Do your children prefer to play with their peas or feed them to the family dog rather than eat them? Parents often worry about what their children eat — and don’t eat. To ease your concern, keep in mind that it is normal for children to be picky and refuse foods.

“What matters is what children eat over the course of weeks and not what they eat at a single meal,” says Patricia Samson, M.D., a PAMF pediatrician. Follow Dr. Samson’s tips to avoid mealtime battles and create healthy eating patterns for the whole family:

1. Establish set times for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, and only offer your child food at these times. Children who graze on snacks all day may not be hungry at mealtimes.


2. Offer your child a selection of three to five healthy foods at each meal. For example, a snack could be low-fat milk, wholegrain crackers and some fresh fruit or veggie sticks. Making a wide variety of healthy food choices available to children encourages them to make good food choices in the long run.


3. Enjoy all your meals and snacks at the dinner table, and ensure that mealtimes are pleasant, social occasions. Forcing children to eat something they don’t want is like winning a battle but losing the war. It is better to let children skip a meal and continue looking forward to family mealtimes than to make them clean their plates.


4. Keep the TV turned off and remove other distractions, such as toys or books, during the meal. These can keep children from noticing when they are full.


5. Offer only low-fat milk or water to drink. Cut out juice and keep sodas out of the house. This will help prevent your child filling up on juice or other unhealthy beverages.


6. Don’t be a short-order cook — your whole family should eat and enjoy the same meal.


7. Involve your child in food shopping and preparation. This is an opportunity to teach the basics of good nutrition, and children are typically more willing to try foods they helped prepare.


8. Enjoy a cookie or slice of cake occasionally. Forbidding sweet items entirely or using them as a bribe can cause eating problems later in life. However, don’t make dessert a routine part of dinner.


Need more help?
PAMF offers classes on a variety of nutrition and parenting topics, including "Feeding Your Toddler" and "Feeding Your Preschooler." Find a class near you.

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