5 Brilliant Tips to Handle Your Picky Eaters

When you get home after a busy day at work, the last thing you want to do is to endure a war over broccoli at the dining table. That is why parents fall easily into the trap of fried chicken or ordering out. It’s just priceless not having to chant ‘eat your veggies’ after a very tiring day. Fortunately, feeding picky eaters with nutritious food isn’t as difficult with these helpful tips.

  1. Start by incorporating healthier elements into your kid’s favorite foods

Pancakes, cereals and muffins are just some of the foods kids love. Try to incorporate fruits and veggies into these already-favorite choices to get your kids eating healthy. For example, offer carrot cake or muffins, banana pancakes and fresh fruit slices over cereals.

  • Schedule your meal and snack time

Establish regular meal and snack time to address behavior changes in your children. Kids are smart. They will skip dinner because they know they can ask for snack later on. If you always give in to their requests, they will continue doing this pattern every night. Your goal is to establish expectation from them that meals and snacks happen at a certain time. This lets children to feel hunger when it’s time to eat, and provides better chances that they will eat whatever is served to them.

  • Always have healthy snacks available

Even if you have set meal and snack times, sometimes kids just look for something to much on throughout the day. And even if they sneak to the fridge, having healthy finger foods readily available in a reachable area will encourage them to pick it up and eat it. Slice up some apples and carrots and keep the chips and cookies far from your kids’ sight.

  • Get kids involved with meal planning

From grocery shopping to meal planning, get your kids involved. In the grocery, skip the chips lane and go straight to the fresh produce area. Let them pick their choice of fruits and veggies. When meal planning, ask your children to pick out two to three recipes that they would like to eat, then let them help you make it. If they feel a sense of autonomy over a meal, they may be more inclined to eat it.

  • Go moderate with treats

Instead of cutting out the treats altogether, offer it in moderation. A serving of Oreos with a glass of milk or a scoop of ice cream over blueberry pancakes occasionally won’t do any harm. If you completely cut out the treats, children will be more likely to overeat once they get them again. Simply make sure to moderate their goodies consumption.

Above all, let this be the final point: food is fun. We do not want to turn meal times into wars, which happens quite commonly in homes with picky eaters. Set as a good example to your kids and encourage them to be brave and adventurous foodies.

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