Fussy eating and your toddler
Anyone who refuses a new food at least half the time is considered a fussy eater - and by those criteria, approximately 50 percent of all toddlers are fussy eaters!
- 80 percent of all Australian parents worry that their child's eating habits aren't healthy.
- 35 percent of Australian parents feel concerned about the amount their child eats.
While it can be difficult to coax a toddler into eating something he doesn't want to, there are some strategies you can try to encourage him to enjoy a wider range of foods:
Introduce textured foodsIf you only give your child smooth and pureed foods, he may automatically resist trying anything with a more lumpy texture. Once he is confidently eating, try forking and mashing - rather than pureeing - cooked vegetables and fruits
Food rejection is normalChildren are basically creatures of habit and will usually prefer to stick with the familiar. So it's totally normal to have to offer a new individual food many times before your child will happily eat it. However, most parents only persist two or three times before giving up on that particular food altogether.
Practice what you preachResearch has found that most toddlers who are fussy eaters have parents who admit to being fussy eaters too. To encourage your toddler to happily try a wide range of foods, you need to widen your own eating habits. Don't only offer him foods that you like - he may enjoy completely different tastes to you.
Don't make the dinner table a battle groundTry not to communicate your anxiety about your child's eating habits to him, or try to force or bribe him into eating. Mealtimes should not be a power struggle, where you and your child are battling for control.
Unless he's unwell, your toddler will never voluntarily starve himself. Your child is eating enough if he is energetic during the day and sleeping well at night. Keep an eye on how much food he actually eats over the course of the day. Your child may be a grazer - and you'd be surprised how those little handfuls of food and snacks add up.
More toddler nutrition articles:
- Prebiotics and kids' health
- Toddler healthy food pyramid
- Healthy snack ideas for toddlers
- Weaning your toddler
- How to enjoy toddler-friendly mealtimes
- Top tricks for healthy children's teeth
- Feeding toddlers
- The foods making your kids fat
- Tackling fussy eating
- 10 tips for improving fussy eating
- Fussy eating and your toddler
- Milk for toddlers
- How you can encourage your toddler to eat
- Best recipes for feeding your toddler
- Sugar and your family: The sweet truth
- Healthy meal ideas for families on the run
- Why Aussie kids are sweet enough
- Wholegrains for lasting energy
- Benefits of vitamin D
- The delights of dairy
More toddler firsts:
- Recipes for toddlers
- Toddler nutrition
- Moving to a big bed for the first time
- Solving tantrums
- Toilet training tips and tricks
- Resolving problems
- Activities for toddlers
- Toddler grooming tips
- Toddler development
- Toddler first steps
- Toddler teeth and dental care
More childhood firsts:
This article was written by Ella Walsh for Kidspot, Australia's best resource for family health. Sources include Vic. Govt's Better Health Channel.