My 3 year old loves to eat!

My dd is like that, but she's very skinny. She is constantly asking for food because she's hungry. I know half the time she's bored.

You say you dd is not very active. Perhaps that's where you should focus your attention. I would let her eat when she wants to eat, but try to get her doing more active things throughout the day. Does she have a tri-cycle that she could ride up and down the sidewalk with supervision? A swingset or park close by with climbing equipment? When the girls were small I set up a small climbing gym in the living room for rainy and cold/winter days. Perhaps even taking her for a picknic in a large field where she could run with ball or even try to fly a kite.

Aside from physical activity you could have a craft bin with age appropriate stuff in it for creative playing. When you think she's hungry out of boredom, bring out the craft bin. This is what we did with dd and it's works great. We put window writer (for coloring on the windows), playdough, kids sizors and paper, tracing paper, coloring, punches for making paper figures.

I would totally stay away from the food issue and concentrate on her activity level. I hope I helped.

My 3 1/2 year old loves food, is an adventurous eater and rarely turns up his nose at anything. However he does self regulate, mostly eats only when hungry and is very active. He is at about 50 percentile (however I understand the charts changed a few years ago and 50% = 60% in comparison.)

Being that I over eat and have struggled with my weight for years (and still do) I have tried very hard not to have the same to happen to son. The best book that I have read is called "How to get your kids to eat.... but not too much" by Ellen Sater. Her whole approach is that eating should never be an issue. Its your "job" to offer healthy foods on a regular basis and it is their "job" to eat, or not, as they see fit. I would recommend reading it; there are some great ideas in it!

I also second finding ways to get your DD more active. If its fun she will want to do more. A few ideas: gardening, walking a neighbor's dog, trips to local playgrounds, running thru a sprinkler, riding a bike, walking to the store or a friends house.

If you are indoors and she says she hungry but you know she is bored try having her "cook" her own snack first. Ie: have her slice a banana (with a dull knife) and top with peanut butter, have her help making your own apple sauce in the food processor, have her help make cookies or muffins from scratch, have her wash fruit and veggies and make a easy yogurt dip for dipping the veggie into. This delays the eating yet teaches her about appreciating food and enjoying the proccess of making her own.