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Hot Parenting Topic of the Month The Picky Eater Why does your neighbor's child eat everything put in front of her, but your five-year-old will eat only pizza, chicken nuggets, one brand of cereal, and hot dogs? Are you doing something wrong? Your children's eating habits are governed by three factors. First is the example set by those people around the child. Adults set the standard both for a child's near term and long term eating habits. Homes rich with snack foods and soft drinks, in which family members eat on the run, and where sit-down, well-balanced meals are the exception do not contribute well to a young child's willingness to try new foods or to vary eating routines. And those habits often follow the child into adolescence and adulthood. The second factor is personality. Some children are born with a propensity towards being experimenters. They show a willingness to try new foods. As many parents know, a child often likes the food if she "gives it a chance." But, getting the food into the child's mouth often is a fruitless effort. There is an innate quality in some children to be more adventuresome. This translates into a child who doesn't automatically emit a "Yech!" at green foods or those sitting in sauce, but who will try anything labeled "food" without any fanfare. However, many of these children become overweight, so moderation must be built into a child's eating behavior. The third factor is the behavioral approaches used by caregivers to encourage good eating habits. Children who might not otherwise try new foods might may be more willing to try if dessert, television watching, going outdoors to play or some other desirable consequence is tied to eating expectations (e.g., trying just two bites of a food item). If the caregiver is consistent with this approach and follows through, the child is likely to get used to giving new foods a chance. While the child may not have the genes that make him a risktaker when it comes to food, some caregivers believe it to be in the child's best interest to use subtle behavioral strategies to expand variety in the child's diet. It comes down to what the caregivers are comfortable with and the health of the child. Many caregivers take a more casual approach with their children. And there is no evidence that such an approach is harmful to a child. As one pediatrician said: "If a parent tells me that her two year old eats everything, the parent's probably lying!" Few young children are great eaters. Adults also tend to define quantities of food intake in adult terms. The guiding principle is that we want healthy children who grow at a normal pace. We also want to establish healthy feeding habits, although this is clearly more important to some caregivers than to others. If you want your child to try a greater variety of foods, first be prepared to deal with your frustration. Then try some of these approaches: Model good nutrition. Limit the amount of "junk" food in the house. Snack on fruit and other healthy foods and the child may well copy your example. As often as possible, have family sitdown meals. This also gives your child more opportunity to see other family members eating a variety of foods. Set reasonable expectations for foods you want your child to eat. For foods that are rejected outright, set two bites as a limit for a very young child and three to five bites as a limit for five, six and seven year olds. Attach reasonable consequences to trying new foods. As noted earlier, these can be any activities that are highly valued by your child which she would normally do sometime between mealtime and bedtime. Be consistent in allowing or not allowing this activity based on meeting expectations. With young children, you may provide food substitutes only after they have tried the new foods. Provide for generalizations of eating skills by varying the type of dishes and glasses, by changing seats around periodically, by giving different beverages to drink, etc. This will help the child adapt more easily to meal situations in the community and at the homes of extended family and friends. Left to themselves with access to food, children will eat when they are hungry. Yet there are important social and health aspects to the eating process which we want our children to learn. This takes a more concerted effort on our part. Some children require more guidance and reinforcement than others. Happy meal time! Warren Umansky, Ph.D. Child Development Specialist If you'd like a great way to motivate and reward your children for trying new foods, finishing their meals, etc., click here for What-A-Kid Coupons. And, for a more complete motivational-reward-behavior management system that kids from 3 to 8 can identify and have loads of fun with, check out Behavior Beasts.		Parenting Topic of the Month

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