Experts disagree on whether a daily multivitamin is necessary for all children.

Many young children are picky eaters but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will develop a vitamin or mineral deficiency. Children don’t need large amounts of vitamins and minerals. In addition, many foods that children eat are fortified with important vitamins and minerals. So your child may be getting more vitamins and minerals than you think.

When is a multivitamin necessary? Talk to your child’s doctor. If your doctor is concerned that your son isn’t getting the recommended amounts of vitamins and minerals, he or she may recommend a daily multivitamin. However, giving your child a multivitamin can’t replace proper nutrition.

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Introduction
Autism is a brain disorder that is associated with a range of developmental problems, mainly in communication and social interaction. The first signs of this disorder typically appear before age 3. Although treatment has improved greatly in the past few decades, autism cannot be cured. It persists throughout life.

It’s estimated that three to six of every 1,000 children have autism. A recent increase in the number of autism cases in the United States may be the result of improved diagnosis and changes in diagnostic criteria.

The disorder occurs three to four times more often in boys than in girls. The severity of symptoms is variable. Some children with autism will grow up able to live independently, while others may always need supportive living and working environments.

The cause of autism isn’t clear, and there’s no cure. But intensive, early treatment can make a difference.

Signs and symptoms
In general, children with autism have problems in three crucial areas of development — social skills, language and behavior. The most severe autism is marked by a complete inability to communicate or interact with other people.

Because the symptoms of autism vary widely, two children with the same diagnosis may act quite differently and have strikingly different skills.

If your child has autism, he or she may develop normally for the first few months — or years — of life and then later become less responsive to other people, including you. You may recognize the following signs in the areas of social skills, language and behavior:

Social skills

• Fails to respond to his or her name
• Has poor eye contact
• Appears not to hear you at times
• Resists cuddling and holding
• Appears unaware of others’ feelings
• Seems to prefer playing alone — retreats into his or her “own world”

Language

• Starts talking later than other children
• Loses previously acquired ability to say words or sentences
• Does not make eye contact when making requests
• Speaks with an abnormal tone or rhythm — may use a singsong voice or robot-like speech
• Can’t start a conversation or keep one going
• May repeat words or phrases verbatim, but doesn’t understand how to use them

Behavior

• Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning or hand-flapping
• Develops specific routines or rituals
• Becomes disturbed at the slightest change in routines or rituals
• Moves constantly
• May be fascinated by parts of an object, such as the spinning wheels of a toy car
• May be unusually sensitive to light, sound and touch

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When your child gets the munchies, be prepared to offer up that quick-and-healthy fix. Here is some helpful information to promote health on the go.

Snacking is a major pastime for many American children — so much so that nearly one-fourth of kids’ daily energy intake comes from nibbling between meals.

Much of this nibbling is on prepackaged snack foods, which are high in calories and low in nutrients. The popularity of these fattening treats may be one of the factors responsible for the country’s childhood-obesity epidemic.

But snacking itself isn’t necessarily bad. The content of your child’s snacks is what’s most important. Providing healthy snack choices now will help your children learn to make healthy food choices in the future.

Snacks are essential
Young children actually need snacks. Their stomachs are small, so they often can’t get all the nutrients they need in a day through meals alone. They need smaller portions of food more often. A good rule of thumb for toddler serving sizes is about 1 tablespoon of food for each year of age. You can always give them more if they’re still hungry.

Children’s growth rates slow down after their first birthday. Because they need fewer calories at this time, they tend to eat less. Continue to provide healthy food choices for meals and snacks. Don’t get upset or force children to clean their plates.

Certain foods may cause choking in younger children. Avoid feeding raw vegetables, popcorn, nuts or peanuts, and dried fruits — such as raisins — to children under 3. Quarter hot dogs lengthwise and then cut into small pieces. Slice grapes in half.

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Introduction
Even the best-behaved children can be difficult and challenging at times. Teens are often moody and argumentative. But if your child or teen has a persistent pattern of tantrums, arguing and angry or disruptive behaviors toward you and other authority figures, he or she may have oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Emotionally draining for the parents and distressing for the child, oppositional defiant disorder can add fuel to what may already be a turbulent and stressful family life.

You may walk on eggshells around your child with oppositional defiant disorder, not knowing what may trigger a tantrum or argument. While this is one of the most difficult of behavioral disorders, setting firm boundaries with consistent consequences plus a commitment to improving your relationship with your child can help your family overcome the dominating grip that oppositional defiant disorder may have on your household.

