Dear Georgie,
My two year old is on a hunger strike, which is not uncommon for stubborn toddlers. She is already underweight so we are concerned that she is not getting enough calories. Do you know what is the recommended daily caloric intake for toddlers? What are some nutritious and calorically dense foods we can feed to her? Thanks for your help! B
Calorie needs for a 2 year old range from about 1000-1300 calories a day depending on activity levels and bodyweight. Of course, if your little one is underweight, you would want to shoot for the higher end of the range (or as close as you can get.) Indeed, food strikes or food jags, in which a child only wants a limited number of foods, are commonplace.
Some tips for increasing calories, many of which you may have already tried: Keep offering whole milk, not reduced fat. Add fat to your child’s meals to increase the caloric density. You can do this by adding butter or oil to rice, noodles, or just about anything else! You can use cheese, cream cheese, peanut butter, avocado, or whole milk yogurt as high calorie foods.
Pediasure is also a great beverage for increasing both nutrient and energy intake in kids (30 kcal/oz vs whole milk 20 kcal/oz.) Children tend to like finger foods, so string cheese, peanut butter on celery, or crackers spread with jam may be appealing too. Whatever your child’s favorite foods are, keep them on hand or make them often! Toddlers also generally prefer plain, unmixed foods, so the tuna noodle casserole might be out. But of course, everyone is different so you never know!
Although carbohydrates aren’t the most calorie-dense options, a child’s natural sweet tooth will often help increase intake of sweet foods. Try pancakes, waffles, or French toast with butter and syrup. You can make jello with fruit juice instead of water to boost the calorie content. Flavoring milk with an instant breakfast mix or chocolate syrup may also improve calorie intake and flavor preference, while providing calcium and vitamins A and D.
At the same time though, you don’t want to let your child drink milk at the expense of eating real foods. This is a common problem when youngsters transition from formula (which is iron fortified) to milk. Drinking too much milk (which has no iron) can lead to anemia if not enough other foods are eaten. Try offering chocolate milk as an after dinner treat, to get a few more calories in but not diminish solid food intake.
If your child is otherwise healthy, though, and not losing weight, don’t make it too much of an issue or lose too much sleep. The last thing you want to do is create stressful situations around mealtime or about food in general. There are many books on raising children to be healthy eaters, but in short: keep offering nutritious foods, but don’t pressure. Also, model the behaviors, and your child may respond by acting the same way she sees you eat. Keep offering foods, it may take 5 or even 10 exposures before a child accepts a new food. Good luck! Write back if you have any tips to share on what’s working.
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Thanks for all the good tips! I’m going to pick up lots of different finger foods, see what she likes. And yeah, if she drinks too much milk (we buy her the full-fat), she won’t eat solid food meals. It seems like if there are a lot of different foods to choose from, she will eat until she is full (she’s a real sucker for a buffet). But if we make an issue of it and “force” her to eat what we are eating, a power struggle precipitates and she won’t eat anything at all. Can’t wait to try these ideas and see what works.