocial behaviour and anxiety and depression. The way food contributes to behaviour is complicated and often difficult to separate from other areas of children’s lives.

One way to combat some of these behavioural issues is to ensure your child eats breakfast and has regular meals. Several studies have shown eating breakfast helps children perform better at school, making them more attentive and able to recall more information in the classroom than those who skip breakfast.

Children who are hungry often perform poorly in school and can have negative effects on behaviour. Studies have shown that being hungry reduces a child’s tolerance to frustration and can make them more susceptible to behavioural changes.  Providing regular mealtimes and snacks and packing adequate food in lunchboxes can help ensure your child isn’t hungry throughout the day. For example, if your child goes to school or pre-school without breakfast they may become hungry before their first break at school, resulting in restlessness, impaired concentration and problematic behaviour. Packing adequate nutritious foods in your child’s lunchbox is also important as one-third of their food intake occurs while at school or pre-school.

While sugar is often blamed for creating bad behaviour in young children, many studies have disproved this link. What is more likely is that a small number of children have an allergy or intolerance to the artificial colours, flavours and preservatives that are typically included in sugary foods or are overstimulated by the exciting environment where they consume sugary foods.

Food colourings, particularly red, yellow and orange, and the preservative sodium benzoate, can cause hyperactivity in some children. Carefully reading labels and choosing preservative and additive-free foods can have some benefit. Baking problematic food yourself, such as cakes and breads, is also a great way to avoid artificial additives and colourings.

Parents who suspect certain foods may be triggering behaviour symptoms may need to try an elimination diet. This is where problematic foods and additives are removed from the diet and the child’s behaviour is observed closely before slowly reintroducing them one by one. This is quite a tricky process though and should only be attempted with medical supervision from an Accredited Practicing Dietician.

If you are the parent or carer of a three to five year old, remember:

• children this age should have a varied diet which includes a range of nutritious foods from each of the five food groups each day
• fussy eating is normal, and you should still continue to offer a variety of different foods at each meal
• make mealtimes a family event wherever possible and ensure it is a pleasant and pressure-free environment
• soft drinks and cordials are not necessary at this age. The best drink choice is water.
• children are learning and growing at a fast rate so make sure they have adequate food to keep their tummies full and provide plenty of opportunities to teach them about food and cooking.

Please see our article about Sarah and how with the help of her educators at kindergarten, was able to change her eating habits.