Bite into fruit, eat vegetables, avoid nibbling, sweets… Today’s parents are well informed about the benefits of a healthy, balanced diet for the good development of their child. But that’s not why it’s easy to make him eat everything, have a real breakfast in the morning or refuse to allow him to eat too much candy. Unless you put a few new habits on the “menu of the day” that will make your appetite and good humor go hand in hand!
Every child has their own way of eating
One eats too quickly, the other takes an interminable time to finish his plate, always leaves half or nibbles between meals… Is it annoying? Sure! But parents are never short of ideas to improve the way their child eats.
– The mother of Léa, 3 years old, tired of throwing away half-full plates, now serves very small portions to her daughter. The result is striking, the little girl eats much better and asks to be served several times!
– In the family of 9-year-old Louis and 7-year-old Matthias who eat too quickly and in too large quantities, the parents have slowed down the pace of meals, talking more, especially since “we don’t talk with our mouths full”! Discussions with their children prevent the boys, always in a hurry to return to playing on their console, from engulfing what they have on their plate as quickly as possible.
– Anouck, 11 years old, is “addicted” to sweets from vending machines. To limit his excessive consumption, his dad, rather than showing his disapproval, used a strong argument: the exorbitant price of small self-service confectioner’s snacks. She now prefers to save her pocket money to buy a sweater and has sweets in moderate doses with her dessert.
– Victor, 10 years old, takes his breakfast in two stages, a fruit juice as soon as he wakes up to whet his appetite, and a toasted half an hour later when he finally has his eyes in front of the holes …Tips from today’s parents who know how to manage their children’s eating habits very well on a daily basis. Without ever forcing them to eat, without letting them eat as they please!
Enjoy your lunch!
picky eaters
– Respect meal times. A delay of thirty minutes can cause a big blow of fatigue and cut the appetite of a child.
– Remember to make your child drink well during the day. This will prevent him from swallowing a large glass of appetite-suppressant water just before the meal.
– Bread is excellent food. It is also a famous appetite suppressant. Give it rather during a meal than as an aperitif.
– To prevent the child from spending his meal asking for a drink rather than eating, prepare his own small carafe. He will help himself and will have to dose the quantities well to have enough during all his time at the table.
The greedy children
– Serve your dishes “on the plate”, this is the best way to dose the portions according to everyone’s appetite.
– Give priority to vegetables: they are low in carbohydrates, and water represents 75 to 90% of their weight. Fruits have the same characteristics, but their sugar content is significantly higher.
– Encourage your child to eat slowly to give his brain time to send him “signals of satiety”.
Helping parents
– Do not let him leave the table with his dessert in hand. This is the first bad habit of snacking “addicts”!
– Don’t demonize candy! To avoid incessant begging during the day, put one or two on his dessert plate.
– The good rule so that additives and colorings do not invade family plates is to do a quick reading of the products you buy. The longer the list of the composition, the less, in general, the product is good for the health of your child!
And the canteen in all this?
It’s not that bad: the menu is diet-controlled and many children even learn, by imitating their friends, to taste new foods. But there are also the days when nothing tempts them and when they only eat bread or fries at noon. In this case, at snack time, force protein products (milk, yogurt, ham, cereals), are real appetite suppressants, unlike very sweet products which only give a brief boost and encourage them to eat more.
Yes, if you are creative. Vegetable sticks to dip in a yogurt sauce, or a pink “princess” sauce which is just a simple “mix” of beets and fresh cheese, carrot salad with orange, mashed potatoes and zucchini can make him like vegetables. There is also the good friend who eats like four… broccoli and fish gratin! Invite him to your table, that’s often how children, by imitating the good friend, start to love everything!
The best sauce in the world is hunger, says a proverb!
Don’t panic when your child screams with hunger begging you to buy him a croissant an hour before dinner! Resist, give the best of yourself by applying the rule “super difficult to hold” but which is extremely sensible: barring valid exceptions, picnics or carnivals, you never have food in your hand as long as you are not seated at the table.
Good to know
– Be careful not to limit fatty substances too much. Oil and other fats (avoiding burnt fats and hydrogenated oils, of course) are a source of concentrated energy essential for the proper development of the child’s brain and nervous system.
– The only essential drink is water. The others do not quench the thirst and sometimes even increase it. Sugar is only an energy source. It does not contain essential nutrients like vitamins and mineral salts.
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