For more family nutrition tips, read "Make Family Mealtime More Pleasant". |
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Member Comments
The one thing I don't agree with is Thy child is responsible for deciding how much (if any) will be eaten. If I didn't tell my children they had to eat one bite of the new food on their plate then they would never try it and those "10 attempts" would never really happen. For instance, when introducing a new fruit, I put one piece on the plate with their other fruit. They must eat that one piece. The next time I will put three. They must eat one still. When they eat all three, that's how I know that they like it and can start giving regular portions to that child. Report
I would also add that not giving up on a food item works - some days I don't feel like some food, I want to allow that for my children as well. Also as they grow older, hopefully their palettes will broaden. Just keep serving the weird and wonderful and they will eat some, and not some.
And, try different ways to serve food items. One of my personal goals is to find ways for prepare veggies that my kids like. Whether that is with home-made healthy dips, combined, or in stir-frys, baked, add fruit to sweeten, lots of different strategies, just keep trying.
Personally, I wouldn't force my kids to eat anything - my belief is that doing so could set up some negative attitudes and behaviours towards food and eating that they might end up working out on the 2030's version of The Jerry Springer Show. Report