Kids and Food:
Recipe for a Picky Eater

Two things we all hope our kids will be are happy and healthy. Good food contributes to both of these things. A knowledge about, an appreciation for, and a love of good, nutritious food will contribute to your child's well-being thoughout her life.

What if your child could develop a palate that appreciated the variety, spice, and abundance of flavors the world has to offer? What if he could sit down to any table, in any country, and find pleasure for all his senses in the bounty offered to him? What if he gravitated naturally toward nutritious food choices that contributed to optimal health throughout his life?

You can teach your picky eater to be a good eater by setting an example yourself! If you eat a preponderance of prepared and packaged food, your idea of variety is mashed potatoes instead of fried potatoes, and the only spice you like is salt, then don't expect your child to develop anything but the palate you are already teaching him to have. A child must be offered and encouraged to try a large variety of different foods in order to expand their food horizons.

But what if you are already a good eater and are setting a good example, but your kid is still a picky eater? There is an easy and foolproof solution. A very simple rule that has only two words...and here it is: TRY IT!

This is the mantra for a picky eater! Repeat it over and over and over again. There is only one way to know if you might like something and that is to TRY IT! Make these two little words your household food rule and make it non-negotiable. Here's how it works.

Every meal you make and place before your child has a rule attached. She MUST try a bite of everything. It doesn't matter how much she doesn't want to, or how many faces she makes, or how wrinkled she can get her nose, the rule is, she must try it. After an honest attempt, if she doesn't like it, then you will not force her to eat any more. That's it. One bite. She doesn't even have to swallow the bite if she hates it that much (of course she must discreetly and quietly spit it into a napkin.) And she will not be ridiculed or cajoled into eating the offending item again. Simply praise her for trying it and encourage her to try the next item on her plate.

That's the deal. She tries everything you put before her and you don't force her to eat anything she doesn't like. Force feeding can lead to future obesity and a myriad of other unhealthy food issues. You want your child to want to eat her food. If you respect her developing tastes and her right not to like a particular food, she will respect your rule that she must, at least, try everything once, (even if she doesn't want to finish or even eat it at all.) It's a deal! It's so simple. And it works!

What you will begin to see happen is that your kid will start to actually like the foods he is offered. Without the pressure or struggle attached to meal time, he will slowly, and with an open mind, begin to like the variety of foods available to him. He will most certainly not like every item every time, but without the threat of being punished or forced, he will have an open mind to try whatever is offered the next time. That's all there is to it!

Gradually, you can stop looking for a kid recipe for a picky eater and start enjoying all the wonderful smells, tastes and textures of good food with your child. Kids and food go together, and so does a lifelong habit of happy, healthy eating!

Or, for more information on Kids and Food, select a topic and click on the article below. You'll want to read them all!

Meal Planning and Shopping for Food

Where Food Comes From

Why Eat Organic?

Good Food, Bad Food

Food for Baby's First Year

Turn Picky Eaters into Eager Helpers

How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Being Surrounded by Germs!

Back to Home Page from Kids and Food