What should I do if my child is picky about food? What causes children to be picky about food?

What should we do if children are picky eaters? Let's analyze the common reasons why babies are picky eaters. Children's picky eating is harmful, and parents must correctly deal with the problem of baby's picky eating. Putting an end to baby's picky eating can make the baby grow up healthier and happier.

What to do if your child is picky about eating

1. Don’t use language to reinforce your child’s dietary choices

Children are still young, so they naturally cannot judge whether food is healthy or not. To them, crispy French fries fried at high temperatures are naturally delicious, but the sweet aftertaste of bitter melon fried with dried fish is certainly not to their extent, and they cannot taste its deep beauty. At this time, adults who think they know children well should never use words to reinforce their impression of food, such as "she dare not eat bitter melon" or "fried food suits her taste best"... These will hinder children's courage to explore food, and will inexplicably strengthen their preference for food.

On the contrary, we can use the time when the whole family is eating together to introduce the good taste of various foods. For example, mushrooms contain anti-tumor polysaccharides that can keep us healthy; eggplants are very nutritious and were often seen on the menus of emperors in ancient times! We have been in the business world for many years, and we can use simple words to give food stories or more emotional connections. Such a small thing only requires about 10% of our ability, but it can pass on about 80% of our ability to develop a sound nutritional outlook in the future. Such a gift is too cost-effective, so why not do it!

2. Prepare a variety of meal options in advance

Many elderly people have a light diet, and they may be full with one dish and one sauce for each meal, but this kind of diet is not enough for young children. However, many parents have to go to work during the day, and leaving their children to their elders is the safest and most reliable choice. Children naturally eat with their grandparents. At this time, parents must prepare more food sources for their children in advance to facilitate the elders and children to eat together. For example, buy some tofu in the refrigerator first, and add some pumpkin oil, soy sauce paste or nut powder when eating, it will be delicious. Or prepare some processed fish fillets, a few slices of ginger, add some salt and rice wine, and cook a bowl of soup. In just five minutes, you can have another meal. A little preparation in advance can greatly satisfy the table.

3. Milk is not the ultimate solution

Often, when children cannot eat dinner, adults will think that it is okay and they can just make some milk later. As a result, children often wake up in the middle of sleep and ask for milk when they are hungry. This eventually leads to irregular eating and even irregular sleep schedules, which leads to a vicious cycle. Moreover, as children age, their nutritional sources should be diversified. Milk can no longer fulfill all the responsibilities of providing for their growth. Do not use milk as the ultimate solution to skipping meals.

4. Never treat 3C as a side dish

Living in two worlds with completely different cultures, we also see two different feeding worlds. In the East, parents hope that their children can eat more. I still remember that in restaurants in Singapore, you can often see foreign domestic helpers holding 3C cards and playing cartoons to attract children's attention. Parents will take advantage of the children's inattention to force them to eat a bite here and there, using distraction to achieve the goal of eating more.

However, in the West, children must eat by themselves. No matter how much or how little they eat, it is their own business. Everyone is always busy chatting and laughing at the table, and parents are rarely seen feeding their children. At the same meal time, one side focuses on a comfortable dining atmosphere, while the other side relies on 3C to cheat food. When children recall their childhood dining memories many years later, what do you expect them to remember?

5. Open the kitchen door

After years of experimenting with "Children Playing in the Kitchen", I have come to realize that if you want your children to embrace food, your kitchen should also be welcoming to children's participation. When children have the opportunity to participate in the cooking process, the deeper their understanding of the ingredients, the more they will naturally love all kinds of food from the bottom of their hearts.

Food writer Hong Zhenyu once said, "For him, food not only fills the stomach and brings pleasure, but also allows for the exchange of emotional experiences and the tracing of cultural roots. It is like a secret code. After the chewing experience of the lips, teeth and tongue, a "Open Sesame!" is spoken, and the life story and cultural code behind the food naturally flows out."

The world of food is so vast and worth exploring. How can we bear to let our children's lives lack so much fun? Especially in the early stages of their growth, children's judgment of likes and dislikes of the things around them is easily affected. As long as we pay a little more attention, children can get not only enough nutrition and satisfaction on the tip of the tongue, but also endless dining table memories in the future.

What causes children to be picky eaters?

The reasons why children are picky eaters and don't like to eat and how to correct them

First, let’s define what picky eating is: being more picky about food during the diet, which causes the deficiency of one or more of the seven major nutrients needed by the human body.

The previous article about baby drinking water has already mentioned the seven nutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, water, and dietary fiber. These seven nutrients determine the degree of physical health and promote absorption of each other, so it is best to take them in the daily diet structure. How to take them in is to have a diversified diet, covering the six categories of staple foods, fruits and vegetables, meat and eggs, milk, nuts, and beans.

