Today's Tip: Are Your Kids Picky Eaters?

In a survey of nearly 600 moms, picky eating was the number-one obstacle to getting their kids to eat well.  The answer?  Well, it's NOT to make chicken nuggets every night.  :)

I like this quote from Janice Newell Bissex, R.D. and coauthor of No Whine With Dinner: "The key to raising adventurous eaters is letting go of preconceived notions.  You may assume your children dislike seafood, but with a few tweaks you can make it kid friendly. Try fish tacos or salmon cakes."

Our boys were great with food - they ate pretty much everything we put in front of them with little argument.  Then along came Hillary...oh what a challenge.  It took every bit of persistance and patience (well, most of the time) to get her to where she is today.  I'm still amazed to watch this former little fruitarian (she only ate fruit, applesauce, yogurt, crackers - whole grain, however! - and the occasional muffin) now sit and devour steak, roasted broccoli and sweet potato fries. We still have our ups and downs with her being picky...so the key continues to be persistance and consistency on our part.

Anyway, let's get back to some practical ideas in dealing with picky eaters.  Kids are often turned off if all the food on their plate looks foreign, so our doctor and other moms suggested we include a familiar item, like apple slices or yogurt, at each meal.  It took us months and truly a couple of years, but it really does work so most importantly, don't give up! Your little chicks might not love everything, but repeatedly presenting new and nutritious foods in a fun, playful way may tempt them to take a bite.

The other benefit of introducing new foods and teaching kids how to deal with those not-so-favorite foods is they will know how to handle themselves when they are away from home.  When dinner is served at a friends' house the goal is that they don't pinch their nose and say "ooooo yuck!  I don't like that!" (yes, one of the kids' friends did that at our house). Teaching kids to respectfully manage their food choices is as important as teaching them to like new foods!

Oh - I almost forgot.  Set a good example!!  If you aren't eating your veggies, it might be difficult to convince your kids to do so :).