The foundation of treatment of ODD is behavioral management. Parents don’t have to go it alone in trying to manage a child with oppositional defiant disorder. Doctors, counselors and child development experts can help you learn specific parenting strategies and use proven techniques to help build a foundation of trust between you and your child and improve the underlying basis for these disruptive behaviors.

Signs and symptoms
It may be tough at times to recognize the difference between a strong-willed or emotional child and a child who has oppositional defiant disorder. And certainly there is a range between the normal independence-seeking behavior of children and oppositional defiant disorder. It’s normal for children to exhibit oppositional behaviors at certain stages of their development. However, if your child’s oppositional behaviors are persistent, have lasted at least six months and are clearly disruptive to the family and home or school environment, the issue may be oppositional defiant disorder.

The following are behaviors associated with ODD:

• Negativity
• Defiance
• Disobedience
• Hostility directed toward authority figures

These behaviors might cause your child to regularly and consistently show these symptoms:

• Frequent temper tantrums
• Argumentativeness with adults
• Refusal to comply with adult requests or rules
• Deliberate annoyance of other people
• Blaming others for mistakes or misbehavior
• Acting touchy and easily annoyed
• Anger and resentment
• Spiteful or vindictive behavior
• Aggressiveness toward peers

Oppositional defiant disorder often occurs along with other behavioral or mental health problems such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety or depression. The symptoms of ODD may be hard to distinguish from those of other behavioral or mental health problems.

Causes
There’s no clear cause underpinning oppositional defiant disorder. Contributing causes may include:

• The child’s inherent temperament
• The family’s response to the child’s style
• A genetic component that when coupled with certain environmental conditions, such as lack of supervision, poor quality daycare or family instability, increases the risk for ODD
• A biochemical or neurological factor
• The child’s perception that he or she isn’t getting enough of the parent’s time and attention

Risk factors
A number of factors play a role in the development of oppositional defiant disorder. ODD is a complex problem involving a variety of influences, circumstances and genetic components. No single factor alone causes ODD; however, the more risk factors a child has for ODD, the greater the risk for developing the disorder. Possible risk factors include:

• Having a parent with a mood or substance abuse disorder
• Being abused or neglected
• Harsh or inconsistent discipline
• Lack of supervision
• Poor relationship with one or both parents
• Family instability such as multiple moves, changing schools frequently
• Parents with a history of ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder or conduct problems
• Financial problems in the family
• Peer rejection
• Exposure to violence
• Frequent changes in daycare providers
• Parents who have a troubled marriage or are divorced

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Child nutrition — or lack thereof — is worrisome if your child’s a picky eater.

Is your child’s nutrition — or lack thereof — about to drive you to distraction? Children’s nutrition creates worry for many parents. Fortunately, picky eaters can get the nutrition they need.

Consider this scenario: Your preschooler has refused to eat anything other than peanut butter sandwiches for every meal and snack for the past two days. Your toddler, on the other hand, wants nothing at all during meals. You can barely drag her away from her toys to sit at the dinner table.

Young children become picky eaters for a variety of reasons. Understanding what may be behind this behavior can make it less frustrating for parents. It can also provide clues to what strategies might help you cope with the behavior. If your child’s picky eating is actually compromising his or her growth and development, the same understanding can suggest tips for better child nutrition.

Slower growth reduces appetite
After the age of 2, your child’s growth rate slows dramatically. Babies typically quadruple their birth weight by the time they turn 2. But between the ages of 2 and 5, children gain only 4 to 5 pounds each year.

Young children tend to eat only when they’re hungry. A parent’s job is to provide several different types of nutritious food at every meal and snack. Your child will make decisions on whether to eat, what to eat and how much to eat, though you can help guide this process.

Tiny tummies hold less food
A young child’s stomach is only about the size of his or her fist. That’s why small but frequent feedings work best. Prohibit snacking for one hour before meals so that your child can come to the table hungry and motivated to eat.

Toddlers and preschoolers often can fill up on milk or juice, and simply have no room for a wider variety of foods. Some juice products — even those containing 100 percent juice — provide more sugar and calories than sugared sodas do.

Doctors recommend that juice be limited to less than 6 ounces a day. The United States Department of Agriculture’s new dietary guidelines, issued in 2005, recommend that children ages 2 to 8 consume 2 cups of low-fat milk products a day.

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