Having a child that is reluctant to try new foods is a big headache for parents and caregivers.
My 9 year old son is a picky eater.
He is a problematic child who picks food that he likes to eat (fried chicken, nuggets, fish, hotdogs, ham, potatoes and corn )but push away or reject those certain foods that dislikes ( all types of vegetables, onions, fishcakes, pumpkins and more) .
Most of us parents would resort to bribing or threatening our children to get them to try new foods but in vain.
Your child would rather starve himself throughout the meal time than to try at least a bite of the new food you had recommended him.
I believe that I am not alone facing with the children picky eating problem because this is not an uncommon problem in the parenthood world.
After years of trials and errors, I had finally found out that these tips worked out well if you could change your same old techniques to something that are practical.
Bribing your child such as allowing him to use the computer after he had finished his meal, leaving not a single grain on the plate might work the first few times but not for a long term.
Threats do work in the beginning but once he saw the loop holes , your threats become useless because he knows how to twist and turn different excuses to make you give up sooner than expected.
Kids do not fall for the same threats and bribery tricks everytime you try to introduce new food to them.
There are smart alecks.
Instead, you should give words of encouragement and set a good example yourself, eat the new food infront of him, a lot and a “delicious” looking expression.
Make sure that new foods are healthy and nutritious food.
You could combine new foods with his favorite regular ingredients to attract his attention.
Stir fry celery with his favorite ham or chicken fillets.
Healthy food covers a wide range of fresh food, not pre-packed manufactured food.
Fruits, vegetables, tubers, lean meats and seafood should be included in his diet
Introduce different flavor of food to your child.
Children eating behavior derive from the older siblings and parents themselves.
As the saying goes Practice What You Preach, you have to set a good example to your picky eating children by eating new foods (which you introduce to them) .
Childrenwould rather consume foods that they regularly eat at home or outside, especially their favorite food.
Once they are used to eating the same regular food, it is difficult to break through their taste buds to try new foods.
Hence, it is advisable to introduce new foods as often as possible to your children by serving a small portion on their plate while adults serve a bigger portion themselves.
Show them that new foods are as delicious and tasty as their favorite foods.
Your positive remarks and expression are the crucial points that attracts your children tasebuds.
Parents have the wrong concept that children cannot eat what adults are eating from the start.
In fact, children SHOULD BE eating what adults eat as long as the food consumption is nutritious and healthy.
Most children can accept what parents are eating because they are eager to know the taste of the food and wanted to follow every steps parents do daily.
Encourage children to try the food that you eat, giving your children a spoonful first.
If he can accept it without gagging or spitting out, give him a small portion unless he ask for more.
Do not waste food.
You can give your child different types of meats ( besides the regular chicken and fish ), vegetables (green )and beans which they seldom consume.
Conclusion
My son had finally accepted garlic, Pak choy and mushrooms which he refused to accept since birth.
It was a difficult phase but I never gave up trying to introduce new foods to my children.
Do not feel dismay or scold your child when he flatly refused to open his mouth to accept new foods.
Try again in the next few days.
I did a trick which aroused his interest on garlic.
Chopped and stir fry garlic briefly until crispy.
He love the smell and crunchy taste of garlic which I scattered on top of blanched pak choy.
Cut the pak choy leaves into smaller pieces instead of the original size ( too large to chew ).
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I do agree that children are picky eaters. The parents need to make the menu colorful. It could be tricky but this is the best thing to do. It requires a lot of patience that includes the tips you had mentioned.
It may be very hard indeed to introduce new foods to children, and I cannot agree more that we must not bribe nor threaten them. it is our job to be creative as parents and to find interesting ways that might work in getting our children to have a healthy diet. I have a two year old daughter and a six year old niece and they are very picky eaters. My niece for instance doesn't like meat, however she likes patty, so what I do is to make bite-size patties which she loves very much. My daughter doesn't like milk, so what I do is to milk popsicles which she loves;see, mission accomplished. There are also other creative ways in which i get them to eat foods that they don't like.
The only “trick” I remember my mother trying on us was to let us starve until we got hungry enough to eat the food she prepared. What was on the table, that was it. She said if we didn't like it, there was bread and butter and we could have a glass of water with it and then go to our room. Yeah. That was the “old school” parenting style. I come from a large family and I don't remember that many of us being picky eaters. Looking back on it, I don't know if the alternative meal of bread and butter and water, was the reason why we weren't picky eaters. (O.o) :)
Food is part and parcel of human life we are eating vegetables fruits since our birth the same apple, the grains , the same meat, the banana, the same orange...
But the children like different foods and vegetables in eating with different style so that they change their eating pattern and its most important for health and human spirit.
Your child should consume a variety of foods from the five major food. Each food group supplies important nutrients, including vitamins and minerals.
Vegetables: 3-5 servings per day. A serving may consist of 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables, 3/4 cup of vegetable juice, or 1/2 cup of other vegetables, chopped raw or cooked.
Fruits: 2-4 servings per day. A serving may consist of 1/2 cup of sliced fruit, 3/4 cup of fruit juice, or a medium-size whole fruit, like an apple, banana, or pear.
Bread, cereal, or pasta: 6-11 servings per day. Each serving should equal 1 slice of bread, 1/2 cup of rice or pasta, or 1 ounce of cereal.
Protein foods: 2-3 servings of 2-3 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish per day.
A serving in this group may also consist of 1/2 cup of cooked dry beans, one egg, or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter for each ounce of lean meat.
Dairy products: 2-3 servings per day of 1 cup of low-fat milk or yogurt, or 1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese.
I think that Although food habits are not stable and unchanging during a person's lifetime, a base for healthy food habits can be created in early childhood. Children's food habits can be assumed to be influenced by their parents' food habits and choices.
The aim of this article is to review factors influencing food choice in children as well as in adults. The results demonstrate that the development of children's food habits is influenced by a multitude of factors. Parents play an important role in the formation of food habits and preferences of young children.
They can influence their children's food choice by making specific foods available, by acting as models for their children and by their behaviour in specific situations. Children tend to be afraid of new foods and do not readily accept them. However, experience is known to enhance preference, and earlier experiences of a particular food are the major determinants of the development of children's food acceptance patterns.
Thus, parents should be encouraged to make healthy foods easily available to the child and serve these foods in positive mealtime situations in order to help their child to develop healthy food habits.