Raising a Healthy Eater

We all take an innate liking to sweet and salty tastes and equally dislike the bitter or sour. These natural preferences don’t make achieving a varied diet any easier so teaching our kids to develop their tastes becomes very important. For some children the learning period is short while for others it can take a lot more time. Like anything else it’s a matter of respecting your child’s natural cycles and to not rush things along.

Typically tastes develop in stages. In one period a child may be open to discovery, in another, he may become less or not interested at all. The course ahead can be chaotic at best. To help you get started, here are a few tips.

Set an example

It’s no secret that children emulate those around them. This makes it all the more important to set a good example and to do so convincingly, especially when faced with a child who doesn’t like change. Positive comments like “boy are these Brussels sprouts good” delivered in a natural and sincere tone can encourage your child to try it for the first time and improves the chances he’ll eat it again. So get the older family members involved, brother and sister included and be the best role-models possible.

Spark their curiosity

Mealtime preparation is the ideal time to have your child handle and smell food. Take the time during the preparation to show him the ingredients. For example, before adding the herbs and spices to your spaghetti sauce let your child smell them. Or while preparing a fruit salad, have him handle the pomegranate with its lovely red seeds.

Try Again And Again

Children naturally resist change. In fact apart from sweet and salty foods, a child will generally dislike a new food on their first encounter. It’s only through repetition that a child will come to like it, unfortunately many parents give up after 3 failed attempts. Children sometimes need to be exposed to a new food up to 15 times before they even taste it. This can seem overwhelming, but take heart, once learned they’ll keep it forever.

Comments

• Lori

  April 20th, 2010
  

  is so improtant to have children involved in cooking.
  They will be more likely to try news things if they have prepared it!
  Do not give up trying and I always try to feed the least favorite foods first when the children are really hungry!
  
  http://www.thelittlechefs.ca