6 Food Mistakes Parents Make

Try to recall some of the things you ate as a child. Do you remember those foods fondly, or are you clutching your stomach right now thinking, "I can't believe I ate that!" As someone who downed a Dolly Madison cherry pie (Charlie Brown was on it!) every day after school, we belong to the latter group.

In the New York Times article, "6 Food Mistakes Parents Make", by Tara Parker-Pope, what some children are eating and what they should be eating is examined....

While being the parent of a picky eater can at times worrying and other times downright maddening, Harriet Worobey, a childhood nutrition instructor states, "I think parents feel like it’s their job to just make their children eat something...but it’s really their job to serve a variety of healthy foods and get their children exposed to foods."

Unfortunately, with a picky eater many parents just give in to their child's diet demands. One little boy in the article lived on a diet which primarily consisted of chocolate, "...parents often give in, deciding that a bowl of Cocoa Puffs or a Pop-Tart, while not ideal, must be better than no food at all."

Parker-Pope writes that while fussiness is all par for the course in child development, there are six things parents --- who want to make their children more open to new food experiences --- should avoid:

Sending children out of the kitchen

Pressuring them to take a bite

Keeping ‘good stuff’ out of reach

Dieting in front of your children

Serving boring vegetables

Giving up too soon

Do you have any advice on how to make picky eaters more willing to try new foods?

To read the list in its completion, visit the New York Times' Web site.

Comments (9)

First -- I have to say that my experience is rather small, as my son is only 15 months old; however, I'd say never assume a kid won't like something, just because you the adult don't...

My son thinks raw onions are the bomb...I think they are revolting. Sometimes he won't eat a meal as one (like a casserole) but if I separate out the parts into types of food, he'll eat it all, one by one.

He also definitely has a preference for carbs and sweets, but if I keep him hungry (no snack before dinner) he'll eat whatever I serve him up front and get more picky towards the end.

He also seems to love spicy foods (not hot, but flavorful), so if he doesn't eat something one time, then the next time I might add a little garlic or cumin and he'll almost always eat it!

We generally eat in courses, with veggies (non-boringly cooked, of course) served first. We've found that serving everything at once can be overwhelming for small children.

We also try to make sure that there's at least one familiar item served at each meal, so that our three-year-old knows he likes SOMETHING, and because it doesn't seem fair to expect him to not be thrown for a loop when he's hungry and tired at the end of a busy day and finds himself facing a plate full of strange stuff that's totally alien to him. But contrary to the article's recommendation, we do make him take one taste -- however tiny, that's his choice -- of every new food we serve. About half the time, he ends up liking it and eating the rest.

Now that he's older, we talk with him about nutrition and how different kinds of food keep different parts of our bodies healthy and growing. This is a really useful tactic if your kid is of an analytical turn of mind. We also let him help with meal prep whenever possible, which he loves.

We don't get emotional about food at our house. There's no point in getting stressed and turning meals into power struggles where everyone's unhappy. And if our boy goes through a phase where his diet is dominated by bread, cheese, yogurt, and raisins, it's just that -- a phase. We just buy the best bread, cheese, yogurt, and raisins (and multivitamins) we can find, and wait it out.

I agree - asking a child to have a taste new things (take one bite) is not unreasonable. So long as there is no pressure to eat more if the child doesn't like it.

And the fact is, if the child knows there is no pressure to eat more, they are (nearly) always more than willing to at least try things. Kids are smart that way.

Telling them they can't leave the table until their plate is clean is horrible.

my son eats next to nothing most days and hes 19 months. most of what does go in his mouth usually ends up being chewed up then spit out. he seems healthy and is growing. ive pretty much got the same reasoning as TammyE, ill just buy the best of what he does eat and try not to get too flustered over his "two bites and im done".

Vary your cooking methods, especially with vegetables.

My parents used to either steam veggies to death or serve dried-out bagged ones. They had no texture and no flavor. Blecch.

For kids with a really strong sweet tooth (which I was), try roasting. Roasting caramelizes veggies' natural sugars and can even remove bitterness from veggies like broccoli.

Alternately, steam vegetables until they are *just* tender, not limp. When the color brightens, you're done.

We definitely believe in perseverance and offering foods over, and over, trying them many different ways, and not giving up on them. For example it took our son until he was 14 months old to like bananas...

However, I do beg to differ with the article in one respect: sometimes it really *is* important that your child eats less then ideal foods, instead of no food at all.

Our son is underweight because he eats very little -- he has been like this since birth; it is not the usual 2 year old pickiness setting-in. He's had all sorts of tests to rule out underlying conditions, and we had to keep a food diary for him -- and the upshot of it is that he simply does not consume enough calories. So the doctors and nutritionists have encouraged us to get him to eat anything he likes, ideally as high-caloric as possible. It goes against the nutrition-grain, but it means cookies, puddings, and as much butter, cream and cheese as he will consume (he takes 2 or 3 bites and is done usually -- it is hard-going) .

There are different kids of pickiness; most kids, like our daughter, naturally outgrow it over time, which is why the foods need to be offered regularly. The 2 year-old pickiness was designed by nature to protect them from eating poisonous berries when they started emerging from their cave homes; it rights itself over time. But sometimes it is a different problem which requires a different solution. The key is whether your child's weight is in a normal range.

Unless your child has a medical condition, he is not going to starve himself. I'm a nanny and I've witnessed some appalling things parents do to get their children to eat. The main one I see is distracting the kids while shoving food into their mouths. I think the healthier thing to do is to teach them to make the decision to eat and how much, even if they go hungry occasionally.

Ideally, everyone in the house at the time should sit down at the table for each meal (at the same time) with a healthy, balanced meal in front of them (everyone gets the same food). No coaxing or distracting or even talking about the food. Everyone at the table decides how much and what they eat and feeds themselves. If someone decides not to eat or not to eat enough, they have to wait until the next meal or snack (all food consumed at table). Eventually they will learn the proper amount to eat, even if they have to eat the veggies so they don't get hungry before the next meal. And the earlier you start, the easier it will be.

My mom always said, "Just take one bite, if you don't like it, you don't have to eat it". And more importantly, she stuck to that. So I'd try anything once. And now I'll eat alomst anything.