It’s not surprising that our Little One-ders need the right nutrition to support them during this extraordinary period of growth and development. By drinking two 150ml beakers of Growing Up Milk, a fortified milk drink for toddlers, you can help provide them with the extra nutrients they need, as part of a healthy balanced diet. However, Growing Up Milk Info research reveals that 78 per cent of parents think their toddler’s dietary needs are being met if they eat the same meals as the rest of the family.

But here are the real statistics. ‘Pound for pound’ (per kg of body weight, per day) parents might be shocked to learn that their toddlers require:

         Nearly three times as much energy from food compared to an adult

         More than four times the amount of iron and vitamin C

         Around three times the amount of calcium, zinc and vitamin A

         More fat than adults, particularly ‘good’ unsaturated fats

         Less salt in their food than adults

To put it into perspective, from 12 months to three years, if our toddlers were as big as us adults, they would need a huge amount of extra nutrition each day to support natural growth and development. This could mean eating around 7,000 calories every day, or:

         Four bowls of cereal

         Four bananas

         Three apples

         Two cheese sandwiches

         Eight cereal bars

         Four slices of bread and butter

         Three portions of fish

         Three portions of rice

         Five full-fat yogurts

         Nearly two pints of Growing Up Milk

This feels a little intimidating, doesn’t it? Well, it can be even tougher to ensure our little ones are getting a healthy balanced diet, especially if they are a fussy toddler or faddy eater. Shockingly, Growing Up Milk Info’s research also found that almost one in three (29.2 per cent) toddlers has refused to eat healthy foods. This might go some way to explaining why one in six (16.3 per cent) parents find having to cook different meals for toddlers to the rest of the family worrying, stressful or challenging.

Growing Up Milk is made from cows' milk enriched with key nutrients that toddlers need, like vitamins A, C and D, iron, calcium and omega 3. It's reassuring to know that drinking two 150ml beakers of Growing Up Milk daily will go a long way towards providing these important nutrients for toddlers.

To find out more about the extraordinary growth and development that toddlers go through visit www.growingupmilkinfo.com. The website offers advice and opinions from experts and mums on toddler nutrition and the role Growing Up Milk can play to help support our Little One-ders.