6 Ways to Get your Picky Eater to Eat Healthy

Getting children to eat healthy can be quite difficult. “Mealtime battles” happen all too often, and kids eventually become labeled as “picky.”

Trying to feed a picky eater is indeed challenging — and stressful, too, for both the parent and the child. Parents worry that their kids aren’t getting the nourishment they need, and the children feel their parents’ frustration.  

Why some children are picky with food
Ruby Frane, RND, a clinical nutritionist and section manager of the Clinical Nutrition section at St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City, says the “feeding style” of parents may have something to do with children being picky eaters.

“Sometimes, parents may be over-controlling,” she explains. “For example, they may restrict food from the child, pressure him to eat, or even bribe him with rewards.”

In other cases, parents might also become “neglectful” and relinquish the responsibility of feeding their children to the yaya or nanny.

Feeding problems may arise, too, when parents don’t set any limits. “They feed the child whenever he wants, or prepare special food for him,” Frane elaborates. The solution? Here are 6 tips:

 

1. Start early

Lalaine Naluz, who owns a tutorial center, says her two-year-old son Henderson actually likes vegetables more than meat. “He eats ampalaya, sayote, squash, upo, labanos, tomatoes and others,” she shares.

Lalaine says this is most probably because she has been giving her son mashed vegetables almost every day, so he has gotten used to eating them.

Meanwhile, freelancer Faith Fajardo shares how baby-led weaning or BLW has helped her son become a non-picky eater. “We started with avocado, banana, mango, then rice with broth and vegetables,” she shares. “He's now 2 and we feed him what we eat.”

Faith says that she focuses on building a “positive food environment” instead of forcing her son to eat. “I just make sure that he gets his fiber and veggies every day,” she adds.

2. Practice responsive feeding

Frane recommends that parents adopt the “responsive feeding style,” where they guide the child’s eating.

“They’re the ones who set the limits on where, what and when to eat,” she expounds. “They should also model eating and talk about food in a positive way.”

Frane also says that parents should respond to their children’s hunger instead of force feeding them, because doing the latter will result in the child having a negative association with food.

 

3. Try and try again

If you’re introducing a new food to your child, Frane recommends you keep trying even if your child rejects it the first time.

“Rejecting new foods is normal,” she explains. Children are more likely to accept new foods when they are given repeated opportunities to taste them.

Frane adds, “Repeated opportunities mean the child is exposed to a particular food at least 10 times before he or she may establish his liking for that food.”

Pauline Espulgar, a freelance writer/voice professional, and mom to Beatrix Miranda, 6, agrees with Frane. “Persistence is key. Bea is a picky eater but persistence works for her,” she shares.

“We also do not prepare food just for her. Whatever we eat, she has to eat also (unless its spicy). It's still an uphill battle, but we manage somehow.”

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4. Mix it up!

For parents who have trouble getting their kids to eat vegetables, Pauline suggests mixing them into their children’s food. “As long as Bea doesn't know what's in the food I serve her, we're good,” she shares.

Sammy Tan, a front-end web developer and mom to Sanjo, 5, does the same thing. “I used to be a picky eater, so it was not surprising that my son is also a picky eater. One thing that worked for us is mixing in the things he won't eat with the things he loves to eat,” she shares.

“For example, he hates dry food, and loves soup a lot. So we mix in veggies with his soup. He doesn't mind that way,” Sammy expounds.

Blogger, writer and mom of four Millie Manahan shares how she mixes “essential vegetables” with ground chicken, beef or bangus whenever she prepares two of her kids’ favorite foods — lumpiang shanghai and hamburgers.  “I use carrots, squash, pechay, malunggay, onions and garlic,” she says.

“My favorite thing to make is fried rice since it’s so kid-friendly and easy to make!” she exclaims. “Malunggay is always sneaked into the fried rice and he gobbles it up pretty quick.”

Meanwhile, Manette Aquino, a freelance writer, says she purees or mashes vegetables like squash and carrots in food like afritada and menudo just so her picky eater son can have his servings of vegetables. “It’s okay for him as long as he doesn’t have to chew it,” she adds.

 

5. Ask them to help in meal preparation

Dianne Kaw, work-at-home mom to Jacob Trevor, 4, and Caleb Matthew, 2, says asking her son to help her cook their meals always does the trick for her.

“I realized that he's more willing to try new dishes if he was able to see how it was made. Sometimes he'll say he still doesn't like it, but to get him to try it is a success in itself,” she explains.

Millie shares Dianne’s viewpoint. “My older kids (ages 11 and 10) help me cook,” she says. This helps everyone — including the younger kids (4- and 5- year-olds) be less choosy when it comes to mealtime.

 

6. Model proper eating habits

Angel Martinez, speech writer/fashion stylist/events organizer, shares how modeling has helped her son to not be picky with his food.

“What we did was give him the same food we ate, not making a big deal about food that we think he may not like veggies,” she says. “He eats almost anything. We encourage him to try and if he really doesn't like the taste then he doesn't need to eat again.”

Modeling good and healthy eating habits is essential to helping children be less choosy about food.


With patience, perseverance, and a bit of creativity on your part, your child can become a better eater. Just take things one day at a time.

What tips can you share with parents of picky eaters? Share them with us by leaving a comment below.

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