Answers to your Food Fights

Compiled by Sonal Vartak
. Don’t force younger children to eat everything on their plate – kids quickly get tired of the same taste, which is why they often only eat half of their main course but still want a pudding – they’ve simply got bored with the taste of the main course.
· Offer a variety of healthy foods in small quantities. Seeing too much food on the plate overwhelms the child and discourages eating.
· Offer food for 15 min, if rejected (in older kids warn that food will be served at …time) keep it away. Do not offer food again till the assigned eating time. The child will eventually get trained to eat when offered.
· Always and yes Always follow what you say. Consistently doing so will make the child take you seriously when you say so. It is tough in the beginning but it will save you a lot of heart ache later.
· Young children are in tune with their appetite. They are still natural or close to nature than us. Force feeding them will kill their basic instinct to stop eating when they are full, which is the cause of most health problems later in life. If your child is gaining healthy weight and is active, let him decide when he is full.
· Offer more clean raw foods like fruits, vegetables (slightly boiled peas, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes)
· Are you nuts about nuts? Well, then we've got some good news for you: nuts are cholesterol-free, generally low in sodium and a great source of vitamins and minerals. Offer nuts to a child who can eat them safely. They are yummy snacks.
· As a rule of thumb, avoid processed foods, sugars and sugary foods, refined carbohydrates (maida, white rice).
· In place of a kurkure, which is a store bought fried food full of trans fats ( the worst kind of fat) offer homemade fried food in peanut oil(avoid reusing the oil as it converts into trans fat).
· Ghee is good. Use that to fatten your kids. Latest research shows ghee promotes memory, intelligence and enhances digestion. Modern science tells us that ghee also harbors phenolic antioxidants, which bolster the immune system. It has anti-carcinogenic properties.
· Get children involved at mealtimes – younger children in particular are far more likely to eat something they’ve made themselves so let them help you cook healthy meals such as homemade burgers, fruit muffins, whole meal scones, smoothies and sandwiches. Meanwhile, encourage them to eat with the family.
· Avoid using food as a reward – it simply becomes more desirable. But that’s not all – other foods become less desirable, too. In other words, telling children they can have some sweets if they eat their veg simply makes the sweets more alluring and the veg less appealing!
· Use peanut, canola (not corn), ricebran or olive oil. Or a mixture of these and other healthy oils.
· The recommendation for fat consumption for a child age 2 years or more is the same as for adults.