Baby is lazy to eat, don't be in a hurry

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Dr. Phan Nguyen Thanh Binh - Head of the Department of Nutrition - Dietetics - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital
Taking care of and raising a lazy child is a struggle for many parents. When your child has anorexia nervosa, you often tend to force him to eat. This usually does not bring many positive results. Let's find out the causes of anorexia, the consequences of forcing your child to eat to have the right solution.

1. Why are children lazy to eat?

1.1. Children's health status is not good The child's health status is not good is the reason why children are more lazy to eat than usual. When children are sick, children often feel tired, nauseous, bitter in their mouth and lazy to eat, even vomiting during and after eating. Therefore, parents should pay attention to the baby's daily manifestations more often, if the child shows signs of cough, runny nose, low fever, ... take the child to see a doctor instead. Forcing children to eat to avoid the case when the disease has worsened and there is a risk of dangerous and difficult-to-treat complications.
1.2. The menu does not suit the baby's taste A menu full of scientific standard nutrients is necessary for the development of children. However, many children do not want to eat these foods. When the child's taste is not suitable, the child will be lazy to eat and when the parents force or force the child to eat, inadvertently it will cause the child to be pressured at every meal, leading to a lazy mentality, fear of eating.
Many children, when being eaten by their parents, will find a way to resist by holding food in their mouth, even when they sleep, they still have their mouth full of food, this not only makes children lazy to eat, but also leads to series related to nutrition.
1.3. Children snacking too much before meals At snacks, if children eat too much, it will lead to fullness in the main meal and children will tend to lose their appetite and skip meals.
Besides, junk food is often very harmful to children's health. Typical dishes: Confectionery, snack, potato chips... These foods are high in artificial sweeteners, high in fat and starch, which will harm the baby's physical and mental health. When children eat too much of these foods, it will cause dental problems such as tooth decay or other health problems such as: Digestive disorders, constipation, obesity, osteoporosis, cardiovascular problems and can may be a risk factor for cancer later in life.

1.4. Children with vitamin and mineral deficiencies Currently, children are susceptible to a deficiency of minerals such as zinc, selenium, which will make them feel unappetizing and slow to eat. If necessary nutrients are not promptly supplemented, children who are lazy to eat for a long time will cause malnutrition, stunting, slow growth and slow brain development.
1.5. Hyperactive children Being hyperactive is a good sign that they have good motor and thinking abilities. However, children who are too eager to play lead to skipping meals is the most common cause in children who are lazy to eat. The distraction in eating by the surrounding influences will gradually become a habit, causing slow growth in children.

2. Consequences of forcing children to eat

2.1. Overweight Forcing children to eat too much leads to high blood lipid levels, causing fatty liver disease. According to studies, the rate of children who are forced to eat too much will have the risk of obesity is 31.4%, the rate of fatty liver disease increases by 7.8% compared to other children. In addition, if this condition persists, these children will have a higher risk of medical problems such as: diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, kidney stones, gout and many related diseases. different as an adult.
2.2. Psychological effects Forcing children to eat leads to unhealthy eating habits that cause psychological effects on children and create a feeling of fear of eating. Forcing a child to eat will affect the child's unconscious, making the child's psyche tend to be short-tempered, rude, aggressive, or disruptive, leading to an increased risk of accidents in daily life.
2.3. Creating bad eating habits Ironically, children who are forced to eat often become thinner and lazy to eat, grow slowly, and are more malnourished than children who are not forced to eat by their families. This leads to a bad consequence that the child will not eat well, eat in a hostile way.

3. What to do when the child is lazy to eat?

So what should be done to overcome the lack of eating in children? To overcome the child's slow growth, mothers need to take some of the following measures:
3.1. Parents should plan a certain time and ask the child to eat only during this time. In fact, many children eat from morning to noon, and lunch lasts until afternoon. The whole day is just like that, but there is not much to eat. Parents are tired, the baby is also anorexic.
Determining the time for the baby, should not last more than 30 minutes, helps the child focus on the meal, then will not eat anymore. If children eat too little, then they can add yogurt, fruit or other nutritious foods. Or you can try to feed your baby at the next meal or increase the meal for him.
3.2. Do not force children to eat Do not force children to eat when they do not want to eat. If the child eats too little, parents can divide the meal of the day into 3-4 meals. Just give your child a small bowl of rice, porridge, or flour each time, so don't eat too much. Children can eat more yogurt, whey in later meals.
3.3. Change the food, how to prepare Parents can design to change the way of cooking, should not force their children to eat a dish that causes a feeling of boredom. Mothers can gradually introduce solid foods to children, eat crushed rice, chopped noodles... to see if the children have a better appetite. Besides, the mother can also give the child porridge, flour, mashed banana, ground tuber... it is best to let the child eat by himself, or guide the child to eat by himself.
If the mother does not have much time, she can prepare food for the whole week but should not be steamed, only preliminary processing should be done (such as peeling shrimp, grinding food, dividing meals into small portions), then to freeze. When the meal is near, defrost it by putting it in the refrigerator to gradually defrost, so it will not lose its quality and create a more appetizing feeling for the dish.

3.4. Diversifying the menu According to a study by the National Institute of Nutrition, Vietnamese children are very susceptible to vitamin and mineral deficiencies because the child's nutrition is not guaranteed and properly invested.
Depending on the physical condition and conditions, each child will have different needs, interests and tastes. A beautifully decorated dish is easy to attract children to eat more. Therefore, please take the time to design beautiful dishes to stimulate appetite in children.
3.5. Create good habits for children Families need to give children time to increase physical activities. Letting your baby play or participate in exercise will be a way for him to be healthier, limiting the time he spends watching TV or sitting still.
Besides, you should also teach your baby the habit of not snacking, not eating too late, not eating too much fried food or sweets. From an early age, adults need to teach children how to fuel themselves when hungry and drink water even when not thirsty.
Finally, parents should take their baby to a regular doctor, adults need to regularly record the child's height and weight indicators to easily detect abnormal signs such as a sudden increase in the baby's weight. or new pathogens are formed.
As a key area of ​​Vinmec Health system, Pediatrics Department always brings satisfaction to customers and is highly appreciated by industry experts with:
Gathering a team of top doctors and nurses in Pediatrics : consists of leading experts with high professional qualifications (professor, associate professor, doctorate, master), rich experience, worked at major hospitals such as Bach Mai, 108... All doctors are well-trained, professional, have a mind - range, and are knowledgeable about young psychology. In addition to domestic pediatric specialists, the Department of Pediatrics also has the participation of foreign experts (Japan, Singapore, Australia, USA) who are always pioneers in applying the latest and most effective treatment regimens. . Comprehensive services: In the field of Pediatrics, Vinmec provides a series of continuous medical examination and treatment services from Newborn to Pediatric and Vaccine,... according to international standards to help parents take care of their baby's health from birth to childhood. from birth to adulthood Specialized techniques: Vinmec has successfully deployed many specialized techniques to make the treatment of difficult diseases in Pediatrics more effective: neurosurgery - skull surgery, stem cell transplantation. blood in cancer treatment. Professional care: In addition to understanding children's psychology, Vinmec also pays special attention to the children's play space, helping them to have fun and get used to the hospital's environment, cooperate in treatment, improve the efficiency of medical treatment.

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