My kids don’t eat enough.
Oh! He is such a picky eater!
How do I make my kid eat veggies?
If you are a parent, these are not unknown to you. Food and parenting go hand in hand, and it all starts from the day a child is born.
The struggle is real and there is no ‘one size fits all’ kind of advice in this matter.
It won’t be even an exaggeration to say that at times nothing would work too. However, that doesn’t mean that one should not try, because being persistent is just being parent.
As a mother of pre-teen and having worked closely with over 3000 kids and parents, here are few of my learnings and these work most of the times if followed from the start.
- Start it early: Because the journey is so overwhelming, at times parents stick to comfort food, screen time etc. to make kids eat. However, while this may solve the problem at hand but will not help in long run eating pattern. It is important to start working on the right eating habits from the weaning stage.
- Keep screens at bay: No matter how much you try, screen time is a reality for today’s kid. So, while you can work on monitoring the time and devices, the least you can do is keep the mealtime distraction free for the whole family. From the start, train the kid to sit on a highchair along with parents and family. Family members should engage in conversations rather than devices and enjoy the meal together.
- Family habits are important too: You can’t expect kids to follow certain things when the family members do just the opposite. E.g., If you want kids to accept the fact the food served has to be respected then you can’t make faces yourself while you see something which is not as per your choice. Remember your kid is always watching your actions. This actually is one of the most difficult practices and leads to picky choices most number of times.
- Give choices but don’t overdo: It is good to give choices but then it is important to set rules straight. The best is to make a mutually acceptable menu which also has exceptions of other’s choices. This allows the child to understand that while others eat their choices, they should also eat by what other like. Overall helps developing taste for family food choices.
- Help them explore new: One of the things we should not do is to limit kid’s pallet. Allow them to experience different cuisines , regional dishes, new food textures , colorful food. Also gradually give them differently cooked foods, e.g. soups, broths, pancakes, steamed, tempered , deep fried, boiled, sautéed everything. This will help them develop taste for new food and they will be more open to eating variety as they grow up.
- Don’t call them picky: No! Never! Not at least in front of them. Let them not accept the fact that it is ok to be choosy and picky. The more you discuss with your parents and friends in front of them, no matter how young they are, they would keep pursuing the behavior. It just becomes an excuse for them. While they can be picky but why make it public and talk of the town. Instead keep trying foods in different way that clicks with them and then take that as a baseline for more. E.g., if your child is fond of pasta, use pasta seasonings in different recipes and see if that helps in acceptance or use vegetable sauce to make variety of pasta and observe the acceptance.
So yes, while they say it takes a village to raise a kid, these tips will help you incase you don’t have the privilege of a village 😉
She is a mompreneur cum nutritionist, who has been running her venture Recipe Dabba since 2017. She has been working with young kids and parents through her various program & offerings. Her work via Recipe Dabba has won many accolades since it’s inception.
Being a Mommy 