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Your Child: The Newest Expert on Nutrition
Teaching Healthy Food Choices (Without Really Trying)
By T. