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Home › Articles › Toddler Nutrition › Getting Kids to Eat

Getting Kids to Eat

Tips from a Nutritionist

By Alison Gamble

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When infants and toddlers are introduced to new foods, they're usually quite clear in demonstrating their likes and dislikes. By the time kids are older, feeding them healthy, well-rounded meals can be even more of a struggle.

Feeding a child and understanding and loving a child are closely woven. As a parent, it is your responsibility to try and understand where your child is coming from. You might wonder what this has to do with making sure your child gets all his vitamins, but it really does matter. There is a very thin line between the physiological need for food and the emotional need for food. For many people in this world, food became an emotional need at some point early in life. Your approach to mealtime can greatly determine how your child eats and views his relationship with food for the rest of his life.

The good news is that it's easy to prepare a well-rounded meal: serve a vegetable, a fruit, a protein, a starch or grain and offer bread with the meal. The bad news is that it's difficult to get the child to eat the meal. Parents say things like, "Johnny, you have to try the broccoli, eat just a couple bites -- or no dessert." Or they worry because their child is eating too much or not drinking milk with the meal or not drinking anything at all. The focus shifts from providing a nourishing meal and having a chance to spend quality time together to controlling mealtime behavior. This is not healthy.

Eating is a joy and is often used as the centerpiece to celebrations. When we want to celebrate we propose, "Let's go out to dinner." Imagine your family mealtimes as mini-celebrations. Celebrate the time you have as a family unit. Don't bicker back and forth about taking "just one more bite" or who did what wrong that day. Meals like that become stressful and unpleasant for all.


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