Ok, kids are fussy eaters. Now what? We asked a bunch of diet and cooking experts for their best advice and here’s what they told us. (To give credit where credit is due, much of it comes from Ann Cooper, the co-author of “Lunch Lessons: Changing The Way We Feed Our Children.”)
Be a role model. Yup, it starts with us. It is our responsibility to teach children good eating habits. Most of us are so accustomed to eating out or buying prepared foods in the grocery store that we don’t even know what good food is anymore. We can’t line our cabinets with packaged cereals and sodas and expect our kids to eat like they were raised on a commune in rural Vermont. In order to be good role models, we must educate ourselves first and then practice what we preach.
Take your kids shopping with you. It’s not easy for us or our children to feel a connection with good, whole (unprocessed) foods. One way to help them learn is to take them grocery shopping with you when you can, or better yet, go to a greenmarket. If your child appears to be interested in a certain type of fruit or vegetable encourage him or her to explore that item. Take it home and let him try it so he can make his own decisions. Also, play games like asking your child to find six fruits and vegetables that are red, or choose six foods made from the milk you get from cows.
Be flexible! Remember, anything in moderation is okay. Having a cookie every day and balancing it with healthy foods is a good practice of moderation. While we always want to make the healthiest choices for our children’s bodies, a special treat once a day won’t do any damage. On the contrary, it will help make eating a more enjoyable experience.
Honor mealtime. Children should never eat while walking around. For those young children who have difficulty sitting for the entire meal, consider allowing them to get up once or twice, while encouraging the child to sit at the table when he or she comes back to eat. It is important to the family that everyone sits down to eat and talk together—and have fun. (Verbal games, e.g., Can You Guess Who I’m Thinking Of?, keep kids engaged and looking forward to dinner). Have the kids help set the table. Make a point not to allow mealtimes to degenerate into family argument time.
Show them how food packaging works. Explain that manufacturers put things on packaging to entice you to buy it. ‘Yes the packet looks great but let’s read the label and see what’s inside it.’ And play food detective: Children love to criticize the adult world and become detectives outwitting the enemy. So, for example, you could explain how manufacturers try to conceal sugar by putting it further down the list of ingredients by disguising it under different names like Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose and Maltose. Explain that they need to look for the words ‘pure fruit’ or ‘100% juice.’ Not only is this better for their health, it’s also excellent consumer education.
Make food funtastic. Manufacturers are clever. Children like cheese strings and squeezy tubes of yogurt, so we, too, need to be a little inventive in how we present our healthy food sometimes. Mini portions of foods in a small dish look far more appealing than a dollop of food on a plate. You can puree fresh fruit and freeze it in ice lolly molds to make your own fresh fruit ice lollies.
Don’t use food as rewards, bribes, or punishments. Okay, okay, we know, M&Ms have a long history as the greatest bribe candy on earth for potty training—even the most health conscious mom will break down and try M&Ms during that oh-so-critical stage of development. Don’t give in! Stickers work just as well and you won’t be setting a precedent for using food as a bribe or reward as your child gets older. Sure, it’s okay to take the kids out for ice cream or frozen yogurt after a good (or even a bad) soccer game. On the flip side, don’t punish children for not eating certain foods—it will only foster a negative relationship between you and your children, not to mention your children and food.
Let kids help in the kitchen. Even a two-year-old can help peel potatoes or carrots. For smaller children, invest in a stool, like The Learning Tower (www.heirloomwoodentoys.com), which allows your children to safely reach the kitchen counter so they can see what you’re doing. If a child is interested in doing more in the kitchen, don’t automatically assume that she can’t or that the task will be too dangerous. Know your child’s limits and help her achieve success by providing support and encouragement in a safe setting. Kids love eating food they created. Involve your child in the cooking or snack preparation and they will be more likely to eat new foods, including fruits and vegetables.
Prepare for after school hunger pangs. After school is a great time to get your child to eat something healthy as they’re often hungry. The challenge is that most children just want to dive into a cookie or ice cream. Instead, have something ready for them, whether you’re going home or picking them up and taking them to an activity. Cut-up fruit on a plate, for example, is much more tempting than fruit in a fruit bowl; children like raw vegetables as long as there’s a tasty dip around. It’s quick and easy to make delicious wraps, pita pockets or pasta salads and it’s a good idea to have a low shelf in the fridge where children can help themselves to tasty healthy snacks.
Encourage meals with food-friendly friends. Inviting another child over for lunch or dinner, preferably one with a good appetite, tends to be a good ruse. Invariably you will find that your child will eat what is offered provided her friend is eating it too!
Make sure your child eats breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day, and it should ideally be the largest meal of the day to get your child off on the right foot. After ten to twelve hours with no food it’s important to refuel the engines. If they don’t eat in the morning they’ll be tired and unable to concentrate in school before lunch. It’s essential that children jumpstart their metabolism in the morning so their bodies don’t enter starvation mode, which might later cause them to experience difficulty maintaining a healthy body weight. Breakfast should always include a source of protein, some healthy fats, carbohydrates (whole grains are best), and vitamins and minerals. A great breakfast for a family with time in the morning would be two eggs, whole wheat toast, fruit, or hot whole grain cereal and whole grain low-fat granola and/or 100% fruit juice. A family with less time might choose a hardboiled egg to go with a slice or two of whole grain toast, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread.