What are the causes of picky eating?

Don't hate me for being too honest, the reason lies with the feeder and the original family! Don't blame the baby for being picky about food! [Scared R]

What impact does picky eating have on babies?

Ten thousand words omitted here... In short, it affects your health throughout your life! It increases the risk of chronic diseases in childhood and adulthood!

Then let's take a closer look at the reasons for picky eating! I have summarized 12 points, so please read on...

Reason 1:

1. In the early stage of complementary food addition (6-12 months), the food provided to the baby by the feeder is not diversified.

Some babies still eat rice soup, vegetable soup, rice noodles, and egg yolks at 8-9 months, but nothing else. Diversification at this early stage does not mean that the six major categories must be eaten. Milk is the main food before 1 year old! The significance of adding complementary foods around 6 months is not only to meet the nutritional needs other than milk, but also to increase the baby's experience of different food tastes and textures, and to accept this taste. It is also the foundation that must be laid for the development of perceptual psychology and cognitive behavioral abilities. Some mothers will ask, how to achieve the initial introduction of diversified foods? For example, if you start adding complementary foods from 6 months, it is recommended to introduce high-iron rice noodles and meat and eggs rich in iron first, and then slowly introduce fruits and vegetables, and introduce them separately for an observation period of about 3 days. If there is no problem, introduce new foods. By 8 months, there should be at least 25 kinds of food, so mothers can refer to whether your complementary foods are diversified under the condition of guaranteed milk supply.

2. When the baby is 8-10 months old, small-particle complementary food is not ready.

At this time, the baby's gastrointestinal and oral motor abilities are already sufficient to add small soft granular foods. If the food is still in a mushy state, it may affect the baby's chewing ability, making it difficult for the baby to chew large granular foods and resist complementary foods. Or, the granules added at this time are too large and too hard, and the baby's tongue and gums cannot press them down, making it uncomfortable when swallowing and causing resistance to complementary foods. Foods that do not match the characteristics of this month should not be added too early or too late.

3. When the baby is 10-12 months old and his self-awareness increases and he needs finger food, if the feeder does not provide finger food and does not allow the baby to grab food and eat it by himself.

At this time, soft block and strip foods can be added. Foods of corresponding characteristics for this age group can stimulate the development of oral motor skills, including flexible movement of the tongue, biting, chewing, swallowing, etc., reducing subsequent feeding difficulties.

At this age, babies like to grab the spoon and feed themselves. This is a rare pleasure of eating. It not only exercises the small muscle movements and coordination of the fingers, but also makes them feel that they have grown up again. They can grab food and eat it by themselves. It is common for them to turn their heads when being fed. So prepare finger food, tableware, dining chairs and patience. Since babies have fun eating, let's help them exercise independent eating and fall in love with eating!

After the age of one, the types, textures, and flavors of food are no longer so restricted, and the demand for milk decreases. The significance of complementary foods has changed again. Let your baby know at this stage that in addition to milk, three meals a day are the most important! At this time, continuous and diversified additions are needed to cover 6 major categories.

Only by adding such scientific complementary foods can we reduce the risk of picky eating in the future!

Reason 2

Some elderly people help take care of the baby and add sugar and salt to the food before the age of one, which causes the baby to have strong taste requirements, not like light-flavored food, and be picky about taste.

Reason 3

Seeing that the baby doesn't like to eat and is picky about food, anxious parents will scold the baby at the dinner table, use food and eating as punishment and reward, and force the baby to eat, which leads to psychological shadow resistance at the dinner table. We should respect the baby's hunger or fullness signals, do not force, find ways to guide the baby patiently, feel the baby's feelings, and create a relaxed and quiet dining environment.

Reason 4

The baby has developed the habit of being picky and partial in eating. The feeder is too pampering, accommodating, and submissive. He does not correct the problem in time. Instead, he avoids the food that the baby does not like to eat on the table and serves the food that the baby likes. For the food that the baby does not like, you should encourage him to try it repeatedly and find ways to enhance his interest in the food. Sometimes he will not eat it in this form, but will eat it in a different way. Make the food into the cartoon image that the baby likes or make the color combination beautiful. Pay attention to the taste. The baby also knows the difference between delicious and boring. So change the ingredients more often to improve the picky and partial in eating. Or he will accept it after a while and eat it suddenly, provided that he does not give up.

