Children are not born with an inherent desire to eat all the food on the table .Parents will try everything to win over a picky eater children. Begging, bribing,tricking or even sneaking foods into their diet in hopes that the kids will eat the prepared meal.
There are simple ways to raise them as an adventurous rather than a picky eater.
1. Start Young
Let your child see you ans others trying new food.Give your child a small portion of vegetables on the plate .It doesn't have to be much .Just let them have a bite just to taste it .
2.Try new recipe
Improve your child's taste buds by cooking new recipe's that are not familiar to their tongue. Your child will learn that it is normal and fun to try new foods. They like to eat mom's cooking and and ones they have tasted something mom has cooked for them this is what they usually eat in the restaurant or in any gatherings.
3. Introduced them to foreign foods
Ask your children to taste a new food but never force them to eat it. We don't have to settle for the staple food or same Filipino meal in the table. Explore other cuisine. A twist from a comfortable kid-favorite to an exotic flavors. By familiarizing the kids tastes buds to different flavors you slowly teach them to open up for new food.
4.Have a "one bite" rule in your home.
Kids don't need to eat the whole thing on his plate. To get a child try a new food, promise him he can have the last bite of your dessert if he tries a first bite of a new food. He may not like the food on his plate but who knows? not until he tries.
5. Avoid excessive spices
Kids have sensitive palates and it's important not to put too much spices on your way to introducing them to new flavors. But that doesn't mean food should be boring. A splash of soy sauce, a little bit of vinegar,salt and pepper could be the difference between instant rejection and love at first bite.
6. Serve finger foods
Foods cut into smaller pieces such as fruit chunks ,cheese cubes and vegetable sticks are easier to handle and encourages children to eat more.
Parents should have a positive attitude toward foods that may influence kids to try the new meal. Remember to make a comfortable mealtime by allowing kids to talk with others. Most important of all is not to bribe or reward the kids for eating foods. This only reinforces that certain foods are not worthy to eat. Respect refusals because there are really certain foods that are not desirable to your kids palate.
