5 Year Old Won't Eat

Nutrition
1

My 5 year old daughter has become very pickey with what she eats, and I am a little worried although at each checkup her doctor says she’s fine and she’ll grow out of it.

For breakfast, she sometimes will eat oatmeal, but often won’t, and so on the way to school we’ll give her 4-5 cracker “sandwiches” with peanut butter or cream cheese.

We pack lunch for her, but she only usually eats a banana and drink a box of orange juice.

For dinner, she will not eat meat except for some gross stuff: 1) chicken skin, 2) bacon, or a hot dog or bologna which we limit. She will eat corn and chicken broth with carrots, and she will only drink chocolate milk (mixed 50/50 with 2%) or water or orange juice. She’ll eat noodles or rice.

And she takes a multivitamin, and will eat snacks of either microwaved popcorn or crackers with peanut butter or cream cheese.

Questions:

  1. How bad is that at her age?
  2. Any suggestions that I could try?
2

[quote]mertdawg wrote:
My 5 year old daughter has become very pickey with what she eats, and I am a little worried although at each checkup her doctor says she’s fine and she’ll grow out of it.

For breakfast, she sometimes will eat oatmeal, but often won’t, and so on the way to school we’ll give her 4-5 cracker “sandwiches” with peanut butter or cream cheese.

We pack lunch for her, but she only usually eats a banana and drink a box of orange juice.

For dinner, she will not eat meat except for some gross stuff: 1) chicken skin, 2) bacon, or a hot dog or bologna which we limit. She will eat corn and chicken broth with carrots, and she will only drink chocolate milk (mixed 50/50 with 2%) or water or orange juice. She’ll eat noodles or rice.

And she takes a multivitamin, and will eat snacks of either microwaved popcorn or crackers with peanut butter or cream cheese.

Questions:

  1. How bad is that at her age?
  2. Any suggestions that I could try?[/quote]

Similar issue with my 3 yr old. He won’t eat his chicken, brocolli and carrots or his vegetable casserole or whatever. But he will eat things like cherry tomatoes, bowlfulls of blueberries, strangely pieces of raw brocolli and he loves cheese. But he likes to eat all things like sweets, choc milk etc.

So I give him what he will eat, and try and introduce what he doesn’t like kinda
surreptitiously.

He drinks a load of milk, and its just trying to get him to eat proper dinners, although we managed to get him to eat a decent oatmeal and milk breakfast by buying the quaker flavoured stuff, which isn’t so bad.

3

[quote]mertdawg wrote:
My 5 year old daughter has become very pickey with what she eats, and I am a little worried although at each checkup her doctor says she’s fine and she’ll grow out of it.

For breakfast, she sometimes will eat oatmeal, but often won’t, and so on the way to school we’ll give her 4-5 cracker “sandwiches” with peanut butter or cream cheese.

We pack lunch for her, but she only usually eats a banana and drink a box of orange juice.

For dinner, she will not eat meat except for some gross stuff: 1) chicken skin, 2) bacon, or a hot dog or bologna which we limit. She will eat corn and chicken broth with carrots, and she will only drink chocolate milk (mixed 50/50 with 2%) or water or orange juice. She’ll eat noodles or rice.

And she takes a multivitamin, and will eat snacks of either microwaved popcorn or crackers with peanut butter or cream cheese.

Questions:

  1. How bad is that at her age?
  2. Any suggestions that I could try?[/quote]

Hi there,

I’m taking a course on nutrition throughout the life cycle and just recently spent some time learning about and discussing the exact problems you are describing. Hopefully I can help.

To answer your fist question, her condition is not as bad as you think. This is extremely normal and relates to her slowed rate of growth. At age five, she’s not growing as fast as she was when she was younger, so her appetite has diminished considerably.

On the other hand, although children are very good at regulating their food intake to meet their physiological needs, 5-year olds are approaching the age when external factors begin to influence food intake, as well. This is usually more relevant to types of food eaten, rather than the total amount, however. A general work of advice that you may hear is that it’s the parents’ job to decide what children eat, while it’s the child’s job to decide how much to eat.

