I was a notorious picky eater as a child. My mother told me that if it had been up to me, I would have eaten nothing but cheese pizza, corn dogs and fish sticks day in and day out (how healthy!). Vegetables were a no-go, and heaven forbid two foods on my plate were touching each other or that my chicken had "green things," (also known as parsley) on it. Perhaps as a mom you can relate. Other kids chow down on almost anything, but your child turns up his nose at even the most harmless foods. If you've got a picky eater on your hands, consider the following tips to get your finicky child to eat nutritious foods:
1.) Easy on the snacks leading up to dinner time.
Mayo Clinic recommends that parents of picky eaters be consistent with meal times and that they should be careful of the times they offer their child snacks during the day. Young children don't always have huge appetites and often will not eat if they're not hungry. So if they've been grazing on too many snacks throughout the day or have eaten even a baggie of Cheerios in the hour leading up to dinner time, it can make their meal unappealing.
2.) "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down."
Of course, I don't mean this advice literally. All this means is if your child doesn't want to eat something, you may want to sweeten the deal by providing a familiar and tasty dip or sauce for your child to eat his/her veggies with or mixing in veggies into a casserole or other dish that you know your child loves. Broccoli might not be your child's favorite food, but with a cheese sauce "dip-dip" or "swimming pool," it's often not as bad as once feared. Your child may not be interested in shrimp when you introduce it, but with a ketchup dip, it might be worth a try.
3.) Make it fun or make it a challenge.
My mother had a clever tactic for getting me and my brother to eat purple cabbage. She told us purple cabbage was special because it made people smile, and that it was impossible to eat purple cabbage without smiling. So of course my brother and I shoved the previously unappealing veggie down our throats over and over again, trying in vain to eat it without smiling. By the end, we had eaten all the purple cabbage that Mom had included in our salads instead of picking it out, and had a blast doing it.
4.) When it comes to providing healthy snacks, try offering a variety.
All too often parents try to force children toward a particular healthy snack, but Dr. Sears recommends trying a "nibble tray," or essentially an ice cube tray with a variety of different healthy snacks. Fun names can help healthy snacks be more appealing as well. The Dr. Sears article suggests fun names like "apple moons," "avocado boats," "banana wheels," "carrot swords," or "cheese building blocks." This way, healthy snacking becomes fun and not a chore for the child. By offering variety, young children in their "no" years have the opportunity to make choices for themselves in a good way.
5.) Offer new and familiar foods again and again.
Many children are neophobes when it comes to food. That is, there're afraid of trying anything new or unfamiliar. This is why it's important to expose children to new foods slowly, and if they don't immediately take to it, offer the food again and again on different nights so that your child gets used to seeing it, grows familiar with watching you eating it, and gets the nerve to try it with some coaxing to take "just one bite."
These are just a few tips for encouraging picky eaters to chow on healthy foods. What techniques have you found to be effective?
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This guest contribution was submitted by Lenore Holditch, who specializes in writing about top online colleges. Questions and comments can be sent to: holditch.lenore @ gmail.com.
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