An eating schedule works really well to help kids regulate their appetite and eat well. Learn how to set one up and why it’s so helpful.

As a pediatric dietitian, parents ask me all the time about when and how frequently their children should eat. They reminisce about the structure and feeding schedules they had when their children were babies. It worked so well! Well, I’m here to tell you, an eating schedule still works for kids and teens, too.

Many families are busy these days and their food routine is chaotic. No set times for meals or snacks. No plan for what those meals and snacks will be. This chaos causes stress, getting in the way of raising a healthy eater.

Having a food routine with regular meals and snack times separates eating from other activities. A meal schedule throughout the day can help your child develop and hone his appetite regulation skills, also.

In this article, I’ll explain why an eating schedule supports your child’s nutritional needs while helping them tune into and regulate their appetite.

A meal plan for kids isn’t just about healthy food on the table or getting the next meal planned and made! A schedule combined with healthy foods are your ally.

What is Appetite Regulation?

Your child’s appetite includes their desire to eat food, whether that’s due to hunger, or other reasons. Kids can be truly hungry, which is what I call physical hunger. Or, they can be ‘head hungry.’ For example, with ‘head hunger,’ kids may think they’re hungry because someone else is eating, which can trigger a desire to eat. Or, a child may have access to a food they love but haven’t eaten in a long time. This can spike their desire to eat (appetite) and make them think they’re hungry.

Appetite regulation is the ability to eat when hungry and stop when fullness cues kick in. It’s a true sense of physical hunger and fullness. 

It’s also the acknowledgement that external triggers may be the reason for perceived hunger.

The ability to regulate your appetite is the foundation of lifelong healthy eating, a healthy relationship with food, and healthful living. 

Although kids with poor appetite regulation can overeat, the opposite can be true, too. Erratic eating may lead to a lack of appetite and inadequate eating over time. Sometimes this is why the toddler won’t eat or your child becomes a picky eater.

A Variety of Healthy Foods and a Mealtime Schedule Work Together

Developing a schedule for meals and snacks helps your child get the variety of nutrients they need in their diet on a daily basis (40 different ones!).

One of the things I help families with is meal planning. Understanding the different food groups, how to balance them, and how to plan them into daily meals helps your child get closer to the nutrients they need.

But you also need to know how to balance sweets and treats to keep the focus on nutrition and not let these foods take over.

When kids get the nutrients they need, they grow well and are able to maintain their health. This can result in fewer illnesses.

When we pair balanced meals with meal routine, the magic starts to happen.

Nutritious, filling meals and snacks at regular times allows appetite regulation to be much easier, and more natural. The truth? Your kid’s food schedule helps her recognize and maintain normal appetite cues and reduce ‘head hunger.’

In other words, they will be hungry at family mealtimes and less likely to complain of hunger between them. 

What are the Best Eating Times for Kids?

The timing of meals and snacks change as kids grow. This is something that seems obvious but parents aren’t always changing the schedule when they need to.

For example, I meet many kids who are eating three and four snacks each day.  This is too many!

Only very young children need frequent meals and snacks.

As kids grow and their tummies get bigger, they can eat more. Their stomachs can hold more food. Naturally, this will extend the timeframe between meals and snacks.

Let’s look at a recommended eating schedule based on a child’s age:  

A Sample Schedule for Toddlers 

Little ones (toddlers and young preschoolers) require three balanced meals and up to three snacks per day to meet their nutritional needs for growth and development. Little stomachs make it important to offer frequent meals, which is why they eat every 2-3 hours.

For more on toddlerhood growth and development, read: 7 Principles of Serving Healthy Toddler Meals

A Meal Plan for Kids

Older children in school need about 3 meals and 1-2 healthy snacks per day. Younger school-age kids (grade K through 2) may need to gradually transition down to two snacks per day. This will be dependent on where they are in their development and growth stage. 

Older school-age kids will do well with 3 solid meals and one afternoon snack per day.

The good news is, many schools allow time for a morning snack for younger kids. If you’re packing a school snack from home, I have some guidelines and a handy e-guide on how to do this!

A Teen Eating and Snack Schedule

Teenagers are like adults. They do well with three meals and one snack each day, unless they are an athlete requiring more nutrition for athletic performance, or are in a growth spurt and need additional calories and nutrients.

Learn the fundamentals of nourishing your child, inside and out.

What is a Balanced Meal for Kids? 

A balanced diet represents most of the USDA MyPlate food groups, including protein foods, dairy foods (or non-dairy substitutes), fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.

As mentioned, when planning main meals, offer most food groups in a meal and try to rotate through a variety of foods within each food group.

For example, for the fruit group, you can rotate through a range of options such as strawberries, apple and peaches. If you’re planning for grains, vary it up with cereal, oats, or cream of wheat.

Try to avoid offering the same types of food over and over. And don’t forget to try new foods! Mix it up so that your child gets exposed to a number of different nutrients throughout the day.

A general rule of thumb is to offer four to five food groups at meals, and at least two to three food groups at snack time.

How Frequently Should Kids Eat?

It is good for children to have a structure to their day, and with meals and snacks, this certainly holds true.

For toddlers and young preschoolers, an eating schedule that spaces meals and snacks to every two and half to three hours works well for most.

For school-age kids, eating intervals of three to four hours seems to be most effective in preventing too much hunger and overeating in children. 

Teens do well with an eating schedule that spaces meals and snacks at every four to five hours.

What doesn’t work well for any child is a sense of unpredictability around when they will eat. Try to set a daily eating schedule that stays consistent and occurs at predictable times. 

What Time Should Kids Eat Dinner?

Based on the intervals I outlined above, let’s look at a sample meal plan for a school-age child, including a time for dinnertime meals at the end of the day. This timing can be adjusted up or down based on your daytime schedule, age of your child, family needs, and sleep schedule.

Start with breakfast in the morning, and proceed from there. Lunch at mid-day, an after-school snack, and dinner at a predictable time. Here’s what it looks like “on paper:” 

7 am breakfast

10 am snack

1 pm lunch

4 pm snack

7 pm dinner 

Why a Predictable Schedule is a Good Idea 

A mealtime routine and regular snacks builds predictable expectations and security around food and eating, keeping your child’s energy level up, and helping keep undesirable behaviors, such as overeating, at bay.

A child who is unsure about when meals or snacks will occur can become insecure about access to food. Insecurity can be seen in the following ways: rapid eating, cravings for food, frequent questioning about when and what is being served for meals, and “sneak eating“.

Promote an eating schedule and routine by staying on time and serving nutrient-dense food. Of course, make sure you’re using a feeding style that promotes structure, boundaries and autonomy. 

The results? You’ll be more likely to raise a child who learns to regulate their appetite and eating, lives in a healthy body, and who is less fixated on food.

Resources

• Check out our workshops, classes and guidebooks to help you even more!
• My book, Kids Thrive at Every Size, will help you set up the essential lifestyle habits for every child, at every size!

This post was updated in October 2024.