Feeding your toddler/pre-school child

Drinks

It is important to make sure your toddler is hydrated, because if not they may feel tired and not perform to the best of their abilities and in extreme cases may become seriously ill. Try to offer your toddler six to eight drinks per day (approximately 1 litre). It is best to give your child water as their main drink because it does not cause tooth decay, unlike drinks containing sugar, such as fruit squashes, fruit juices, sweetened milks and fizzy drinks. If you are to offer sugary drinks, they should be diluted and limited to mealtimes to protect your child’s teeth from decay, between meals water and milk are best. Also, to discourage your child from developing too strong a preference for sweetened drinks, it is best not to offer these too often. To protect teeth from decay, toddlers should be consuming drinks (including milk) from a cup or free flowing beaker and not from a bottle. For more information see our resource on healthy hydration for children aged 1-4 years below.

Foods to avoid

Avoid giving the following to toddlers:

• Salt – children aged 1 to 3 years should have no more than 2g of salt (0.8g sodium) per day to reduce the risk of health problems in later life. Foods prepared at home can be flavoured with herbs, spices or lemon instead of salt. Some foods, such as cheese and meat products, are relatively high in salt so try to check food labels and avoid those which have more than 1.5g of salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium). 
• Some raw eggs – toddlers can eat raw or lightly cooked hens’ eggs that have a red lion stamped on them (the British Lion Quality mark). Hens' eggs that do no have the red lion mark, as well as other eggs including duck or quail eggs, should be cooked until both the white and yolk are solid. Avoid foods containing raw or partially cooked eggs that you cannot confirm are red lion stamped to reduce the risk of salmonella poisoning
• Shark, marlin and swordfish should not be given to toddlers because they contain more mercury than other types of fish.
• The NHS advises that whole nuts should not be given to children under the age 5 years because of the risk of choking but you can give your baby nuts and peanuts from around 6 months old, as long as they're crushed, ground or a smooth nut or peanut butter.
• Low-calorie foods - for most toddlers there is no need to offer ‘low-calorie’ or ‘low-fat’ foods because children of this age need lots of energy for growing and for physical activity. However, once a varied diet is accepted and provided your child is growing well semi-skimmed milk can be introduced from 2 years.
• Sugars – sweet foods and drinks can lead to tooth decay, so these foods should be limited and consumed only at mealtimes.

• Exposure, exposure, exposure! Repeatedly offering a food, so that it becomes familiar, is known to increase children’s willingness to try it and eventually to like it. You might need to offer some foods 5 - 15 times or more before your child learns to like them, but they should get there in the end so do not give up! You can increase the familiarity of foods in a number of ways, most obviously by offering them at meal and snack times, and also by teaching your child about food during playtime. Ideas include growing foods, cooking and handling foods, messy food-related play, reading stories and singing songs about healthy foods.
• Relax and praise. Pressurising or coercing your child into eating certain foods can sometimes work in the short-term, but this tactic may backfire because your child is likely to develop negative associations with the food and be even less likely to eat it in the future. Pressure can take many forms including bribery ('Eat your broccoli and then you can have pudding'); coercing ('You will eat your broccoli'); emotional blackmail ('I’ll be cross if you don’t eat your broccoli') punishment ('You will not watch your favourite TV programme if you don’t eat your broccoli'); pressure ('You need to finish all the broccoli on your plate') and force feeding (physically trying to put food into your child’s mouth). The best approach is to offer foods in a relaxed way and to let your child decide how much they want to eat; when your child tries a new food or eats something they previously refused, even if it’s only a tiny piece, praise your child. Praise can help children to develop positive associations with food which will mean that they will be more likely to eat them again in the future.  
• Create a healthy home. Aim to create a healthy home environment that is conducive to healthy eating. Stock up on healthy foods from the four main food groups and try to avoid having foods high in fat, salt and sugars on display or in your child’s reach. ‘Modelling’, that is, allowing your child to learn from watching how you behave, has been shown to be an effective way to encourage children to accept new foods so lead by example and eat the foods that you would like your child to eat. It is also a good idea to limit your child’s exposure to food advertising, for example by limiting their screen time, as this might negatively influence your child’s food preferences by encouraging liking of foods high in fat, salt and sugars.

Overweight and obesity, physical activity, supplements and dental health 

Overweight and obesity

The UK has one the highest rates of childhood obesity in Europe, with more than 1 in 5 children aged 2 to 4 years estimated to be overweight or obese. Overweight and obese children are more likely to suffer from emotional and psychological problems and tend to grow up to be overweight or obese adults, which can lead to serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.

Information reviewed August 2015. Updated June 2022.