Do you know anyone who made (or should have made) the new year’s resolution to help their kids have healthier diets? Then you should check out this book: Feeding the Kids: The Flexible, No-Battles, Healthy Eating System for the Whole Family (Fork and Spoon Field Guides)
Pamela lays out deceptively simple strategies for getting kids to eat more vegetables, whole grains, etc. And no, this isn’t one of those hide-the-puree-in-the-food books. My favorite ideas from the book are to always have frozen vegetables on hand so you can always zap some in the microwave for dinner (this is something I’ve done for years as I love to live out of my freezer!), and to place a bowl of crudite and dip on the table during the pre-dinner hour, so that hungry kids might be tempted to nibble on something healthy instead of chips, crackers or other empty fillers.
When I started doing this I discovered that my 3-year old loves raw cauliflower, particularly dipped in organic ranch dressing or hummus. She has a texture issue (only will eat certain textures of food), so finding that this unusually-textured veggie was acceptable was a stroke of luck.
Gould advocates never insisting a child eat a food, instead simply presenting it over and over again. We are more of the “you must eat 3 bites of everything on your plate so that we see you’ve tasted it, and then if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it this time, but next time you have to eat 3 bites again” household, but I know that every kid is different and responds to different ideas.
A fun book with solid advice for helping families eat better.
