How to help picky eaters

Parents of children who are picky eaters could be making the problem worse, according to a new study. Researchers at the Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital recently found that parents who demand that a child eat or restrict food are associated with some of the pickiest eaters, while lower levels of picky eating in children were associated with parents who impose few restrictions on food and a lack of pressure to eat.

The study, which was published in the journal Pediatrics, found that about 15% of the children in the study fell into the “high” picky eater group — children who didn’t accept vegetables often or were highly nervous about new foods.

Here are a few ways to help your picky eater to be more comfortable with new or nutritious foods, according to Parents.com.

• Make a schedule: Children need to eat every three to four hours: three meals, two snacks, and lots of fluids. If you plan for these, your child’s diet will be much more balanced and they will be less cranky, because they won’t be famished.

• Plan dinners: Try to plan two or three days’ worth of dinners at a time. A good dinner should be balanced: whole-grain, rice or pasta; a fruit or a vegetable; and a protein source like lean meat, cheese or beans.

• Don’t become a short-or

der cook: Prepare one meal for everybody and serve it family-style so your kids can pick and choose what they want.

• Introduce new foods

slowly: Sometimes kids’ taste buds have to get used to a flavor before they like they taste.

• Get kids cooking: If your children become involved in choosing or preparing meals, they’ll be more interested in eating what they’ve created.