The typical three year old eats less than their parents think they should.
Between the ages of 18 months and five years, growth slows down to a trickle.
Since children eat best when they are grow, appetite cuts back during this
time as well.
At 30 pounds, your son is in the 10th percentile for his weight, which is
normal. This means in a random sample of 1,000 3 _ year old boys, 900 would
weight more and 100 would weigh less.
In the first year of life, a child triples their birth weight. That means
a child 7lbs 5 ounces at birth would be roughly 22 pounds at one year. If
they tripled their weight in the second year, they would be 66 pounds at
two years!
Fortunately, this does not happen. Instead, growth slows and the reduced
growth velocity is reflected in a diminished appetite. Studies have repeatedly
shown that children will get the nutrients they need when they are offered
a variety of foods and not interfered with. Around the time your son enters
kindergarten and then again during, adolescence, his appetite will improve
when he begins to rapidly grow again.
Most adults eat only because it is lunch or dinner time. They eat when they
are bored, depressed, stressed out or in social settings where everyone else
is eating. How many times have you eaten something when you were not hungry
but did so because your mother made her famous apple pie and she would be
upset if you did not take "just a bite?"
Two out of five adults in the United States are overweight and many have
gotten that way because they have lost touch with their body's signal's
concerning hunger. In order to avoid problems with weight (both obesity and
eating disorders), we need to allow kids to stay in tune with their body's
messages.
The best advice we can give you is not to comment on what your son eats or
does not eat and try not to control his eating in any way. No child will
starve with a full refrigerator!
For more information, see our article Let Your Child's Appetitie Be Your Guide.
