Interesting that fasting in the Bible(both Testaments) is to be voluntary, requires direct faith in God, be done without bragging, and has positive effects for body, soul, and mind. Like the Sabbath it's not something that is to be forced down people's throats with a bunch of dos and don'ts that makes the believer worse off than before.
Also kind of sure forcing a fast on a young child is not a good idea because a child may not have the spiritual, mental, and physical strength to last long with the expected length of time. Even the most well behaved of children are still wound up balls of energy waiting to be let loose. Messing with that with forced fasting instead of disciplined control feels like a bad idea such as the child becoming disobedient and stubborn. Huge difference between telling a child they can't have the candy bar at the store and having the child not eat for twenty hours or more straight.
