BACK
Do you find yourself asking Am I Bad Mum? Our Dietitian Michelle Theodosi from The Lifestyle Dietitian spoke to the podcast “Am I a Bad Mum?” discussing how to combat fussy eaters.
Have you found yourself blending vegetables into food, so your child gets the nutritional value of vegetables? or have you enticed your child with “If you eat your peas, you can have some ice cream”? Michelle suggests her top tips and tricks help parents keep their sanity, and children eat their fruits and vegetables.
Your child’s initial fussiness will start kicking in at the age of 2 to 3 years old as they gain independence. Children do not have a lot of independence, but what they do have independence over is the food they eat, and what they decide to put in their mouths.
By giving children responsibilities, they are able to exercise that independence they are fighting for. Allow your child to pick the vegetables they eat, so they become accustomed to the bitter flavours of vegetables.
As much as we find blending vegetables to be the easiest stress-free way of getting your children to eat vegetables, this process does not allow children to learn and identify the vegetables. Rather try placing a small bowl of vegetables on a plate next to the dinner with blended vegetables. Encourage children to eat the “little trees”. It may take 10 -15 tries but eventually, your child will try the vegetables and be able to associate flavours, textures and shapes with the vegetables.
For a full list of just how to combat picky eaters, you can find the podcast episode on Apple Music and Spotify.
