13 Top Tips for Parents of Picky Eaters
If my 5-year-old could, she would eat chips and candy for every meal, every day. Here are some of our top tips for dealing with picky eaters!
We're excited to work with PediaSure Sidekicks this summer to help parents maximize the nutrition that growing bodies need.
93 percent of kids don't eat enough vegetables and 60 percent don't eat enough fruit. PediaSure recognizes this nutritional challenge, and that’s why Pediasure has created the PediaSure SideKicks Fruit & Veggie Smoothie mix for parents and kids who need a quick, easy and delicious way to help get the nutrients they need.
We've pulled together some of our top tips for dealing with picky eaters. Please share your strategies in the comments section below!
6 Top Tips for Dealing With a Picky Eater
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If my 5-year-old could, she would eat chips and candy for every meal, every day. Here are some of our top tips for picky eaters:
- Keep Trying! "Susan B. Roberts, a Tufts University nutritionist and co-author of the book “Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health,” suggested a “rule of 15” — putting a food on the table at least 15 times to see if a child will accept it. Once a food is accepted, parents should use “food bridges,” finding similarly colored or flavored foods to expand the variety of foods a child will eat. If a child likes pumpkin pie, for instance, try mashed sweet potatoes and then mashed carrots. If a child loves corn, try mixing in a few peas or carrots. Even if a child picks them out, the exposure to the new food is what counts." NYTimes.com 6 Food Mistakes Parents Make
- Shop Together: Let them help plan the menu and shop for foods. We love taking our kids to the farmer's market in the summertime. Bonus? They have so many samples it's a great opportunity for your kids to try new things.
- Easy Access: The healthiest foods often require the most preparation. Every week I chop a variety of veggies and have them ready to go in the fridge in a sectioned tupperware dish. The weeks that I do this, the kids eat what's there. If I don't have it ready to go - my kids definitely eat less fruits and vegetables and end up going for crackers or treats instead.
- Embrace Butter: We've been told for so long that a low fat diet is where it's at. We're fan of high quality healthy fats around our house. We especially love Kerry Gold Butter. Dress us their veggies, their muffins, their everything with a little bit of the good stuff.
- Dips: Tossing out a little dish of ranch or hummus definitely gets my kids eating more crunchy fruits and veggies.
- Sneak in Some Extra Nutrition: The PediaSure Sidekicks are PERFECT for this. The smoothie mix is made from real dried strawberries, bananas, apples and sweet potatoes. You can mix it with any milk (cow, soy, almond etc.) You can even add it to yogurt, sneak it into cereal, or bake it into muffins. It's perfect to fill in the gaps! Banana Strawberry Ice Cream PB & J with a Sneaky Ingredient
7 Great Tips from our Facebook Fans!
- "Dipping sauces and cheese/ cheese sauces. While not entirely healthy, they get my daughter to eat her veggies. Obviously don't drown them in it, but a little bit to help add flavor goes a long way." - Jen S.
- "I blend peas and other veggies to put in my meatloaf! I sneak in extra veggies whenever I can! My husband doesn't even know about it and he hates peas!" - Helena B.
- "Smoothies. Add spinach into one and they never notice." - Kara W.
- "A multivitamin daily and keep introducing new foods." - Stacie C.
- "I spread mashed sweet potatoes or avocados onto whole-wheat tortillas when making quesadillas." - Megan B.
- "I add kale,spinach,chia and flax meal to fresh fruit and yogurt smoothies and also chia and flax meal to things like pancakes. Buy mostly snacks without much additives like fructose and msg. I also buy vitamin c suckers instead of regular ones and whole wheat breads.My kids are extremely picky eaters so I have to do things like this and they enjoy it." - Debbie R.
- "Special utensil, like cocktail servers, kid chopsticks, etc. anything to make it fun." - Stacie S.
* Post Sponsored by PediaSure Sidekicks
