How to stop children from being picky eaters

When children grow up, they will cause many troubles to their parents. One of the troubles is that they are picky eaters and refuse to eat. Today, let's talk about how parents should deal with children who are picky eaters.

What to do if your child is picky about eating

1. Put more effort into the diversity, variety and reasonable combination of food varieties, the quality of cooking including color, aroma, taste and shape, and the selection of tableware, so that children can maintain a strong appetite when eating and enjoy every meal.

2. Parents should set an example by not being picky eaters, or at least try not to show picky eaters in front of children to prevent improper guidance of children; avoid criticizing and scolding children when they are eating, which may make them unhappy and affect their appetite; serve children small amounts of rice and encourage them to eat multiple times to increase their confidence in eating; if a child is not in the mood to eat and is not completely full, parents would rather let him eat more later than force him to eat; take good care of the diet of sick children.

3. Control the amount and frequency of snacks for children. The snacks they eat should be of both fine and coarse types, such as raw vegetables, fruits, etc.

4. Teach children relevant knowledge and principles in a form that is convenient for them and they are willing to accept. When children eat in kindergarten, you can conduct some evaluations and competitions on diet, and use their competitive spirit to prevent and correct picky eating.

Only by taking a scientific attitude and paying attention to feeding techniques, mastering the quality and quantity of food, and actively correcting picky eating, can we provide children with adequate nutrition and ensure their healthy growth.

How to correct baby's picky eating

As they grow older, many babies have their own favorite foods, showing a preference or aversion to certain foods. So, how can we correct the baby's picky eating habits?

1. Parents should set an example. The baby's eating habits are greatly influenced by the parents, so parents must not say which dishes are delicious and which are not delicious in front of the baby, and do not let their own eating habits affect the baby. In addition, for the health of the baby, parents should set an example and adjust their own eating habits appropriately. They should not stop the baby from eating something just because they don't like it. They should try their best to ensure that the baby gets adequate and balanced nutrition.

2. Spend more time on cooking methods. In order to make your baby eat healthily and not be picky eaters, parents should work hard on cooking methods, such as paying attention to the color matching of ingredients, seasoning appropriately or changing their properties. If your baby doesn't like vegetables, you can make dumplings or wontons; if he doesn't like boiled eggs, you can make fried rice with eggs. In short, you should change the way you cook so that your baby always feels fresh and gradually adapts to the food he didn't like before.

3. Do not force. Every baby may have a certain degree of picky eating. If parents force their baby to eat, the baby will be more disgusted and will be more reluctant to correct the picky eating habit. Therefore, parents should not force their baby to eat food they do not want to eat, otherwise it will be counterproductive.

4. Encourage progress. When the baby is correcting his picky eating, parents should give encouragement as long as there is progress, so that the baby will be more willing to maintain his progress.

Principles for parents to deal with picky eating

First, parents should let their children experience hunger and then feel full. Generally, the interval between two meals is 2.5 to 3 hours. During this period, snacks or high-calorie foods must be limited.

Second, the meal time should be less than 25 minutes. This has something to do with the child's attention, eating habits, and behavior. Generally speaking, parents can wait for 15 minutes, and if the child still doesn't eat, take the food away. If the child wants to eat, start counting from this moment, and limit it to about 25 minutes. After this time, even if the child cannot finish eating, the parents must take the food away.

Because a two or three-year-old child's attention span is limited, he can't spend more than an hour focusing on eating. If you move the meal away in advance, he may have an appetite for the next meal.

Third, feed each new food more than 20 times. To overcome the fear of new food, it is necessary to introduce it early, starting from 4-6 months, step by step, and ensure a certain number of feedings. Usually, new food should be added more than 15 times, but for only children, it should be more, such as 20 times.

Fourth, mix the food that the child likes and the food that the child dislikes. Put the food that the child dislikes together with the food that the child likes, and feed them gradually. At the beginning, focus on the food that the child likes, so that the child does not feel that there is something he does not like in the food he eats. Slowly increase the amount of the food that the child does not like so that he can tolerate it.

Fifth, take your child to the supermarket or vegetable market to buy food frequently. Let him develop an interest in food, which will encourage him to try new foods many times.

Sixth, encourage children to play games with food. For example, calling food with interesting names or making it into various shapes can stimulate their interest in food. This is especially effective for children who are interested in everything except food. Because when you make food into a little white rabbit or a little monkey, they will feel that it is also a toy, which will arouse their interest.

Seventh, avoid distractions. We should not watch TV or tell stories while eating. We should let children focus on eating in a fixed place instead of playing games or other fun activities.

Eighth, don’t buy food you don’t want your children to eat. Don’t always think about filling the refrigerator. If you do fill it, put the food you want your children to eat. Don’t let your children get junk food easily.

Ninth, do more oral exercises. Nowadays, the food we eat is too small, which will cause the mouth to lack exercise, produce tactile defense against many foods, and cause children to have picky eating. Oral exercises can eliminate this undesirable phenomenon.

Tenth, be a role model for your children. Children usually follow what their parents eat. Some people say that their children eat well in kindergarten, but why do they not eat well when they come back? In fact, the power of role models is not enough. In addition to the mother's demonstration, television and advertisements also have a considerable impact on children's eating.