Children will always find something to turn their noses up at at meal time, and when you have just put time and effort into lovingly preparing a meal it can be somewhat disheartening. Dont give up hope, there will always be things that your child might not like and sometimes this will be a forever thing, but more often than not they will gradually become more confident in trying and even liking certain foods which at first glace they wouldnt touch! I have managed to get my 4 year old to eat almost every vegetable and to delight in eating it. My secret with him was to encourage super hero qualities with super healthy foods (he is particulary into superman, spiderman, ben 10 .... the list goes on ...). Of course he doesnt believe that he will turn into superman, but he has grasped an understanding of foods being nourishing to the body and a feeling of being strong and powerful.
"EAT YOUR BRUSSELS, GET BIG MUSCLES!!" a ditty made up by my son!
I believe its essential to eat with your children, if they can see you appreciate good food and to eat sensibly then you are more likely to rub this habit off on them. Dont make a big issue of new foods on their plate, just allow them to discover, feel and taste new foods in their own time without drawing attention to something which you are trying to get them to eat. Often 'force feeding' can have a very detrimental effect and can make them detract from trying things altogether. I know that often we sit at the table and expect our children to sit, eat and behave impecably, using a knife and fork and obeying all the etiquette rules in the book but the actual truth is that our children are exactly that, they are learning and discovering and when you are trying to encourage eating, making meal times very strict and proper will have a negative effect on their eating. Imagine if you were given an unknown food in front of you, alien to look at and strange in texture, you would want to bring the plate to your nose and smell it, touch it, poke it, pick it up even, smell it again and maybe squeeze it in your fingers all before you put it in your mouth!! Your children are learning from that point of view, in my opinion to totally disallow children to handle new foods could result in them not wanting to show any willingness to even try a mouse sized nibble!!
So in brief ....
Don't make a big deal about it. If you announce "We're going to try something new tonight," your child will just translate that as "This is going to be disgusting; prepare to hate it." Instead, just set the plate down and let your kid explore it for herself.
Make it fun. You've seen the cute pictures: pancakes topped with smiley fruit faces, grilled cheese served in cookie-cutter shapes. Taking the time now and then to make healthy foods kid-friendly -- even just adding ketchup or making up a clever name ("magic beans," "power peas") -- is always a winner. So is anything dunkable: Offer a little warmed, oozy peanut butter or yogurt to dip her fruit into, or some herb dressing to go with steamed vegetables.
Work with your child. Incorporate the healthy stuff into dishes you know your child likes. If she loves pizza, try adding pineapple. Got a muffin fan? Make a batch with blueberries or grated carrots. Chicken-nugget chomper? Bake them with whole-grain bread crumbs.
Talk it up. A kid couldn't care less about cholesterol or heart disease, but he will take notice if you tell him that doughnut won't give him enough energy to climb the jungle gym or keep up with his friend in the swimming pool.
Eat it yourself. If you won't touch anything green, why should they? But if they see you enjoying a big salad or a fish dish, they just may come around (well, eventually)!
Most of all dont give up, in my experience children go through stages of eating alot and then not hardly eating anything and we are there worrying that they are not getting the nutrition that they need and sometimes this can lead to you giving into their demands for unhealthy snacks just so as they eat something! Be patient, I like to think that children are born with their very own blue print when it comes to eating, at a young age they are untouched by the negative images and delicate issues surrounding diet, exercise and food and more often than not do not need to express the need to comfort eat or emotionally heal by using food, so with this in mind they often go by their own bodies natural instincts of when and how much they need to eat and so dont worry as long as you offer them regular meals and healthy choices, you can rest assurred that most of the time they will eat to their energy levels and as long as you havent allowed too much snacking, your child should look more eager to eat what you place in front of them.
Lastly, do remember to allow treats as well but just dont make them the majority of your childs diet! Remember that your child has no power to dictate what they eat now and then this will impact on the choices that they make in the future! Being a parent has massive responsibilities!!
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