Children and food

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  • pollypocket1021
    pollypocket1021 Posts: 533 Member
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    My kids HATE to eat. At least one is allergic to corn (not life-threatening). If he eats anything with corn, he feels very sick, so he learned at a young age that he feels better if he starves himself.

    The thing that has helped is teaching them about nutrition. Really teaching them and not watering things down. At 5, my daughter knows she needs carbs, protein, and fat. She knows which foods contain those macros ad she is responsible for choosing foods to meet her nutritional needs.

    My only hard and fast rule is adequate caloric intake to stay alive, but the kids go beyond that when they have the education and control.
  • melitosis
    melitosis Posts: 7
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    My stepson is a picky eater, so his choice is to eat what we made or make something else for himself. We always give him a plate and don't force him to eat it, but also won't indulge irrational behaviour by making anything else. He's a bit older (11 years) so he can make his own soup and some other basic foods. What's weird is something he will "hate" for weeks, he will suddenly one day get excited about. Then again, he is actually disappointed whenever we order pizza, so he doesn't exactly have the eating habits of a typical kid.
  • LightingChick
    LightingChick Posts: 11
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    Kids will grow to hate anything they are forced to eat, period.

    We have a one bite trial. If they taste it and still don't like it, I'm okay with that. Just give it a try. And make sure they have some flexibility in choosing things. I like some things and not others, so why can't they?

    I'm not a pushover parent, but I don't want to make food something they feel they have no control over. I make them tell me what they don't like about it, and we usually have a discussion. Sometimes it's not flavor, it's consistency so keep that in mind too. Keep serving things, and you'll hit on what does work for you guys.

    I found out that if I give my 7 year old any veggie with a little bit of ranch on the side, he'll eat anything! My daughter prefers hummus with her veggies and will try about all of them. Explore things together and you may find things you both like and dislike.
  • PammieSuzyQ
    PammieSuzyQ Posts: 100 Member
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    phoenixbaby2014 wrote: »
    Thanx for all the replies they generally eat good healthy food but I was widening the variety of veg we eat. Eldest is fine he will eat all the veg in the house lol amount of times I wanted to make a salad and find out there's nothing to make it with. Annoying but I won't complain. The other three are terribly picky but what I have started doing is puting healthy snacks on the coffee table like veg they regularly complain about in they have been eating them since Friday mind you.
    One tried then the rest followed.
    Result

    Sounds like you are working your way though it. Good for you! So many parents these days won't keep trying simply for the whining that ensues. I applaud any parent who keeps working it!

    Nothing truly worthwhile ever came easily. 20 or 30 years from now your children will thank you as they raise their own the same way.

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