Kids: Picky Eaters Guide

Kids: they hate asparagus, or anything green for that matter. Besides chicken nuggets, your kids don't eat meat. The only fruit they eat are the ones highest in sugar... Does this sound like your kids? Then you have a picky eater in the house! Actually most kids go through stages where they are picky eaters from time to time. I remember my own picky eating habits when I was a kid. I often remember my family telling me "just wait until you get older... you'll love it!" Yeah, as a kid, I just wasn't willing to try many of the scrumptious dishes places in front of my face. Nope, for me, as a kid and a die hard picky eater, I ate all the typical kid foods - you know the mac & cheese, grilled cheese, cereal, PB&J and hot dogs. How I survived nutritionally and made it from a kid to a healthy adult... I don't know!

Actually there was one thing that my mother did, when I was a kids that I often do with my own kids to battle picky eating habits. It's the good 'ol mix-in food in disguise trick. Somehow kids are more willing to eat a food they don't like if it's disguised in a food they love. One way I get my kids to eat, let's say broccoli is to mix it in with their mac & cheese. I can also get my picky eaters to eat peas this way too! Although, my kid who is five will sometimes just try to eat around the peas, he learns that he isn't very full if he doesn't eat the whole bowl! Kids certainly do catch on, but the longer you can incorporate a few veggies in each dish "under cover" the greater your chances of raising healthy kids.

As a matter of fact, if a parent takes just a few dishes their kids really likes and somehow disguises a few veggies in each dish, then a kid will actually start to develop a taste for those hidden veggies. One thing I used to do for my kids when I made them a pasta dish of their own, was blend up a few carrots in the blender until pureed. I would mix the blended carrots with the spaghetti sauce and it would be a success! My kids were eating carrots and had no idea. Plus of course spaghetti sauce is made from tomatoes - another plus! And, for an added benefit for the kids - use whole wheat pasta for a good source of whole grains!

Speaking of a blender - smoothies are perfect way to incorporate some awesome super foods in your kids diet! The trick is to not use extra sugar. If your kids usually drink chocolate milk, mix the chocolate mix (Ovaltine is my favorite and kids love it too) with some milk, several scoops of whole milk plain yogurt (we want kids to have whole milk - the fat is good for their bodies) a frozen banana and a handful of strawberries for a delicious strawberry chocolate "milk shake" smoothie! Kids will love the taste and they are getting a healthy does of healthy probiotics, calcium, and great nutrition from the extra blended fruit. You can also sneak in a little milled flax into your kids smoothie for added fiber and omega-3's. The kids will never know!

Getting creative is a parents best tool for getting kids to eat a wide variety of healthy food. If kids protest to everything but "kid friendly" food then you need to be as creative as can be. Because picky eaters are common in kids - parents have battle with it for decades. Luckily for parents of picky eaters, wisdom from parents who have been there, are there, and even those who remember what it was like being a kid who was a picky eater - there is a lot of solid information and creative ideas to turn any picky eater into a healthy kid!

As one final word on picky eaters and raising healthy kids - let them be creative too! Studies show that kids who help out in the kitchen are more likely to eat the foods they made. So help your kids out while they help you out in the kitchen. It may not banish all your kids picky eating habits, but it is a sure start to banishing a few of them. Don't stress if your kids are not eating veggies at every meal! As long your picky eaters are at a healthy height and weight for their age - your kids are okay and there is no reason for alarm. It doesn't mean that your kids will be picky eaters for life. In time, like you - kids will learn to enjoy wholesome meals veggies included! It took me through my first pregnancy to learn that I love onions and sweet potatoes, my second pregnancy to develop a taste for spicy foods, garlic and peppers and my third pregnancy to banish most picky eater habits all together. I am now twenty-four and eat a wide variety of food- this from a woman who was once a kid who hated food that didn't resemble what came out of a candy shop, fast food restaurant, ice cream shop or pizza place!