Tired of fighting with your kids every dinner time? Sick of hearing them whine about vegetables (‘This tastes funny!’) or acting like a short order cook, creating separate meals just to satisfy their picky tastes? This article can help develop healthy eating habits.
Plan their meals
Kids are more like to eat if they’re not super hungry or super full. If they’re famished, they’ll be too cranky to be open to trying new things. If they’re full, they won’t eat what’s in front of them. The best thing to remember is that kids need to eat every four hours, since their stomachs are smaller than adults’. So you have breakfast, lunch, dinner and a morning and afternoon snack.
Expose them to different dishes
Kids will mimic their parents. So, early on, expose them to different cuisines and textures. This prevets them from having very limited preferences. Even if they only take a bite here or there at the beginning, eventually they’ll become used to the dish—and familiarity is the first step towards acceptance.
Try serving vegetables a different way
Don’t give up on a vegetable just because your kids won’t eat it. Instead, try serving it in another form. For example, your child may like chick peas in a hummus, or enjoy cucumbers and carrots if he’s allowed to dip it in a dressing.
Sneak it into a familiar dish
Puree vegetables and then mix it into hamburgers or soups. Add soy milk to oatmeal or mashed potatoes.
Get kids involved
Bring kids to the supermarket; encourage them to help you cook or prepare a meal plan. They will want to taste what they’ve made.
Photo from http://health.more4kids.info
if your kid is a baby get them used to nutritious foods