Parents often tell me that their toddler doesn't eat anything, yet most of those toddlers are growing and developing fine. First step is to check with your pediatrician and make sure that your daughter is truly gaining weight and growing appropriately. Here are a few reasons why she may not be eating what you think she should:

Unlike adults, children often don't tire of eating the same thing every day. As long as it is healthy and he eats it, I wouldn't worry too much about repetition. When he stops eating it, then it's time to get creative or try new items.

She CAN have almost everything you eat, as long as it's cut into small pieces. Infants actually learn to eat by mashing food with their gums, so even toddlers who don't get their first tooth until they're a year old do fine with soft pieces of grown-up food. I find that one-year-olds love eating small pieces of steamed veggies (such as carrots and sweet potato), whole grains (pasta, cereal and bread) and chicken. Take whatever you eat, cook it a bit more if needed or mash it slightly so it's soft, cut it into small pieces and serve it as finger food. Thick yogurt works well when it comes to learning to use a spoon, and most infants and toddlers love it.

Around this age, parents either tell me that their child won't eat anything, or that they eat all day long, so yes, it is very common. Your daughter may be going through a growth spurt and therefore is truly hungry.

If you haven't yet given him a bottle, I would recommend introducing a bottle of breast milk or formula as soon as possible so he can get used to drinking from a bottle.

Constipation is common in toddlers and can usually be corrected with some simple, healthy dietary changes. So before you take him off milk, take a look at everything your son eats and drinks.

Try a half-and-half meal: buy half the dinner at a fast-food place, and make the other half with food from home. For example, go through the drive-thru, buy everyone's favorite sandwich, skip the fries, bring the food home and serve it with a fruit plate, salad or vegetable dish that you prepare.

You might not need to broach the subject at all. She is already declining desserts and seconds so you don't need to tell her to stop eating but you will need to protect her from misinformation. Most girls her age learn what they know about food from advertisers. They incorrectly believe foods carrying nutrition claims such as "low fat", "sugar-free" or "lite" are always better choices than regular foods, and your daughter may eat these highly-advertised foods thinking they do not count. I find snack foods and drinks marketed to kids her age can be a tremendous source of unnecessary calories.

The real question to ask is: are the treats interfering with mealtime, appetite or causing arguments? I don't worry about the occasional lollipop, because the portion is small. I do worry about larger baked items. A two-year-old requires half the amount of food his 9-year-old sibling needs. Depending on the size of the cookie, it could crowd out the more nutritious food he requires. I don't recommend sneaking treats to the older kids and hiding them from the little one; it might work sometimes, but eventually you'll get caught!

I absolutely agree. Serving fruit and vegetables in recognizable forms is the only way a child will get to experience the food, and it's the only way a child will learn to like it. Parents who sneak foods into the menu have the best of intentions -- they think it makes their child's diet more nutritious. What they don't realize is that many of today's children are well-nourished, but not well-fed.

Age twelve is not too young to make this decision, and it provides her with an ideal opportunity to take on a little more personal responsibility -- very important as she moves into the teen years. There are two major considerations here: what she needs to be a healthy vegetarian, and how she'll get the foods and nutrients she needs in a family that isn't vegetarian.

I think you need to explain to your husband exactly why you are concerned. I suspect rewarding good behavior with food, and congratulating your daughter for cleaning her plate has you worried your husband is teaching her to crave sweets and overeat. You are right; these practices can lead to overeating.

Active teens like your son are a pleasure to work with because they have such good appetites and need to eat a lot of food. Your challenge will be to satisfy your son's craving for protein-rich foods without giving him a diet high in saturated fat. Since he eats plenty of meat and milk I suggest the snacks you offer include less animal proteins and more plant-based sources, which are much healthier for his heart.

It’s an expensive way to get nutrition. You can get DHA from other sources. DHA is a fatty acid that is found in breast milk (and marine animals), and it’s linked with brain development and disease prevention. It has been added to formula in the past few years for the purpose of replicating breast milk.

Absolutely. If you like veggies, chances are your kid will like them. Just offer good food, and eat it yourself. That’s all you need to do. I wouldn’t worry about it. If your pediatrician says your child is growing well, you’re okay.

Kids do need some texture in their foods, though, so I would offer foods like apple slices. By the age of 4, your child should experience the texture of cooked vegetables like broccoli. If your child is healthy and sees Mom and Dad eating it, chances are she’ll eat it, too. You do need to offer new foods as many as 10 or 15 times, though, but most parents stop at three.

By breastfeeding, you’re already doing the very best thing you can do to prevent allergies. There’s evidence that breastfeeding for at least four months may prevent or delay eczema.

We used to think that holding off on feeding a baby certain foods would delay the onset of food allergies. Earlier this year, however, the American Academy of Pediatrics, after evaluation of all the research, released a statement that basically says that doing so may not decrease the chance of a child becoming allergic later on. 

Yes. Your pediatrician won’t bring it up unless it’s really an issue. So listen carefully. He or she looks at the height and weight chart to get your child’s BMI (body mass index), a measure of fatness. Your pediatrician is looking for a change. For example, if your child is in the 80th percentile for BMI, and suddenly there’s a blip and he’s in the 90th or 95th, something has happened. What’s going on? This is especially important if there are any health issues in the family, such as a history of heart disease.