Toddler Life Cycle Nutrition

From RD Exam Ready Podcast by Zak Kaesberg MS, RD

March 15, 2026 · 21 min

About this episode

This episode covers toddler and preschool nutrition, focusing on growth assessment, feeding development, and key nutrient needs for young children.

In this episode of the RD Exam Ready Podcast, Zak walks through toddler and preschool nutrition and the key life cycle concepts you need to understand for the RD Exam. You’ll review how growth assessment changes at age two when we transition from WHO growth standards to CDC growth charts, including BMI-for-age classifications for overweight and obesity. Zak also covers feeding development, appropriate portion sizes, choking hazards, and how children develop food preferences through repeated exposure to new foods. The episode also reviews important nutrient needs for toddlers and preschoolers, including protein requirements, energy needs, and key micronutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, fluoride, fiber, and vitamin D. Want more free RD Exam prep content? Follow RD Exam Ready on social media: Instagram: @RDExamReady TikTok: @RDExamReady YouTube: RD Exam Ready Mailing List: If you want to get notified when new episodes release, hear about upcoming YouTube Live sessions, and receive PDF notes from those live review sessions, join the RD Exam Ready mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/jvGxaA Listen or watch the podcast anywhere: https://feeds.transistor.fm/rd-exam-ready-podcast If…

People in this episode

Host: Zak Kaesberg

Topics covered

toddler nutrition
preschool nutrition
growth assessment
feeding development
nutrient needs
food preferences

Keywords

toddler nutrition
preschool nutrition
growth charts
BMI-for-age
portion sizes
choking hazards
micronutrients

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: WHO, CDC, RD Exam Ready