Food jags

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Food jags

Alternative Names:

Refusal to eat; Fear of new foods
Recommendations:

If the preferred food is nutritious and easy to prepare, continue to offer it along with a variety of other foods at each meal. Your child will usually start eating other foods before long. Many times, serving the meal before your child becomes ravenously hungry will help avoid the situation.

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Once a child is focused on one particular food, it's almost impossible to get the little one to accept an alternative food. If your child goes without eating much at one meal, don't worry. Your child will make up for it at another meal or snack. Healthy kids regulate what they need to eat to grow properly very well without parental supervision. Simply provide nutritious foods at meals and snack times.

While specific situations are discussed below, some general recommendations are as follows:

Set an example by eating a variety of healthy foods.
Prepare meals that are pleasing to the eye, with different colors and textures.
Start introducing new tastes, especially green vegetables, beginning at 6 months, in the form of baby food.
Never coerce a child to eat. Mealtime should not be a time of fighting. Children will eat when hungry.
Avoid high-sugar snacks in between meals to allow children to become sufficiently hungry.

FEAR OF NEW FOODS

Fear of new foods is common in children and new foods should not be forced on a child. Many exposures are needed before a child will be brave enough to taste a new food. Continuing to offer new foods will help increase the likelihood that your child will eventually taste and maybe even like a new food.

The taste rule -- "You have to at least taste each food on your plate" -- may work on some children. However, if your child is defiant, you may just start an unnecessary war. Children mimic adult behavior, and if another family member will not eat new foods, you cannot expect your child to experiment.

Try not to label your child's eating habits. Food preferences change with time and just because Sally didn't like carrots the first time she tried them doesn't mean she will not like them later on. It may seem like a waste of food at first, but over the long run a child who accepts a large variety of food makes meal planning and preparation easier.

REFUSING TO EAT WHAT IS SERVED

Refusing to eat what is served can be a power tool for many children. Imagine the chaos when a family is sitting at the table and suddenly young Michael decides he wants something other than what is offered. Mother races to prepare the dish only to have it turned down and something else requested.