You can be reassured by the fact that her growth does not appear to be suffering. As long as she does not plateau in growth, she is getting what she needs. Tracking growth is the best way to assess whether or not a child is malnurished. Comparisons are best made to past measurements for a single child rather than the measurements of other children. Growth is sporadic in young children; some children experience faster growth and greater appetites at different ages than others.

Parents tend to overestimate how much food small children need. Their stomachs are much smaller, so they physically cannot eat large amounts at one time. (A good rule of thumb is to make portion sizes equal to their age in tablespoons.) Snacks are therefore a must.

Other than the above, I would also advise not to make eating a stressful situation for her. This may exacerbate the current problem or make her associate eating with anxiety as she grows older. If she doesn’t feel like eating a meal, just cover her plate, put it in the fridge, and give it to her when she’s hungry. If she refuses to eat a certain food or only wants to eat one food all the time, just wait it out for a little while. She’ll likely change her preferences a lot, usually on a weekly basis, as kids usually do.

Again, just make sure she continues to make progress in growth and try to make the foods she does eat nutrient-rich.

4

I have a three year old and a six yeaer old and they both don’t seem to eat very much either. Except for junk food of course like chicken strips, french fries. They will eat fruit though. We make sure to give them vitamins as well and offer other foods all day long like crackers and such. As long as they are eating I think the doctor is right.

5

Oh yea, you can always try the “you won’t have the desert” or “favorite toy” a couple of times. That really works with my kids. Good luck.

6

You know, I can’t imagine what my father would’ve done if my smart-assed 5 year old mouth had told him I wasn’t going eat something.

I’m just saying.

7

[quote]nephorm wrote:
You know, I can’t imagine what my father would’ve done if my smart-assed 5 year old mouth had told him I wasn’t going eat something.

I’m just saying.[/quote]

Yeah my dad was like that, hence why I’m not like that with my son.

8

Try differnet foods, kids can have very unusual tastes. Things they like one day they won’t touch the next.

My kids have gone through some strange phases. They love raw veggies and dip, but won’t touch them if they are cooked.

Currently my six year old is into Sardines.

Try and keep them off the junk food, they seem to aquire a taste for it.

9

I’m a firm believer in kids eat what they need. Don’t fret the quantities or the choices at this point. Make them the few things they like while casually introducing new foods with maybe a few ‘positive reinforcements’ for chowing down a little extra good stuff.

10

If it were a boy, I would be more concerned. When I was in the elementary school years, I didn’t eat ANYTHING, mostly due to germophobia and obsessive compulsive disorder. As a result, I was very skinny by the time I hit junior high/high school, as I never gained very much weight through childhood (in 7th grade I was 85 pounds at 5’2-5’4, and 9th grade I was 110 pounds at 5’10).

Then I found strength training and learned about bulking and diet, and gained a ridiculous (80+) amount of muscle starting around 10th grade.

To sum it up, make sure proper dietary habits are made, as they will hurt in the long run. If she doesn’t like eating, give her nutritious snacks but more often during the day.

11

My almost 5yo boy is also a very picky eater. Won’t eat any vegetables and hardly any fruits. He’s so stubborn and arguing doesn’t work. I just have to hope he will eventually grow out of this phase and begin trying more foods, especially since he’s on the small side. My almost 2yo is just starting to become more picky now, too.

A few things my 5yo will eat:
ww minibagel w/ cream cheese
frozen waffle (no trans fats)
pb&j (ww bread, nat pb)
cheese sandwich/grilled cheese
scrambled eggs w/ cheese (“cheesy eggs”)
ww toast w/ butter & cinnamon/sugar sprinkle
sometimes a smoothie with banana, milk, peanut butter, Metabolic Drive
lots of milk (I still give them both whole milk since they’re both thin)
fruit snacks (glorified candy, I know)
fruit cereal bars (not the best)

I still cut his juice 1/2 with water. His first drink of the day is always 1/2 orange juice, 1/2 water with about 1/2 a scoop of orange Metabolic Drive and a “shot” of a liquid vitamin with efa’s in it.

Just know that you are definitely not alone in this…