Limit sugary treats. True, it’s easier said than done. But consider: once a child’s palate has become accustomed to the intense sweetness of refined sugary foods it is harder for them to appreciate the more gentle natural sweetness of fruit. If you want your child to enjoy fresh fruit, restrict sugary foods.
4 PM snack cutoff. Best to eliminate snacks after 4:00 so kids are hungry at dinner.
Play vegetable hide and seek. For children who will not eat vegetables create recipes that vegetables can be blended into such as a tomato and vegetable sauce for pasta or a creamy tomato soup made with carrots and onions. What children can’t see, they can’t pick out. Also, many children who don’t like cooked vegetables will eat raw vegetables like carrot sticks, sweet pepper, etc. with a tasty dip.
Don’t give up on certain foods. Pediatricians and dieticians estimate that it may take 10-15 exposures (which involves an actual bite taken—looks and smells don’t count!) to new foods before kids begin to like them. That means that even if your child said she hated beans last week, she still needs to taste them next week, and perhaps many more times before she begins to tolerate them, let alone like them. Lavish your child with praise when he or she tries a new food.
Remember that you are the boss. Adults need to set the boundaries for kids because left to their own devices they may choose salty and sugary processed foods over fresh, healthier choices. Children actually do much better when they know that they have boundaries and limits. Listen to your child, but set clear limits and guide them towards the healthier option.
Love and accept your child no matter what! Love and accept your child at any weight, size or shape. During childhood growth is unpredictable. It comes in spurts and a once skinny child can suddenly plump up while his height catches up with his weight. There’s a lot of pressure in our society to be thin and you might be tempted to put your child on a diet during a growth spurt, but that won’t be helpful and may even cause emotional and physical damage. Instead, help your child maintain his weight until his height catches up. The best way to do that is to teach good healthy eating habits.
Finger Foods For Infants And Toddlers
“As your baby develops better finger control (usually around seven or eight months), introducing finger foods will help to develop the skills of biting, chewing and self-feeding,” advises Anabel Karmel, author of “Favorite Family Meals.” “ Finger foods should be easy to hold and should not have any stones, or bones. You should also avoid hard foods like whole grapes that might cause your baby to choke.” Karmel also offers the following tips
Never leave your baby alone while eating as sometimes babies put food in their mouth without chewing it and can choke.
Sticks of vegetables like carrots make good finger food but it is much better to lightly steam vegetables or cook them in boiling water for a few minutes so that they are still crunchy but not quite so hard. When your baby copes well with these, try introducing cucumber and then raw vegetables.
Many babies who are teething really enjoy biting into something cold as it soothes the gums. A banana put into the freezer for a couple of hours makes an excellent teething aid as does a chilled cucumber stick.
The possibilities for appealing finger foods are broader than one might think, allowing kids to get use to chewing different textures.
Take your pick: Banana, melon, peach, halved peeled grapes, or sliced apple; soft dried fruits like apricots, apple or prune; steamed carrot or potato sticks or florets of cauliflower or broccoli; sticks of cucumber; cooked pasta shapes; fingers of toast; rice cakes; hard-boiled egg cut into quarters; sticks of mild cheese; cheerios or other whole grain cereal; diced tofu; white or brown rice; banana bread, zucchini bread; grilled cheese pieces.
Food Books We Love
Need a fresh idea for feeding your children? Something easy but also healthy and likely to go over well? Any of these books would be a good place to start.
“Favorite Family Meals,” by Annabel Karmel. This book covers enough cuisines for everyone in the family to find a meal they love – and read the personal anecdotes from the author (a food star in England) accompanying the recipe.
“California Squisine: Healthy Food That’s Fast, Fun And Squeezable for Kids,” by Malcolm Kushner. Make healthy eating fun for kids with 100 “squeezable” meals they can create from gooey (but nutritious) sauces, fruits, and vegetables.%uFFFD
“The Six-O’clock Scramble,” by Aviva Goldfarb. For families facing crunch time at dinner time, these healthy, easy-to-prepare 30-minute meals will do the trick.
“Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children,” by Ann Cooper and Lisa Holmes. Part treatise, part guide, this interesting book offers a knowing look at the state of the student cafeterias, along with good ideas for making lunch (and every other meal) a healthy and tasty experience.
“The Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers: Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time!” by Janice Bissex and Liz Weiss. A great resource for both moms and dads who want to revamp their family’s eating habits: check out the tips on substituting ingredients to make recipes more nutritious.
“Special Foods for Special Kids: Practical Solutions & Great Recipes for Children With Food Allergies,” by Todd Adelman and Jodi Behrend. If the idea of cooking sans dairy, eggs, or gluten has got you stuck, this book offers creative solutions the whole family can enjoy – allergies or not.
