For those of you who seem to think that being a picky eater is ‘no big deal’… You are most likely a picky eater yourself. It in fact, is a HUGE deal! Picky eaters also tend to have trouble maintaining a healthy body weight. After all, if Twinkies, Hamburger Helper, fruit snacks and string cheese are all you or your child will eat, there is going to be some weight and nutritional issues.
By being finicky, there are so many flavors that you aren’t allowing yourself to try and an abundance of nutrients that you aren’t even allowing into your body.
Now before you point fingers and say that I must eat everything. You are wrong. I spent my teen years and the better half of my twenties as a vegetarian. Vegetarianism, for me, had nothing to do with saving the animals. I simply did not like the tastes and textures of meats. Upon my first pregnancy ending in miscarriage, I decided that I would be eating meat if only for the sake of my future children. And heck, if I HAD to eat meat… I was going to like it, damn it! I began to look for different recipes and really add to my culinary arsenal. I made a true effort to start to like everything and try new things regularly. Now, I adore sushi, simply because I TRIED it.
I think that we could all benefit from some eating and cooking adventurism. So often I see children who eat nothing but fruit snacks, crackers and macaroni & cheese. Is that any way to live? While those things do taste good occasionally, I would honestly rather DIE that keep that as my daily menu. There is no variety, little nutritional content and visually pretty uninteresting as well.
Further still, taking a step back, the pickiest children are usually parented by finicky eaters as well. Mommies and Daddies need to lead the eating adventure by example. There should never a separate dinner prepared for Jr or for the Little Princess. My children are fed the same meal that mom and dad eat, yes, even my 8 month old. Some people think this is strange that break dinner into bite sized pieces or put the baby’s meals into a food processor, but seriously, have you tasted baby food??!? THAT stuff is horrible!
I have a few unspoken rules around my house:
*Offer variety as much as possible – Fruits, veggies, meats, dairy…. There’s a reason the FDA recommends eating from each group at every meal!
*Everyone TRIES everything – Yep, even the 8 month old eats curry chicken. It won’t kill him. He eats it, he likes it and even gets mad if he doesn’t get to try what we are eating. My 4 year old knows that he HAS to take, say 5 good bites of broccoli, it won’t kill him, it will only broaden his palette as an adult.
*We don’t skip meals and we don’t eat all of the time – Skipping meals messes with the metabolism and eating all of the time turns mindless, and mindless eating can really pack on the pounds.
*Savor the food in front of you – While I can’t stop my husband from polishing off his plate in front of the boob tube, I can keep my kids and myself from doing so. Sit and pay attention to the food you are eating, the flavors, the textures, especially the first few bites. Savoring your food makes the meal more satisfying. I am more content with less food when I eat this way. Try it!
*Read labels and pay attention to portions – Do you know what a proper portion of meat is? How about veggies? Oh, and the killer…. Cereal? Paying attention to the portion size and the fat, calories and vitamins your body derives from them can mean the difference between 100 calories and 500 calories.
*Cut the chemicals – When reading those labels, do you ever come across ‘ingredients’ that sound more like science projects? Are those items really all that good for your body?? If it has to be created in a lab… probably not. Yeah, it takes a little longer to make Mac & Cheese from scratch, but it tastes a million times better, it’s more satisfying and over the long term, you feel better when you aren’t eating mystery ingredients.
*You don’t have to clear your plate – If you are full or even satisfied with less, STOP! Plain and simple.
*Keep it colorful – Food should be just as pleasing to the eyes as to the tongue, it excites and again satisfies better when there is variety… Even if the variety is visual. I refuse to serve what I like to call “the monochromatic toddler special” of corn, chicken nuggets and mac & cheese. It’s so…. Boring. If we HAVE to go that route, I try to pick a green veggie instead of the corn and, this will sound silly to some, but my son begs for this, colored macaroni – a little food coloring goes a long way, and heck, it’s fun!
Bottom line, meal time shouldn’t be a fight and it shouldn’t be boring; it should be exciting and delicious and bring healthful benefits. I challenge you to come up with some “unspoken rules” for your meal times and implement them.
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