If you are worried about how well your child eats, in terms of both quantity as well as quality — and what parent doesn’t? — then Katie Sullivan Morford offers some sound advice:
Wherever your child falls on the spectrum — whether they are fascinated with food or afraid of it — what’s most important is the way in which you respond. If you panic over every bite, they will absorb that anxiety like a sponge. Allowing feeding fears to develop into dinner table battles is not where any of us want to be.
Morford’s first piece of advice is spot on:
1. Get Clear on Who Does What – Consider it your job as the parent to decide what is served for meals and your child’s job to decide what and how much they’re going to eat. Translation: you put the chicken, green salad, and broccoli on the table at six p.m., your child chooses what goes on his plate and how much of it he is hungry for.
And that should be true with every meal and snack. I would add that parents should try to serve children real (not processed) food as much as possible. I know how hard that can be nowadays, but “food” that comes in packages have lists of chemicals and added sugars and salts that are not helpful (or healthful) for growing children or adults.
Read more advice at Mom’s Kitchen Handbook.
Some more PediaBlog posts on nutrition and picky eaters here, here, and here.
(Image: xedos4/freedigitalphotos.net)