Children are picky eaters! In fact, I know a child who would only eat chocolate! Chocolate milk, chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chip pancakes. I called it the “chocolate diet”! I know another child who would not eat fruit- he wouldn’t drink a fruit smoothie, and he would never touch a banana muffin and wouldn’t even go near strawberry Cheerios! I called it the “no fruit diet”. And another child I know would only eat hot dogs for lunch and dinner! So the mom bought nitrate-free hot dogs. In each of these cases, the mom’s felt that it was better to give their children what they wanted than to have them go hungry or have a food fight!
What do you think?
I can relate all too well the challenges that we face in trying to get our children to eat, and to eat healthy at best! Fussiness about food is a young child’s norm. They are afraid of the new. However, I believe that part of our job as parents is to expose our children to a variety of healthy foods and ultimately they will like to eat healthy foods.
I have composed a short list of mealtime strategies:
#1) Cook with your kids.
I believe that kids are never too young to learn to be in the kitchen with you. For starters, while you are prepping the meal, your toddler can sit on the floor and play with the wooden spoons, spatulas, and various Tupperware. As they get a bit older, they can help you to mix and pour. This may get a bit messy (and more work for you to clean), but the importance of helping them to prepare the meal is the first step in getting them to try new foods. While they are helping they may be eager to try what they are making and they may learn to love the foods that they are preparing!
#2) Don’t pressure your child to taste it.
Making demands on your child to try something or bribing them to eat what’s on their plate may sound reasonable, but will only backfire. Don’t use food as a reward or bribe. When parents pressure children to eat, studies show that children react negatively. A more encouraging approach is to put the food on the table and simply encourage your child to try it. Try to stay neutral if they like it and don’t worry if they don’t. Also, when you do introduce a new food, you should realize that it may take as many as 10-15 times of putting it in front of them for a new food to get tasted.
#3) Be aware of how much your food choices impact your children.
Kids are all too aware of their parent’s eating preferences. If parents are picky eaters than most likely the children will be as well. Parent’s who are trying to loose weight should pay attention to how they might influence their children’s perception about food and healthy eating. If the parent’s are constant dieters than more than likely their children will try diets as well. By exposing young children to erratic dieting habits, parents are putting their children at risk for eating disorders or a lifetime of chronic dieting.
#4) Don’t serve boring.
Kids are reluctant to try anything that looks boring. It’s ok to add a little butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, ranch dressing or even a cheese or cream sauce to your food. Kids will most likely approve a vegetable or piece of fish or chicken or tofu a little fat to veggies helps unlock fat-soluble nutrients. The few extra calories your adding to their meal is a worthwhile trade off for the nutritional boost and the chance to introduce a new food and flavor.
#5) Have healthy snacks readily available.
Instead of empty snack calories (chips, cookies, soda), keep plenty of fruits, veggies, whole grain snacks and healthy beverages around and in reach. Kids become use to reaching for healthy snacks. But, it’s also ok to have some junk around too. If you ban your kids from eating a candy bar or cupcake, they will be more likely to overindulge when given a chance.
For more information, contact me at Rachel@livehealthynyc.com
