Got a Picky Eater at Home? 7 Simple Ways to Make Mealtimes Easier

Being a mother of a toddler, a school-age child or an adolescent which thought haunts you and keeps you worried all the time? It is your child’s eating habits!!! You might be going over the board thinking about how to create a balance between taste and nutrition for your picky eater child.

Remember your childhood days when you loathed having greens and other strong-flavoured foods. But you do like them now. Why?? Children are actually born with more taste buds and a heightened sensitivity to bitter flavours — an evolutionary defence against eating harmful plants. This sensitivity naturally decreases with age, but repeated, positive exposure to new foods is equally important. Research shows that children often need to try a food 10–15 times before accepting it. Don't give up, familiarity breeds tolerance! And you have a consolation there, one day your picky eaters might start taking those greens with pleasure. Until then, to make them eat nutritious food following tips might come in handy:

Go one by one

When introducing new foods into the diet. This facilitates observing the response of the child to food. It also helps to find out if, in case, the child is allergic to any food.

Change the form

If your child does not like a particular food, try to change the form of that food and see the response. E.g, if the child does not like spinach as saag, in that case, you can try making it as palak paneer or kofta instead.

Be Encouraging

Our food choices generally rub on our children. So even if I do not like a food, I try not to show my dislike or displeasure. Children should be encouraged to try most foods eaten by the family.

Avoid Monotony

Variety in choice of foods and innovation in the recipes is important to avoid monotony. Even the slightest change, like a change in the shape of chapatti might make your child interested in the meal.

Try the trick of camouflaging

Most children are picky about eating fruits and vegetables. Add these foods in invisible mode. For example, we can add vegetables as stuffing/topping or chopped too fine to get noticed, and fruits can be added in milk, pureed, and added to certain desserts (e.g. custards). Hiding vegetables in food can be a useful short-term strategy to ensure your child gets nutrients, but it works best when combined with open exposure. Serve the 'hidden' vegetable also in its visible form alongside the meal, without pressure. Studies suggest that children who are repeatedly exposed to a food, even just seeing it on their plate, gradually build acceptance. Think of camouflaging as a bridge, not a permanent solution.

Milk can be substituted  

If your child refuses to drink milk, we can compensated for the deficiency of calcium by including foods like curd, cheese, yoghurt ,or from sardines, and other fish that contain fine bones. For vegetarians we can add til (sesame), ragi to the diet. These not only have a high amount of calcium but are also good source of protein.

Pack a wholesome lunch: The packed lunch should include carbohydrates (rice/chapati/parantha), proteins (pulses, paneer, soy nuggets, egg / non-veg) and vitamin minerals (vegetables and fruits). Few examples of packed lunches: Vegetable and nutri-nuggets Pulao & fruit; Methi/palak parantha with fruit; Dal parantha & fruit; Paneer sandwich & fruit, etc.

More Nutritious Recipes

In dealing with your picky children while eating, you need to be patient. Remember that our patience is worth our child's health.