Posts Tagged ‘parenting’
Parents Must Cure a Picky Eater
To the frustration of parent a lot of children are very picky eaters. It’s true you won’t find that they have much trouble eating hot dogs , cheesy pizza or French fries, you will see that they won’t touch a vegetable or a fruit if their life depended it. These kinds of food wars often create a lot of stress and dismay between parents and their kids . Most parents would be happy to have children sampled a variety of food choices and don’t always require special meals.
However it is essential that you fix a picky eater, no matter how hard it may be. While as a parent you may do it initially to make your life simpler , there are more important issues at stake. Picky eating in childhood can lead to many issues later in life, like obesity. Picky eating can be an obstacle to your child leading a healthy and happy life.
Most difficult eaters favor junk food over healthy food and this leads to lots of problems, like childhood and adult obesity, which can lead to self-esteem issues and serious health issues like heart disease and diabetes . If your picky eater only eats fruits and vegetables, you may not have to worry about this issue.
But a troublesome eater is often an irregular eater, skipping out on the three solid meals and snacks. Skipping meals can lead to bingeing on unhealthy options throughout the day, like a fast food blow out for lunch. Planned meals and snacks help a child regulate their hunger and portion control. Bingeing and irregular eating can lead to obesity since the digestive system can get thrown off track and not properly metabolize all the calories consumed .
Another issue with difficult eaters revolves around the social concerns. A child picky eater may find themselves in socially difficult situations, leaving them uncomfortable at playdates or school – or perhaps avoiding them all together if they have serious concerns with what they eat. Just as we exhort our children to get over their shyness and fears and get out there, encouraging a child to be a socially adept eater is also important.
As a mom , do yourself a favor and help your child develop a reasonable attitude . Don’t give up and keep introducing new foods to her palate – research estimates that it can take up to fifteen times for a child to become comfortable with with a new food. And of course, set a good example yourself. Snack on healthy food, eat your veggies and get happy over salads. Curing a picky eater will make your parenting life that much easier.