Reason 5

The baby's family members also have different degrees of picky eating. If the adults don't like to eat the food, they will rarely cook that food. The eating behavior and attitude of parents are the role models for infants and young children to imitate. When you are eating a food, you still comment on it: this is not delicious, sour, bitter, unpalatable, or you don't eat it at all. When the baby sees it, he will imitate it and dare not eat food that even the parents don't eat!

After the age of one, adjust the baby's meal times to the same as adults' meal times, and the feeder should set a good example by eating in front of the baby and showing him/her that the food is delicious.

Reason 6

If babies eat too many snacks before meals, their energy is temporarily supplied by snacks, especially those with high sugar content. Their appetite will definitely be relatively weakened, or they will have no appetite at all. Then they will be hungry again after a while after the meal. The feeder who can't bear to see the baby hungry will give the baby snacks to eat. The baby still has no appetite for the next meal. Who makes the baby not like to eat?

Reason 7

During illness, the baby's gastrointestinal function is weakened, so it is normal for them not to want to eat. Forcing the baby to eat may cause the body to lack energy, which will cause a burden on the gastrointestinal tract.

Reason 8

If the baby does not exercise enough and consumes less energy, he will naturally not feel hungry. Some caregivers do not give their babies time to exercise outdoors. Even if they go out, they are placed in a stroller or held in their arms. Therefore, the baby should be allowed to exercise for 2 hours every day. Only in this way can the baby eat well and sleep well. Only when the baby eats and sleeps well can he play well. The three influence each other.

Reason Nine

Parents have too high expectations for their babies' appetite. For example, if half a bowl of food is enough for the baby, they always ask the baby to eat a full bowl. If the baby eats only half a bowl, they say the baby doesn't like to eat and is picky about food. If the baby is really hungry, he will eat until he is full. What the feeder needs to do is to provide the baby with a variety of foods for him to choose from.

Reason 10

Playing while eating, watching TV while eating, or the feeder chasing after the baby to feed are all distractions and destroy the eating environment. They will also affect the intake of nutrition, concentration, self-confidence and independence in the future. Feeders should provide fixed dining seats and regular meals at regular times and quantities; put an end to eating while playing, watching TV while eating, and chasing after the feeder to feed; chew slowly and do not delay, and keep the meal time within 20 minutes. Let the baby use the tableware and eat by himself to increase the fun of eating!

Reason 11

Because of long-term malnutrition, iron and zinc deficiency leads to poor appetite and picky eating. It is recommended to go to the hospital for a comprehensive examination. If it is caused by this, you must pay attention to it and use food and supplements to improve this situation! Don't judge whether you are iron or zinc deficient at home and take supplements without authorization. This requires the assistance of a doctor or professional.

Reason 12

It is not good to have seasonal short-term fifteenth day in summer and dog days. This is because very little energy is needed in summer. The body needs less energy and naturally absorbs less. Few babies eat as much in summer as in autumn and winter. The same goes for adults. Eat light food, drink more warm water, and ensure that the food is fresh. Don't worry too much. This is the body's instinctive reaction to the hot summer. However, parents must provide comprehensive ingredients for their children to choose from. Even if the food intake is small, they must make complementary foods frequently.

There may be some reasons that are not summarized above, but most of them are the parents' problems, so we must correctly understand the significance of complementary food, not just for eating enough, but ultimately affecting physical health and independence in adulthood!

0-2 years old is the process of babies passively accepting food and then exercising to eat independently. After 2 years old, they should have the ability and habit of eating independently!

In daily life, you can use your baby’s favorite dolls to make up a situational story for your baby to listen to, and read picture books to let your baby understand the harm of picky eating. Older babies can also go into the kitchen to learn about food and develop an interest.

According to research, infants need to try 7-8 times before they can accept a new food, while toddlers need to try 10-14 times before they can accept a new food. When babies refuse a certain food, parents or feeders should be patient and try repeatedly, encouraging babies to try a variety of foods with different tastes and textures. For example, if babies accept and like fruits and vegetables during infancy, it will increase the intake of vegetables and fruits in children and adults, which is a meaningful part.

The scientific nature of adding complementary foods is really important! Pay attention to it!

The above comes from, Yoona's Good Food Time

The consequences of picky eating in babies

There are many consequences of babies being picky eaters. First of all, if parents allow their babies to be picky eaters, then the children may express their opinions on everything in the future and do things according to their own ideas. If the baby has a picky eating problem, parents must strengthen education and guidance. Picky eating is a small matter, but if it affects the baby's sense of rules, it is a big deal.

Secondly, being picky about food can easily lead to vitamin deficiency in babies, which is not conducive to their physical development. If a baby is short because of being picky about food at a young age, he or she may resent his or her parents for the rest of his or her life when he or she grows up.