All parents are interested in our children growing up healthy and strong. And a key part of this is the food we give them, through the variety of foods that cannot be lacking in their diet.
However, sometimes children get somewhat picky and refuse to try or eat certain foods. When this happens, many parents, concerned that their children have proper nutrition, they use different techniques to get them to eat them, from pressing them, to using bribes ("if you eat it I will give you a dessert cookie").
However, a recent study found that in reality, Pressing children to eat food they don't want is no use. We share your results and tell you about other options to motivate your children to try other foods.
The study
Published in the magazine Appetite, the study analyzed the relationship between the selective feeding of children, the pressure of parents at mealtime and growth in early childhood. For this, 244 children, two and three years old, were included, who were followed for one year.
Comparisons were made between parental pressure tactics to consume certain foods, with the healthy growth of the child and the reduction of selective feeding behavior.
According to your results, Even if children are picky and refuse to try certain foods, this will not affect their growth and will develop normally, which is usually the main concern that parents want their children to include in their diet a greater variety of foods that give them the necessary nutrients.
But in addition, it was also found that the fact that parents pressure them to consume other foods does not help the selective feeding to be reduced, but it could cause the opposite.
In summary, Pressing children to eat will not help them develop better or make that fussy behavior disappear at the time of eating But then what can be done? We share some ideas.
How to motivate children to try other foods
Nobody likes to be forced to do something they do not want, so it is obvious that children will not be pleasant to be forced to try foods that they do not want. But there are other more friendly, and above all, more natural ways, with which your children may feel more motivated to try new foods.
Involve them from the beginning
Many times children only see one food and immediately refuse to eat it without knowing anything about it. One way to introduce food and give it time to meet them, is involve them in the whole process: from the purchase of the pantry in the market, until the time of cooking. Thus, you can gradually tell everything about the new food, creating curiosity and expectation about it.
Make food a true family experience
At lunchtime, try to make it an activity that involves the whole family and is an opportunity to live and talk. Leave your mobile or tablets aside and focus on the moment: Children tend to be more receptive and more willing to eat when they have the full attention of their parents.
Don't leave out foods you don't want to eat
The fact that they are fussy and do not eat certain foods does not mean that for that reason we should never introduce them anymore. Putting a little of a new food or that has stopped eating, is a way to keep it present, but without falling into the typical "finish all your food". The key here is to familiarize yourself with the foods you reject or don't know.
Set the example
And of course, the strongest thing we can do without forcing them to eat, is setting the example ourselves. If what we want is for our children to have healthy habits, we must also have them. Seeing that the whole family eats the same and with pleasure, it will be more attractive to try that food that he didn't fancy so much at the beginning.
Remember, too, that children's eating preferences may change over time, and what they loved when they were babies may not be to their liking later. In this case, what should be done is to try to modify that preference little by little, through the advice that we have shared here, but never forcing children to eat foods they don't want to try.
Photos | iStock
Via | CNN
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