Question & Answer

I haven't been able to blog quite as much as I'd like to lately and I have missed the Q & A blogs. Here is a question that was emailed to me by Melissa B.

Q: What do you do if your kids just won't eat the healthy food that you prepare for them? Do you make them something else or let them just not eat?

A: I personally make a lot of different foods and my kids are now at the point where they USUALLY just eat it without much bargaining or complaining. However it wasn't always like this and we still do have the occasional thing that is just not welcome by any of them. Just recently I made homemade pizza and roasted some asparagus in the oven with some olive oil, sea salt & pepper. The kids happily bounced to the table in anticipation of pizza and the usually spinach salad and they were met by the dreaded and evil asparagus. I convinced my youngest that they were like tall trees but the others weren't buying it. For me a food has to be at least mostly eaten (not just tried) before I will excuse the kids from the table or if they make the choice not to eat it, then yes they do go without and they are not allowed to have their treat of choice at the end of the night. Now this doesn't work for everyone, but it has been quite successful in our house. I can remember when we switched from plain romaine lettuce salads to nutrient dense spinach salads, my kids thought I was crazy and didn't want anything to do with them. Now it is by far the favorite of the house. They look forward to the different toppings of fruit, nuts, seeds & dressings on their spinach salads.

Kids will almost automatically say they don't like something that they haven't tried, or that looks "unusual" to them. It's a matter of being a parent and setting an example, and leading your family to make better choices. If all I let my kids eat were chicken nuggets, french fries & corn, then I would bet that would be the only thing that they would like. If you make a choice NOT to buy these junk foods, not to cook or serve these junk foods then your kids will NOT have a choice to eat them. Limit their choices to only clean, healthy foods.

Send your questions to positivenutritionmom@gmail.com

Happy Wednesday!