Zambrano - Getting Kids to Eat Healthy: A Guide for Parents of Picky Eaters

Getting Kids to Eat Healthy

A guide for parents of picky eaters

Parents of children who are picky eaters face a frustrating game of pleading, coaxing, begging, tricking, and even threatening to take away privileges, often at least once a day.

Getting your kids to eat healthy is not always an easy task, but we all know how important good nutrition is to the health of growing children.

Keeping in mind some basic advice will help you deal more successfully with encouraging your children to not only consume, but actually enjoy, a more healthful variety of foods.

In time, and with a bit of patience, healthy eating can be a fun and enjoyable activity and no longer a difficult struggle.

One challenge that many parents face is that of the child being bombarded with non-nutritional foods and snacks, perhaps by well-meaning friends or relatives. Once a child develops a taste for sweets or junk foods, it isn't always easy to wean them away from them and to encourage healthful eating instead.

Politely let people know that, although you understand they want to be generous in sharing treats or snacks or other foods with your child, you are trying your best to concentrate on developing healthy eating habits and want to limit the types of foods your child eats to nutritional ones.

Even if some feelings may be slightly injured in the process, most if not all, people will understand that you only have the child's best interests at heart and that you are looking out for the child, who may not be aware of their nutritional needs at a young age.

Here are some basic strategies for success with healthy eating:

1. Individual tastes

Every person, whether young or old, has personal preferences regarding food and drink. Understanding that your child is a unique individual with their own tastes will help guide you in encouraging healthful eating habits.

2. Fresh and safe foods

Making sure that the fruits, vegetables and other foods that you serve your child are fresh and as sanitary as possible is crucial to deriving maximum nutritional benefits from them.

3. Attractive and appetizing presentation

How foods are prepared and served is also important to how well they may be accepted by children. Take a moment to arrange colorful veggies and fruits on a platter, for example, or in a bowl so they look their best. Experiment with colorful combinations of foods, whether in a salad, a casserole or perhaps even a sandwich.

4. Keep mealtimes fun and relaxed

Trying to maintain a relaxed atmosphere at home is not always easy, with the hectic schedules and demands that many families face.

It's important to have mealtimes and even snack times be as relaxed and enjoyable as possible, for the sake of proper digestion and to ensure that the child can properly appreciate the food being served.

No one can enjoy foods properly in a tense and stressful atmosphere.

5. Encourage the child to participate

By allowing the child to help shop for and choose veggies, fruits and other nutritious foods, you will be encouraging their interest in the foods and their willingness to accept them.

Also allow the child to help plan and prepare meals and snacks. Children may also enjoy serving the foods and arranging an attractive presentation at the table.

6. Try growing your own veggies, fruits and herbs

Even on a small scale, in planters and pots, growing various foods will be fun, rewarding and educational for kids. It will also provide "together time" for parent and child to share valuable and fun experiences that will create happy memories for all.

7. Keep healthy snacks on hand

To discourage unhealthy snacking, have a variety of fresh and nutritious snack foods available for the kids. Too much snacking may interfere with their appetite for regular meals, so keep the snacking to a balanced level.

........Getting started on the path to happy and healthy eating......

First, try to remember that not everyone, even adults, enjoy the same types of food or food that is prepared a certain way. Everyone has specific tastes, likes and dislikes. As a parent, you yourself may remember being a picky eater as a child and having your parents plead with you to finish your broccoli or Brussels sprouts.

So, don't try to force your child to accept the same types of foods that you or others may prefer. Doing so will only be counterproductive in the long run, and may discourage a willingness to try those foods at a later time.

You want to establish a flexible yet firm foundation of adequate and optimum nutrition in your child's life.

Many foods are an acquired taste, that may have to be developed over time. Try introducing small amounts of a particular vegetable or other food into your child's diet gradually and as part of a variety of other foods that the child may already enjoy.

For example, if your child loves mashed potatoes but hates carrots, you can try grating small amounts of carrot into the mashed potatoes, so that the child can barely even notice that there are carrots present. The colorful addition to the mashed potatoes can even be an advantage over plain mashed potatoes that the child will eventually prefer. You can increase the amount of carrots in the potatoes until the child is partaking of a full serving of carrots.

You can even try this method with other foods, such as zucchini, broccoli, peppers or other vegetables.

Also keep in mind that children usually are attracted by bright colors and a colorful array or display of food. Food preparation can include arranging vegetables in a colorful or even amusing way, such as forming a smiling face with carrot strips, celery pieces, pepper slices, olives, or other choices.

Feel free to use your imagination when choosing and arranging vegetables and other foods for your child.

Always remember that your child's future eating habits and nutritional health may depend in large part on eating habits formed in early and formative years. So, try to keep mealtimes pleasant, relaxed and fun, though they may be understandably stressful at times.

Ask your child what their favorite foods may be, and incorporate them into their meals on a regular basis, introducing other, less familiar or less well-liked foods gradually and with no pressure to consume them. Often, if a child at least samples a food, they will grow to eventually enjoy it, even preferring it as a favorite over other foods after a while.

Keeping the mealtime atmosphere pleasant is important to developing the all-important positive attitudes toward food and nutrition. Above all, remember not to force the child to try a food or to finish it, if the child is not willing. There will be nothing gained from such a situation, since in the long run, the child will develop a negative opinion of such foods and perhaps, even of eating, in general.

Remember to keep a positive attitude about eating and nutrition. There will be many other opportunities to offer a variety of foods to the child, and most likely, the child will eventually develop healthy eating habits, with proper positive and patient encouragement from his parent.

One picky little eater, 4-year-old Samantha, refused to even look at green beans, saying they would make her "barf." Her mom tried for years to get Samantha to eat green beans, to no avail.

She tried preparing them in a variety of ways, with cheese sauce, butter, in casseroles, etc., but Samantha would have no part of them.

One day Samantha's grandmother brought over a delicious quiche prepared with diced green beans and Samantha loved it. In fact, she insisted on finishing the last piece of quiche. Needless to say, Samantha's mom was quick to get the quiche recipe from grandma and Samantha is now a fan of green beans. In time, she even grew to like them prepared in other ways.