How to feed kids? Good question. Getting young kids to eat is a daily sprint but a yearly marathon?! It feels like no matter what we do, they don’t like what’s placed in front of them. Or they do one day, but then don’t the next! There are three main things I want parents to keep in mind when it comes to feeding their kids, and if we can keep these things in check, I promise you they will have long term gains.

Environment

Before we even talk about the food, we need to make sure the environment is set-up correctly. We want our kids to be able to focus on the task at hand (eating) so they can begin to learn about their body cues like feeling hungry and full. Ideally, we want mealtimes to be screen-free so they can start to notice these sensations, otherwise they’re too distracted by the latest Bluey episode. In addition, adequate seating is a must. This means a high chair with foot stool for the younger ones for extra support, or a children sized chair or booster seat for the older kids. Once our kids are out of high chairs they love sitting in an adult size chair, but then they spend too much energy trying to maintain their posture, rather than focusing on their food.

Exposure

As parent’s, it’s really easy to get complacent with food as our kids refuse their vegetables all too often. The repeated exposure of food becomes even more important when we have a fussy eater. If it’s not on their plate – they can’t eat it! Continually exposing them to new foods is how we encourage familiarity and trial of those foods. The wastage can seem ridiculous when it comes to this so offer the smallest amount you like, but keep continuing to offer vegetables and all types of food to your kids, I promise it will pay off in the long run.

Variety 

It’s all good to offer our kids broccoli every night, but the key for long term positive health behaviour also lies in variety. This is a variety of the food groups, and also a variety of the types of food in each group. Variety gives them choice and allows our kids to assert their independence. It also gives them more exposure to different foods as we’ve just talked about. Variety of different plant-based foods helps us build a diverse gut microbiome which is crucial for long term health outcomes. 

If you’re struggling with meal times, my kids course might be for you. Happy Little Eaters is a self-paced course that gives you simple, practical advice on what to feed your kids and little tricks to make mealtimes easier, calmer and less crazy!It’s never going to be perfect, but I promise you it can be easier. Videos in the course are 6 minutes or less, so you can binge the course in one night and get back to Real Housewives the next! Simple handouts that you can stick to the fridge and keep on your phone will help you in the day-to-day chaos. The course will help your family mealtimes go from chaos to calm.