December 5, 2017
5 Ways To Deal With Picky Eaters
Oh children. They are great aren’t they? Before I had children, I never anticipated how challenging feeding them would be. The early years seemed very promising. My boys ate whatever I gave to them, inhaling vegetables and fruit like it was their last meal! Then they turned two and it all changed. What they once loved, now ended up on the floor, or left on the table untouched, or even worse, all over me!
Being a teacher, I saw how important nutrition was for these young minds to stay focused at school. I cringed with I saw the processed snacks in the kids lunch boxes and swore I would never feed my children this “food”. But once I had children, I realized how difficult it is to keep your children fed and happy and found myself giving into their tantrums and allowing them to eat whatever they wanted. Even if that meant feeding them the processed food we all try and avoid in the grocery store. No judgment here! Being a parent is tricky and we are all just trying to survive.
Over the past year, I have been making a huge effort to stand my ground more and make sure that my boys are getting a more balanced diet. I would love to share a few tips that have worked for me and my family!
Try to make healthier alternatives of the food they do like.
- They love french fries so my husband and I will buy some organic potatoes, slice, season and bake them for a healthy swap of the bagged kind!
Sneak vegetables in where they might not notice.
- Blend some peppers into their spaghetti sauce. Throw a handful of kale into their smoothies. Put zucchini in their muffins. The options are endless!
Practice what you preach.
- If I am eating and enjoying healthy food, my children are aware and are more likely going to want to try it. If I am eating a bag of chips, guess what? They will want those chips. Modeling healthy eating habits is very important if you want your children to eat well.
Try to limit snacking before meals.
- When we get home after a long day, the boys are starving. I used to run around the kitchen like a maniac trying to prepare dinner and giving them snack after snack. Now they have the option of having some fruit or veggies while they wait for their meal. This way they are more willing to eat what I serve because they are still hungry!
Have them help out in the kitchen!
- Now that my boys are getting older, I have them help me in the kitchen as much as I can and they absolutely love it. I use this as an opportunity to have a discussion on why we need to eat healthy and why it is so important. Having them tag along at the grocery store is great also. We explore all the different fresh produce we have available to us and sometimes this encourages them to try something new!
Some days these strategies work and some days they don’t. It is important that we keep trying our best and never give up on providing our children with the healthiest opportunities possible! I hope you found some of these tips helpful when feeding your family 🙂
Danielle Kent
