Healthy Breakfast for Toddlers

Toddlers are so busy exploring their world and engaging in new activities that they often refuse to stop what they are doing to eat breakfast. A healthy breakfast is important for young, growing children to support their bodies with nutrition and teach them healthy habits that will continue through life. Although you should never make or force your child to eat, offer healthy choices at mealtimes and set a good example to ensure they receive the nutrition they need.

Benefits

• By making sure your toddler starts his day with a nutritional breakfast, you help benefit his health by providing the calories he needs to sustain a growing body and mind. A healthy breakfast can also help to improve your toddler's concentration and attention span, as he will be more alert and focused throughout the day. His mood also might improve, lessening the chance of breakdowns or temper tantrums later in the afternoon. Starting your toddler with a healthy breakfast now will help lower his risk of obesity, cancer, diabetes and heart disease later in life, says whattoexpect.com.

Nutrition

• Take the opportunity at breakfast to provide your toddler with two essential nutrients, iron and calcium. Most toddlers do not receive the recommended amounts of these nutrients, and providing foods that contain iron and calcium at breakfast will ensure that your toddler receives her daily requirement. Offer your toddler milk, yogurt or cheese to give her calcium. Toddlers up to 2 years old should have whole milk, which provides the most calories, and children older than 2 are able to switch to low-fat or fat-free milk. Avoid giving your child too much milk because she is at risk for developing an iron deficiency. Provide iron-rich foods such as meat, beans, grains or cereals. Also provide healthy carbohydrates and proteins with breakfast.

Tips

• If you would really like your child to eat a healthy breakfast, especially at a doctor's recommendation, try making it more fun for your toddler. Cut food into shapes, serve a colorful parfait made out of layers of fruit and yogurt, make nutritional dipping sauces out of yogurts or whip up a delicious smoothie made out of fruits to help your child learn to eat breakfast. Serve healthy lunch foods at breakfast because toddlers have no knowledge of what is traditional breakfast food and what is not. Cook a scrambled egg sandwich, English-muffin pizzas or a breakfast burrito to entice your child to eat. Some toddlers are picky and avoid normal breakfast foods out of sheer retaliation, but once they see that healthy foods can be fun and entertaining, they will be more likely to sit down and eat in the morning.

Misconceptions

• Although most parents believe that it is imperative for a toddler to eat breakfast to maintain a healthy body, some children simply have no interest in eating when they wake up. There is too much to explore around them, and they want to start learning as soon as possible. Always offer your toddler breakfast and let him choose between healthy foods, but try not to be concerned if he would rather play than eat.