How to boost our child’s metabolism and food intake?

How to feed a child that refuses to eat?

I found the above hub question today while surfing hubpages for my 20-month-old daughter who sometimes refuses to eat and me and my wife have to force-feed her and this makes her cry.

This above question was asked by Pricessa, a fellow hubber, 2 years back. I saw and read three answers to this question and found them interesting. Then, I thought to do some more research on why our child refuses to eat all the time to find out some good medical reason for it. In my process of search, I found a good article, which has the mention of circadian rhythm relating to metabolism, so I thought to share some knowledge with you regarding that.

So first of all, in order to boost our child's metabolism and feed them the best, we should know what is circadian rhythm and what is its relationship with metabolism.

What is a circadian rhythm?

Circadian rhythm in layman terms is a biological rhythm or the human internal body clock that cycles in the human body over a period of twenty-four hours and is the regulator of timing for most of the physiological behaviors and functions inside our body such as eating, drinking, sleeping and other functions.

Each person has his/her own circadian rhythm. For some, it is early morning, for others it is noon and a few others it is evening when the metabolism picks up. (I read this in an article and went into further understanding of this). On further reading, I also came to understand that studies have proved that "circadian rhythm dominates all life functions".

Based on this, I felt that it is very important for us to closely observe our kids, gauge, and judge their metabolism and feed them accordingly. We can optimize their feeds by giving them their major meals of the day during this ‘peak-time'. This will benefit them more and may bring down fussiness. This will also help us refrain from "force-feed method" because I am sure at some point or the other, most anxious mothers end up doing this.

But I surmise that there are going to be a lot of practical problems to actually set a ‘Feeding Table' based on this.

Eg-1: A child who just has begun schooling may have his/her peak metabolism in the school hours and we are unable to take advantage of this.

Eg-2: A working mother may not really be available at this time.

Our cultural belief system and habits may also hinder this.

Each individual's internal clock is different

All of us have our "Peak-Time" based on our circadian rhythms, which occurs twice in 24 hours. This is the time when our mind is very alert and even bodily functions are at its peak. This time can be best utilized to do the most productive tasks of the day. Similarly, even our metabolism is at its peak at some time of the day.

Let me give some more clarity on this. In an online article, a parent had written on how her child fussed over food in the mornings and also mentioned that she eats pretty well in the evening hours. The nutrition expert explained about how metabolism and circadian rhythms are related and how knowing this one can feed the child best based on this. In this case, that particular child's peak metabolism was in the evening hours.

So my dear friends, I have got the answer to my question because I know now when to feed my daughter because after studying, I have found her peak-time for eating food, so lets discuss and list out some practical hiccups and come up with reasonable tips here via the comment section below. Lets focus on the ‘Peak-time metabolism' of our children so that all of us together discover on how to optimize on it and feed them in the best healthy way.