Last week we had a visit from The Clean Food Coach, Jeannette Bessinger. She came to Bloom to speak on “Finessing Finicky Eaters.” A group of about twenty moms came out for the event, but I know many others were interested and would have joined us if schedules had allowed. With that in mind I wanted to share some little nuggets (no pun intended) of wisdom she shared with the group. Some of this stuff may be obvious to you, but perhaps there is a something that might inspire an “A-ha!”
Sugar, salt and fat are addictive substances. The more you have, the more you want. Once a child is hooked on foods high in salt/sugar/fat it is difficult to abate that desire. Once a person’s palate is accustomed to these foods, it can take a year or more to "re-train" his palate to desire healthy foods. Best to avoid this path from the get go.
Many toddlers go through phases wherein they are not very interested in food. It is during these phases that many parents, concerned that their child is not eating enough, begin to place less-than-healthy options in front of their children just to get them to eat something. Once the door is opened to less-than-healthy choices, it is hard to revert. Better just to keep offering healthy choices. When your child is hungry, he will eat. (This is of course assuming the child is in general good health).
If you don’t want your child to eat “junk food,” don’t buy it. They have radar for the stuff. If its in the house, they will know! And as Jeannette noted, “They aren’t driving themselves to McDonalds!”
When presenting your child with a new food, be completely neutral. Don’t try to oversell it by going on about how yummy it is. Conversely, don’t say, “I know its not your favorite, but...” Simply serve it without commentary. If they like it, great. If they don’t, its okay.
It can take trying a new food fifteen times before a child will like it. If your child tries something and doesn’t like it, don’t give up. Keep serving it.
Always try to serve something on the dinner plate that you know your child will like, alongside other items that may not be as well received.
Whatever you are serving for dinner, stick to it. Don’t offer anything else. If your child is hungry, he will eat something. If he knows he’ll get offered something else if he refuses what is offered, he will hold out for another (likely less nutritious) option.
Most importantly, don’t give up on healthy foods! Here are some tips from Jeannette for how to get your child to eat more veggies. Find Jeannette's website here and find her cookbooks online here.
