Nutrition: Foundations for Life
Home
Goals
Good Nutrition
Caloric Needs
Milk & Formula
Nutritional Issues
Iron
Calcium
Vitamins
Vegetarian Diets
Failure to Thrive
Obesity/BMI
Resources
Toddlers
After one year of age, solid foods constitute the majority of the child’s diet, and formula should be replaced by whole milk. Toddlers may continue to breastfeed beyond one year of age, but solid foods should comprise the majority of their diet. Many children will have a natural decrease in appetite because of slower growth after the first year. If parents are unaware of this expected decrease in appetite, they may respond by offering frequent snacks or large quantities of juice which is generally high in sugar but low in nutritional value. The sugar may fill the child (i.e. not hungry for other foods), which then contributes to inadequate total caloric intake.
Underlying chronic inflammatory, malignant or metabolic conditions may still be contributors to failure to thrive at this age as well as the previously mentioned causes of malabsorption and conditions resulting in excessive caloric demands.