What's for Dinner?

In a previous post, I wrote about how important it is to eat dinner together as a family. But if you have a young child, or one who is a finicky eater, mealtimes can be quite unpleasant. Here are some things to consider about young kids and difficult eaters and their food intake. And a sneaky way for you to win the food war.

Children need to eat a lot. Haven’t you ever seen a kid just want to graze all day? Their little bodies need food to keep them growing. Try not to let them fill up on juice and milk a lot throughout the day, because they will feel full and then not want to eat. Also, they will have mood swings as they will come up after drinking their juice or milk, only to swing back down about 30-45 minutes after intake.

Portion sizes for kids should be about one-fourth of an adult portion of food. We have a big problem with our portion sizes in this country, they are too big. But when you sit down to eat with a child and give him as much food as you give yourself, it can take their appetite away before the first bite. They should eat three meals a day, and they should have 1 or 2 snacks a day, too.

Sometimes kids will get on a food jag and only want to eat the same thing for a week or two. That’s ok if it’s something like apples, or macaroni and cheese or chicken fingers, but if it’s just junk food or McDonald’s try to keep in mind that you are the one buying the food. Don’t buy the donuts, cookies or ice cream, and stay away from McDonald’s.

Kids will sometimes skip a meal, but they get the picture pretty quickly that it feels better to have something in your stomach, than nothing at all, so they won’t miss too many. As kids are becoming more independent, they will sometimes use eating as one of the ways to show their burgeoning independence. Try not to engage in battles of the wills with them, just set a good example yourself.

For example, some mothers make a meal for the family, but something else for the young child. I think this is a very bad habit to get started, and don’t recommend it. Kids pick up on and imitate our behavior A LOT, so if you model eating good food, enjoy your meal, say good things about your food and finish it, hopefully he will mimic your behavior.

A good cook book for kids is, The Sneaky Chef by Missy Lapine. There are a lot of fun, kid friendly dishes and she mixes good ingredients in with them, things like beans or vegetables or fish oils. For example, she suggests putting a white puree composed of cauliflower, zucchini, lemon juice and water into the mac and cheese. You puree it first, so your child doesn’t know (sneaky, huh?) but you know she’s getting two types of vegetables with her meal. That way, you feel good knowing your kid is still getting her nutrients even when she is eating macaroni and cheese for the fourth time this week.

She has all kinds of fun recipes like magic meatballs, gotta lotta lasagna, tricky taco soup, even desserts like brainy brownies. Lapine worked in the food industry for years and eventually became certified in the master techniques of healthy cooking from many, many cooking classes.
The good thing about the little bit of extra work that goes into preparing some of these dishes, is that your kid’s taste buds will expand, but you won’t have to fight with her to eat her cauliflower. You won’t have long staring contests, or fights at the table while you implore her to eat carrots, or a salad, which you know is good for her growing body, but she flatly refuses to ingest.

Secondly, along with a lot of good health effects that come from good nutrition, it will improve your child’s mood and keep them more stable with full stomachs, rather than the ups and downs you get as a side effect of the food battles.

Lastly, remember, toddlers grow up eventually, and finicky eaters grow out of it, too. Just breathe and know that kids go through a lot of phases, and this is one of them.