Do you have a picky eater in the house, a child that only likes a few types of food and probably not the right kind? If so, you are not alone. This type of challenge can be frustrating and as a parent, you worry about the overall health of your child. Some kids are funny when it comes to food, finding everything too plain, too sweet, too spicy, etc. Obviously, you want your child to eat the right foods to ensure health and as you will discover, you have options that will get your little one interested in food, good food. Here are some techniques for handling picky eaters.

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1. Participation

Instead of you preparing all the meals, have your child help. Better yet, whatever meal is being made for dinner, allow your son or daughter to make his or her own food. Sometimes, giving the child control over the preparation process is all it takes in that the child gains a sense of accomplishment and pride.

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Points: 14

2. Covert vegetables

If your child refuses to eat vegetables, regardless of the vegetable or the way you cook it, you can hide vegetables in many dishes without your child even knowing. For instance, meatloaf is something that most kids love. To add flavor for picky eaters and make sure your child is getting fresh vegetables, add red peppers, carrots, onions, and other vegetables. You could even make a delicious homemade potato, cheese soup but add onion, corn, and small pieces of broccoli.

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Points: 11

3. Enhance flavor

You can also add different ingredients to make food more kid-friendly. For instance, cheese is something that most kids love so when making broccoli, serve it with melted cheese. You can be creative, coming up with alternatives to age-old recipes to make them something your children would not just eat but also enjoy.

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Points: 10

4. Stop forcing

Again, one of the worst things you can do if you have a picky eater is to force the child to eat. In taking control, you have to find a balance of insisting the child at least try food while not making him/her eat foods that are disliked. While it might seem healthy to make a child eat everything on the plate, studies show that this actually leads to overeating as an adult.

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Points: 8

5. Reward system

You probably hate the thought of bribing your child to eat but instead of looking at this as a bribe, consider it more of a reward system. For instance, if you serve peas, green beans, dinner rolls, or some other food your child dislikes, make an agreement that if four bites are eaten, then the child could have something special for dessert.

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Points: 7

6. Start young

Of course, the old saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” applies to picky eaters. If you can start your child off the right way from birth, dealing with a problem eater would probably never come to fruition. This means introducing your child to various foods but making sure the foods you offer are healthy. For instance, instead of providing your three-year-old with chips cut up a banana or apple.

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Points: 6

7. Junk food

Feeding children junk food can cause hyperactivity and obesity. You want to stay away from foods high in fat and sugar and serve only well-balanced meals. Junk food is similar to an addiction so breaking your child from this habit is important. To make the process easier, you could make it a family affair, eliminating junk food for the entire family, not just the picky eater.

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Points: 5

8. Smoothies

For picky eaters, try to introduce healthy smoothies. Hundreds of recipes can be found in cookbooks and online that are made with fresh fruits and vegetables. Smoothies are delicious, they have a smooth, creamy texture, and they are loaded with nutrition.

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Points: 3

9. Texture

The problem with your child being a picky eater may have very little to do with taste and more of an issue with texture. Start by paying attention to the foods your child likes and dislikes, determining if you can make a correlation to texture. If you discover that anything crunchy is avoided then stick with smooth foods and vice versa.

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