By: Elizabeth Redhead Kriston
The young mother sat staring at me with disbelief and skepticism.
I had just asked her what type of bread she fed her toddler. After she gathered
herself, she said, in a tone that indicated I was dim, “Everyone knows that kids
only like white bread.” I smiled to myself realizing that the truth would not
be easily accepted.
Through my work in Early Intervention it has become
abundantly clear over the years that the art of home cooking has been lost
leaving most families to rely on ready made, processed foods. Fortunately, the movement
to healthier eating is on the rise. Though, in
reality, achieving true healthy eating is
hard especially when many of the parents today were raised on Lunchables and
chicken nuggets.
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| What is It |
When you combine the uncertainty of how to operate a
stove and actually prepare home cooked nutritious meals with the pickiness many
toddlers and preschoolers express when presented with food choices, it is easy
to understand why so many parents cave and zap a Styrofoam container of Easy
Mac just to fill the bellies of their offspring.
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| Nutrition Info Here |
Picky eaters are everywhere. Most parents scoff when they hear another parent gloat that their toddler eats grilled salmon and asparagus. How can that be true, especially in America?
I am here to tell you that it is true as long as you set
your children up for success and teach them to love all flavors and textures of
foods. If you follow these ten tips, you too can have a kid that noshes on
sushi and eats whole grain sprouted bread with gusto.
The 10 Tips
1. Eat a wide variety when pregnant:
Some research supports that your unborn child can taste and will be born with your flavor preferences
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| Listen here for info on eating when pregnant |
2. Breast feed for at least 6 months and eat a variety of foods:
Your breast milk contains the flavors of all the foods you eat and will make
your child more likely to accept foods with those flavors when they transition
from breast milk to table foods.
3. Introduce non sweet veggies first: If
you introduce sweet tasting foods first it will be harder to get your child to enjoy
other flavors.
4. Make your own baby food (spices
are ok): You never need to venture down the baby food aisle and purchase
overpriced processed foods. Fork mash or puree your meals for your baby. There
are many handy tools to help with this. My favorite is a food mill.
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| Find it Here |
5. Don’t make “kid meals,” EVER:
Make healthy, fresh meals for your family.
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| Find This Book Here |
Listen to this podcast about First Bite
6. Order off the main menu at restaurants: Revolt
against the kids menus. Instead, offer some of your meal, or order soup, salad,
and sides for your child if necessary.
7. Have kids help in the kitchen early and
often: If they cook with you they will see the food, smell the
food, touch the food, and taste the food. In the end, they will eat the food
too.
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| A Great Memoir. Find it Here |
8. Take kids grocery shopping: Let
them pick out a new food to cook.
9. Offer a food at least 15 times
(over the course of time): Only then can you truly know it is a non-preferred
food.
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| Click here to find this book |
10. Respect that taste evolves: What
was once a preferred food will not be later on and vice versa.
Teaching
kids to eat healthy, diverse foods is truly important. It takes time, effort,
and energy to purchase and prepare nutrient dense, tasty meals. I promise that
once you get the hang of it, it is so much easier. And, believe it or not, your
taste preferences will change along the way too. Before you know it, even you
will prefer the complex flavors of wheat bread over that smooshy white bread
that makes you wonder what’s in it.
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