Eating pickiness: why does it happen and how can it be dealt with?
Your child is not ready to taste the patties, asks for pasta without sauce and cries if the omelet touched the salad?
Why does this happen, and how can one deal with children's picky eating?
Here are explanations, recommendations and also some winning tips
Dana said, in collaboration with JAMA
28/02/2022
Monday, 28 February 2022, 00:05
Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share on Twitter
Share on Email
Share on general
Comments
Comments
Let's start with a sedative siren, most toddlers go through a phase of pickiness in eating, it usually starts in the first year and reaches a peak between the ages of two and 6. The phenomenon is normal and even has an evolutionary reason - we are genetically programmed to eat only familiar foods. .
Our children in the process of growing and developing, their taste buds will still change and they will still enjoy a variety of flavors as long as we do not disturb them.
The issue of food for our relationships and our relationship with children also has an impact.
If we think about it for a moment one of our first interactions with the baby is feeding (bottle or breastfeeding it really does not matter), already in the first days of his life the matter of food occupies a central place, once it gains weight we experience satisfaction and pleasure here is the first confirmation that we are good parents and our baby develops And thrive and vice versa, when there is difficulty or challenge around food and weight gain the experience can be very difficult for young parents.
More on Walla!
The child is picky about food?
Here are 5 things you should not do
In collaboration with JAMA
It is often against this background that behavioral problems develop around food.
Our children are smart, they perceive at a very young age if food is central, a sensitive issue, they understand very quickly if it activates us, and then of course unintentionally, unconsciously and certainly not maliciously, they learn that through pickiness and playing with food they can gain profit and attention "One last bite for Mom", favors "Eat well you will get dessert" and parents' concern "Did he finish the bottle?"
Do not be interested.
Child eats (Photo: ShutterStock)
The basic advice to parents when it comes to food is not to take an interest, then when everything is fine and there is no health problem a baby will never starve himself.
Every baby has an innate internal mechanism of hunger and satiety that signals him how much and when to eat.
When we bypass the innate body cues by insistence we erode their self-regulation and naturalness.
Obviously we all want children to eat and grow strong and healthy so we should trust them to know their bodies.
And for the practical derivative: there are actions we can take before the meal itself to reduce selectivity, for example to maintain relatively regular meal times and this means avoiding snacks during the day and making sure the child arrives relatively hungry for the meal, because when hungry they eat.
It can be shared in food preparation from the choice of what to eat today to the preparation itself, allowing to touch different textures, mix, season, pour, and put in the oven when the child is involved in the process.
Another tip has to do with visibility, the children just like us eat with their eyes, arrange an interesting plate for them, a face with the sandwich, and place the tomatoes in an interesting way.
What to do?
At the same time, there are quite a few things that can be done during the meal itself:
1. Be as careful as possible, eat together.
You will be amazed at how much more delicious the broccoli from Mom's plate.
2. Keep small portions.
Do not overload plates, sometimes we forget how small their stomach is, they do not need large amounts of food and when they do not finish off the plate it can be stressful and frustrating.
3. Try to give funny names to food.
After all, "race carrots" are much tastier than regular carrots, but in the same breath avoid distractions, do not eat in front of a screen, and do not push into the mouth without wanting, the food will find its way to the mouth even without an airplane.
4. Do not insist, bribe or enter into negotiations
.
As for their bodies (pee, poop, food) we can not control them.
And come on, we do not want either.
It is important to note again that eating pickiness is a common phenomenon but it is advisable to seek advice in the following cases:
If it leads to a health problem (weight loss or nutritional deficiencies)
if it leads to excessive food intake and significant family tension
if it is accompanied by other eating disorders like eating inedible objects, vomiting, suffocation
Dana said she is a certified behavioral analyst, MA in special education, lecturer and expert accompaniment The family cell.
The Jama app was established with the aim of addressing mothers of babies from birth to age three, and centralizing for them content, activities, tips from experts and videos that will accompany them throughout this challenging period.
All the content in the app "grows" together with the baby and is precisely adapted to its developmental stages, so that the mothers receive only what is relevant to them and interests them at any given moment.
The Jama app is the place for mothers in Israel to meet and get to know other mothers around them, and create new and exciting friendships in the fascinating journey.
Search us on Google: https://app.jama.co.il/
health
New parents
Tags
Food
Child nutrition
parents
