There are two types of metabolism, slow (efficient), and fast (inefficient). The slow metabolism allows the nutrients to stay in the body long enough to absorb every last “BTU” of energy from from every last calorie. The fast metabolism shoots those calories through at such a pace that maybe half the nutrients can be absorbed. At the same time the fast metabolism moves faster, burns much “hotter” taking many more calories to support the system.
As a person ages the metabolism slows down. Children who grew up in perfect weight will find they need much less food to retain their body size. When a child is an infant, it is much more in tune with it’s body’s requirements. When the infant’s body requires nutrients the infant will cry to be fed. The infant, upon being fed will take as much as it needs and leave the rest, falling asleep.
As a toddler, the parent starts to dictate how much the child needs to ingest. This dictation is not based on what the child indicates it needs, but on what the parent thinks the child needs. This is a big mistake. Who better knows how much it needs to eat than the individual themselves.
Your child will tell you most clearly the speed of it’s metabolism by the amount of food it needs to ingest and stay in good body weight. If your child does not desire food, and is not a sick bag of bones, then you should NEVER force feed the child. This child has a slow metabolism. Instead of cramming food down the child, you should celebrate the low food bills you will have.
On the other hand, if the child has an insatiable appetite, you must continue to provide the needed nutrients until the child is satisfied. If the child is not showing a high percentage of fat on their body, then you can be assured your child runs “hot” and will always require more food. The child is telling you that he has a fast, inefficient metabolism and he is not absorbing as much as the food quickly passes through his system. What he is absorbing, he’s quickly burning, using up.
For the child with the fast metabolism it is imperative that the food he eats be quality food, as he will need every ounce of nutrition you can provide to build his young body.
Beware the child that is allowed to eat out of boredom, this child will show a layer of fat, and should be cut back on food intake. Remember a fat child is an obese adult.
The child who does not wish to eat MUST NOT be force fed. If you don’t think he’s eating enough, take him to your pediatrician and let him check your child. If he says your child is in good health then it means your child has a slow, efficient metabolism, and throughout his life will be a cheap date.
If a parent force feeds a child with a slow metabolism, he will TRAIN the child to OVEREAT and not listen to his own actual nutritional needs. Obesity will set in very early in life and the child will have to confront the heartbreak of dieting and feeling denied all his life.
If the parent lets the child decide the amount he needs to eat, and always provides the child with good quality food, the child will stay in good weight, even though the parent may not understand how the child survives well on so little.
The key is to always make good nutritious food available to the child so that when they are hungry, they are ingesting foods that will make a difference, good ”gas” for their cars.
The Jones had four children. Two of the children ate like birds. “We had to keep them at the dinner table hours after the rest of the family was finished, it took them forever to clean their plates.” The other two children had no problem, they ate whatever was put in front of them, quickly cleaning their plates.
Years later the two children who were kept at the table long after dinner was over, the children that were “force fed”, the ones who “ate like birds” are fighting obesity. Both of them are almost 100 pounds overweight. The two who eagerly ate everything in sight are slim and tall.
A good parent does not force his child to clean his plate. A good parent provides good food, and allows the child to eat what he has appetite for. If the child wants to eat light meals and have snacks the parent should go with it. This is a healthy way to eat. As long as the child is in good weight and health the system is working. Trust your child’s instinct, as he is the only one who truly knows when he is hungry or satisfied.
If you have provided food and your child isn’t hungry, put it away till he is. Keep foraging foods around such as raw vegetables and fruit. Keep good whole grain muffins (not loaded with sugar) for your child to snack on. Make sure that your child gets the opportunity to eat all the important foods each day such as protein, calcium (milk), vegetables and grains.
If both parents tend to carry extra weight, there is a high percentage chance the child will also have a slow, efficient metabolism. In this case be extra attentive to the child’s cut off point. Don’t serve the child the same portions you serve yourself. Let the child ask for more if he requires it, don’t heap the plate and then make him clean it. Start out with small portions, let the child indicate what is enough.
Remember, your job as a parent is to make sure that EVERYTHING that goes into your child’s mouth has good nutritional value, giving him the building blocks he needs to construct a strong body. You only have a small window, from birth until the time your child has his own funds to buy his own food. The first 11 or 12 years will set the tone of your child’s health and behavior for his entire adulthood. 60 to 90 years!
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