What to do about picky eaters during the holidays

By Dee Madore, .RD., Registered Dietitian

Here are some tips for pleasant holiday meal times with picky eaters:

Don't force children to try new foods or finish their dinner.

• This can lead to eating disorders later.
• It is normal for children to go through periods of refusing to eat certain foods or new foods.
• Allow experimentation.
• Provide healthy choices.
• Don't cook something different for their dinner.

Be prepared.

• Make familiar choices available
• Allow your child to help prepare meals.
  • Rinsing vegetables
  • Stirring muffin or bread mixes
  • Preparing baking sheets for dinner rolls
  • Measuring

Divide responsibilities.

• Parent's responsibility -- Parents still decide what comes into the house and what's on the menu, as well as setting structured meal and snack times (no short-order cooking!)
• Child's responsibility - The child chooses what and how much to eat from what is served at meal and snack times.

Things to keep in mind all year

• Serve small serving sizes of bite-sized pieces
• Include a variety of color
• Mix unpopular food into favorites
• Have child help with grocery shopping
• Avoid making issues about your food preferences
• Eat with your child and become a role model
• Offer one or two new foods each week
• Allow 10-15 presentations for your child to try the new food
• Limit access to "empty-calorie" foods
• Limit juice to a maximum of 4-6 oz. per day and milk to 16-20 oz. per day to prevent filling up on liquids
• Every meal or every day doesn't have to be balanced. Look at the week overall.