Should My Child Be Eating a "Balanced Plate" at Every Meal?

One thing many parents struggle with is meal time. Trying to convince a 2 year old that they really do like broccoli. Pleading with a 4 year old who has just decided they "don't like these eggs." Negotiating junk food purchases with teenagers. As parents, we want to make sure our kids are growing up healthy, and the marker of health is a well-rounded diet, and good nutrition, right? Clearly visible by the 2 servings of vegetables, one serving of protein, and one serving of fruit your darling toddler eats at each and every meal, RIGHT?

I can't claim to know everyone's eating habits, but the babies, toddlers, small children, not-so-small children, and even adults I know almost never eat a balanced plate at every meal. The difference between us as adults and our tiny counterparts, is that we can decide for ourselves what to eat, AND we know the different nutrients found in different foods and WHY our bodies need them. Kids don't recognize that carrots are just providing a different benefit for their bodies, than say a piece of chicken, or apples, or even ice cream. It's up to us as parents to teach them, and model for them a balanced way of eating.

Has your child ever ONLY wanted strawberries and blueberries every day for a week, and then all the sudden has turned into a carnivore who can devour an adult-sized portion of chicken, and a helping of broccoli? This is totally NORMAL! Kids, just like adults, go through cravings, and even though they don't know it, their little bodies are pretty good at telling them what they need. I remember in elementary school, we learned about the food pyramid and how many servings of each type of food you "need" per day. (11 servings of bread and pasta, REALLY?!) And now we have MyPlate, which I think is an improvement, but now even more suggests that your plate should literally look like this:

Here's the thing: sometimes your and your kids' plates will look like this one. Sometimes they won't. Sometimes they will look like this plate and your kid will only eat 1/4 of it. It's all ok. Don't get caught up in the servings! We need to think of nutrition not on a meal by meal basis, or even day by day, but over the course of a week or even a couple of weeks. Think of it from your perspective. As an adult when you come off of a weekend where you've eaten fried food, burgers, tacos, etc., the following Monday, don't you just crave some veggies or a salad? Kids work the same way, and their bodies will figure it out.

Bottom line: offer a variety of healthy choices at each meal, and the balance will come.