8 Reasons Why Your Child Might Have a Loss of Appetite

Reasons Why Your Child Has a Loss of Appetite

Watching a child sliding the plate on a dining table is a typical scenario for many parents. It might be a complex task when you try to maintain a proper diet plan for your kids. You strain every nerve to include all the nutrients, vitamins, proteins, and minerals in their diet plan and prepare delicious meals. But the result is a loss of appetite in your child.

There may be many underlying reasons for the loss of appetite in children. Let’s try to find out these reasons to fix them and follow a proper diet plan for your children.

ADHD

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a condition in which children face difficulty concentrating, impulsive behaviour, and hyperactivity. It can be a common reason behind picky eating habits in children or children not eating at all. You can make changes in your children’s diet plan if your children are suffering from this condition.

Making changes in diet plans can help children with ADHD since there are some foods that help the brain function better and minimize the effect of symptoms in children.

For instance, include:

• vitamin-rich food like meat, fish beans, etc

• protein-rich food like oranges, apples, grapefruit, pears

• mineral-rich foods

• foods rich in Omega 3 fatty acids

Some foods to avoid are candies, products made of white flour, honey, sugar, potatoes without skin, white rice, etc.

Disordered Eating

Another reason for loss of appetite in kids is due to image issues. Many children think that they are gaining weight due to eating, so they stop eating or eat considerably less. In such a situation, instead of pressuring them to eat, include healthy foods in their diet plan that provide energy.

Some picky eater children are also underweight. Feeding underweight children is a challenge. Growing children need a healthy diet, and you need food rich in nutrition in their diet plan. This will help the underweight children in gaining weight and prevent loss of appetite.

Loss of appetite: Eating Only Favorite foods, also known as Food Jag

This is a very common reason for the loss of appetite in kids. It could be that children who eat only their favourite foods are very reluctant to eat food that they don’t like. This implies that a child is eating the required amount of food but is not eating different foods that are good for childhood nutrition. You need to take the initiative to make children eat good food for their nutrition and include them in their diet plan to make sure they have a healthy diet.

Kids get bored with The Same Diet Plan

If you serve your child the same food every day, then it is natural that they may be bored with it and won’t feel about eating it. This is the same with adults as well; if served the same food daily, even adults won’t eat it and could start disliking it.

Include different meals in their diet plan; you can repeat one kind of meal after 3-4 days but don’t serve the same meal daily. This is important to maintain a healthy diet for children and prevent a loss of appetite.

Too Many Snacks In A Day: Unhealthy Diet Plan for kids

If the child is eating too many snacks in a day between his meals, he would have a loss of appetite during the meal. Along with setting their routine for meals in the day, set the snack time as well. If you don’t set the routine, then this problem may not be solved. There should be a specific time when the snack should be offered, and the habit of eating snacks randomly is a must to avoid. It is difficult for children to develop a routine for themselves, so parents play a big role in setting a routine for their children.

Very Large Portions Of Food

If a child is served large portions of food, they feel swamped and won’t feel the need to eat food. Even if you serve food that is good for a healthy diet, they won’t eat it looking at the large portions of food. This can happen with the adults as well when they don’t feel the hunger looking at large portions of food on their plate. Serve your children with small portions of the food that is on the table. You can serve them more later on but start with small portions of food. They will start eating again, and you will be able to maintain a healthy diet.

The Child Is Not Hungry

The child is not hungry is a simple yet surprising reason behind him not eating food. Their appetite could be inconsistent, and they won’t simply eat someday because of not feeling hungry or may eat more than needed because they are too hungry. Even after including their favourite food in their diet plan, they won’t eat, which may worry you. One simple way of making your child eat in such a situation is to serve them food and warn them that they won’t get food after mealtime.

Feeling Pressurized 

There may be instances when parents start forcing their children to eat food. For example, a mother compelling her child to eat the yoghurt even when the child is already full. So in such a situation, the child may feel that he is under pressure and may not want to eat food. Similarly, parents can constantly complain about the child not eating food. This habit may turn the child off, and he will step back and won’t eat. Let your child eat at his speed and let them add a different variety of foods on their plate in their own sweet time.