Food Fads and Fussy Eaters

Coping with a toddler’s eating habits can be one of the most frustrating things about being a parent. You spend hours lovingly preparing and cooking attractive, tasty and nutritious meals, only to have your child reject your offering with ‘don’t like vegetables’, or simply ‘yuk!’ So how do you cope with a child who wants to live on chips and chocolate?

It’s natural to be anxious, but the more relaxed you can be, the less likely you are to become involved in a power battle. It is at the toddler stage that a child learns the immense power of the word ‘no’. Mealtimes are the ideal time to get attention and exercise control, which means they can quickly become a battleground. Although it’s easier said than done, stay calm. If your child refuses to eat, just remove the food and let him get down from the table, but don’t let him fill up on sweets things, even if you’re worried that he’ll get hungry.

Part of the reason children develop a ‘sweet tooth’ is that, almost from the word go, we teach them that sweet things are a treat - the ‘nice’ reward for eating the ‘nasty’ vegetables or main course. This means we are actually encouraging a negative attitude to healthier foods. We need to demonstrate a more positive attitude to healthy food ourselves if we are going to pass this on to our children. They’ll also be more adventurous if we are, so let them see you trying new foods regularly.

 

Tips for fussy toddlers and pre-schoolers

• If they’re hungry before the next mealtime, offer a healthy snack, perhaps cubed cheese, chunks of apple or raw vegetable sticks.
• They’re more likely to try a new food if they don’t have to swallow it. Show them how to spit it into a hanky if they really don’t like it.
• A recent study found that young children tend to have an aversion to some vegetables simply because they are green – try adding tomatoes to green vegetables, perhaps cutting the veggies into smaller pieces to disguise them.
• Using cutlery can be daunting for a young child, so hand-held foods such as vegetable or cheese sticks, sandwiches, chunks of fruit or pizza may be more attractive.
• Try to relax – they’ll pick up your anxiety and will be even less likely to eat.

Copyright © Susan Elliot-Wright

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