Two summers back I prepared for the arrival of a few special house guests: my 5 & 3 year old nephews and 1 year old niece (oh, and their parents). I eagerly stocked my fridge with my nephews favorite foods, bought tattoos, bouncy balls and tickets to a Braves game and the aquarium.
When they arrived the kids immediately started playing while my sister-in-law surveyed the food situation. Pizza – they don’t eat anything but plain or pepperoni (I bought veggie pizza). Orange juice – I bought the wrong kind. It had “floaties” according to my 5 year old nephew. A few winners – the cereal, yogurt, Z-bars and fruit that I picked up. I was batting about 500 at this point.
As a dietitian, all but one of my nephews and nieces eat pretty well and like a variety of food. And their simple requests for clear OJ and plain pizza really weren’t too picky. When I hear parents frantically tell me their stories and ask for advice on getting their child to eat, my job often goes back and forth between supportive listener and providing nutrition advice. In reality, most kids will turn out just fine (even if you don’t feed them the “only” meal they’ll eat – chicken fingers and fries).
How do I know this? I speak from true experience. I picked the “white stuff” off of bacon when I was about 4, hid my peas in a napkin at dinner and always dreaded certain meals my mom made: tacos, meatloaf and pork to name a few. And, for 8 years straight (or maybe more) I ate the same thing for lunch every single day in school (except pizza day): 1/2 of a peanut butter sandwich, a piece of fruit, a snack and chocolate milk. In an effort to try to get me to gain weight, my mom would often sneak butter on my sandwich. As an adult I let her in on a secret – I scraped it off every time or threw away the parts with chunks of butter. A peanut butter sandwich for me meant one thing only: Peanut butter on bread. Nothing else.
So what’s my advice to parents? First, relax. Your child will eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full if you don’t force feed them. Second, never have your child clean their plate. You are forcing them to override their satiety cues and eat when they are not hungry. Third, continue to offer children a specific food several times. Let’s say little Johnny doesn’t like broccoli. It’s okay, it may take more than 10 times for you to offer it to him before he decides he’ll try it. Fourth, try “dipping sauces.” Hummus, olive oil and light dressing may convince your kid to eat more veggies. Fifth, let your child choose chocolate or strawberry milk at school. I drank white milk at home but the milk at school tasted gross to me. Probably because it was 2% versus the skim milk I was used to. Kids need the calcium equivalent of about 3 servings of milk daily. Unlike vegetarian forms of milk alternatives which contain vitamin D2, fortified milk has vitamin D3 in it – which is more effective at raising the vitamin D levels in our body. Milk also has a plethora of other nutrients in it including potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin and niacin (niacin equivalents). Yes, it has some sugar in it, but, kids should be running around in PE, active at home and easily burning off that sugar. Plus, if it gets the picky ones like me to drink milk, a little flavor is worth it!
