I observed that many kids nowadays are picky with the food they eat. Some prefer to have meat rather than veggies. Some choose processed meats like hotdogs, tocino and longanisa. As first time parent, I was worried and consider this as one of the major problem by most parents. Good thing we did not experience this kind difficulty with our son who used to eat what we eat without any hesitation. Of course you still need to be careful on the food you give to your kids.
To resolve this issue, I would like to share some tips based on my experience.
Introduce veggies at early age.
When Matt learned how to take solid foods, we preferred introducing him mashed veggies
than meats. Although meat is a major source of protein needed in their growth
and development, there are some alternative sources like eggs and veggies high in
protein.
One of
the veggies that kids hate is the bitter gourd or ampalaya. If you try to
introduce this to your kids when their taste buds are starting to develop, they will surely familiarize with its taste making this
as one of their favorites.
We also used to give Matt oregano extract mixed with his milk every
morning to prevent him from getting cough and colds thus making him familiar with bitter taste. Furthermore, this will help your kids to love taking medicine. In our case, Matt loves to take medicine whatever the taste is.
Switch food varieties.
To prevent being bored
about the food they eat, try to switch every now and then. Better give them
different meals daily.
When we
introduced Matt with baby foods like Cerelac and/or Gerber we used to buy
different variant in small packages and give him different flavour
every week. Furthermore, try to make your own baby food. This is lot cheaper
compared to those sold in the market.
Make your own.
If your kids start to love
processed foods, make your own. Processed meats are considered unhealthy
because of the artificial flavorings and colors. Making your own processed food
does not only give you confident of the healthy food but you are sure that
these foods are safe and sanitized.
I used to make my own skinless longanisa and chicken tocino
where Matt loves to have it in his plate. Maybe one day, I will make my own
hotdogs too. LOL.
Mask your food.
How? If your kids do not want to
eat veggies, why not use them as major ingredient in making their
favourite dishes. For example, if your kids love burgers, try to make use of
veggies like hearty burger (banana blossoms). You may also try making squash pancake or
siomai made of kalabasa and sardines.
 |
| Matt loves the hearty burger |
Another
way to mask your veggies is make dried of it and incorporate them in your meal.
I used to make dried malunggay leaves, grind it and add them in soups and other
meals.
I hope this will help in someways to parents having picky-eater kids.
How about
you, do you have any tips to prevent kids from being picky?
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