By : Nick Mutt
Many children become obese at their early age. This is because of their poor eating habits. Parents must keep a close eye on what their child eat. This will help in eliminating foods that are not good for your child’s health. A careful selection of food is very important in order to keep your child fit and healthy.
Many children go thorough phases of being choosy eaters. This is a normal part of growing up. Children often want to eat a certain spot at a certain time. They eat a small quantity of food and yet are well, active and growing normally. Most choosy eaters are between 1 ½ years and 5 years of age. Children of all ages commonly have a few food dislikes. Sometimes they dislike foods because of their color but more often because they are hard to chew. Children prefer well cooked vegetables to raw vegetables. Below are some useful tips to manage a choosy eater:
1. Put nutritious food in front of your child. Don’t worry on how much he is eating. It is the quality of the food that is important, not the quantity.
2. Drinking too much liquid can reduce your child’s appetite. Limit liquid intake in the hour or two before meals
3. Satisfy your child’s sweet tooth by serving nutritious fruit based desserts.
4. Avoid their snacking more than twice a day let them stick to a meal schedule. If your child doest not eat at one meal, he will probably eat at the next.
5. Handle frustrating situations with patience, a positive attitude and firmness. Don’t be aggressive or emotional.
6. Offer your child some choice in food and give small portions at a time.
7. Try serving food in attractive ways like cutting vegetables in odd shapes, decorating with ketchup or herbs.
8. Make the meal time table a relaxed and pleasant environment, free of family conflict, tensions and distraction like TV. Make it an important family event.
