Food Jags Among Children

If your child will not eat his or her food unless it has been made in the same manner each time, then he or she may be exhibiting a food jag.

Some children may tend to consume the same foods at every meal, every day. They also need the foods made in the same manner each time. For instance, your child may only eat some hot dogs at a particular meal. He or she will eat the food only if it belongs to a particular brand, put on with specific brand ketchup. This example is a form of food jag. The problem with such food jags is generally that your child will eventually get burned out on preferred foods while neglecting other foods. The practice of not consuming specific food items in a diet may continue until only very few types of foods are left for him or her.

Below are some tips to follow to prevent food jags from starting up.

Do not prepare the same type of foods every day. Offer each type of food only for a few times a week.

Introduce variations in the diet. You can serve many brands of similar types of foods, example, cereal, crackers, pudding, etc. You can serve many flavors from the same food type, for example, serve vanilla pudding instead of chocolate pudding. Vary the manner of preparation of specific foods (cook using the oven instead of the microwave). Make new foods using the same ingredients. You can use a tortilla shell to prepare a jelly and peanut butter sandwich instead of taco. Instead of purchasing a frozen garlic toast, you can toast some bread using a toaster, butter the bread and sprinkle garlic powder over it.

Let your child help you while you prepare the dishes. This will give an opportunity for him or her to explore the ingredients as well as choose which flavors to add.

Offer more varieties of foods at each meal.

Become a good role model of dieting for your child. Eat a variety of dishes and try new variations. Hold conversations about your varied eating experiences with your kid.

If your child has started the practice of food jag, you need to go slowly as you add variations to his or her food. The differences should only be barely noticeable during the initial stages. As your kid grows more and more acceptable to differences in the food, the changes eventually can get noticeable. Every child can be different in how small this change must be to prevent a refusal of eating the food.

Prevention of food jags can take you a long time. But it is important to prevent loss of some foods from your kid's diet. For some children, prevention of food jags may not be possible. If your child seems to exhibit food jag, and you are not in a position to introduce variations in the food and his/her palate keeps getting smaller, it is advisable to go for professional assistance.

Sources:
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/food-jags/overview.html