rules you have set and do not negotiate
them as this undermines your authority.
Be consistent. Meals need to be balanced
with lean meats, nutritious starches
and vegetables. Variety is the key to
proper nutrition and a healthy body.
Children should eat at least 10 different
vegetables, if not more.
Children are responsible for whether
they will eat and how much they will
eat. Your child should not be forced to
eat or “clean their plate”. Children’s
appetites and palates change daily and
forcing them to eat doesn’t allow them
to stay in tune with their internal signals
of being full and may lead to overeating
and childhood obesity. Help your child
to be successful by giving adequate sized
portions and keep distractions, such as
toys and TV, away during mealtimes.
Menu management
Meals should be nutritious and one
meal should be prepared for the whole
family. Children can be involved in
the menu planning; just don’t let them
dictate the menu. Children should be
offered small amounts of unfamiliar or
disliked foods and encouraged to try
them. Establishing a one-bite policy
may help, but be patient and try to make
mealtimes relaxed and stress-free. It can
take up to 10 attempts of a new food for
a child to accept it, and negative words
I’m not
eating that!
Children are notorious for being picky eaters.
Whether they hate vegetables, only like foods
that are red, or just don’t like their rice to touch
the peas, children can drive parents mad with
their demands, writes dietician
Denise Fair
.
April 2016
61
W
e tend to brush off
picky eating as part
of “ just being a kid”,
and to some degree,
this is true. However, extreme picky
eating – including an inability to try
new foods, deliberate slow eating and
inability to eat a full meal unless they
are distracted – can lead to lifelong bad
habits, childhood obesity and nutritional
deficiencies.
We tend to bend over backwards
for our kids when it comes to food. With
domestic helpers catering to their every
whim, poor nutritional kids’ meals at
restaurants and a plethora of unhealthy
snack options at every turn, it is no
wonder they are developing bad eating
habits and consuming an astonishing
amount of fats and sugars.
The rules
The first step in improving children’s
eating habits is to redefine how we
look at eating and divide up the
responsibilities. First and foremost,
parents need to be aware that they are
the boss, even if the stubborn look on
your three-year-old’s face says otherwise.
Parents are responsible for determining
when and what food is served. By setting
rules and enforcing the consequences,
your child will learn that mealtime is not
a time for a power struggle. Stick to the
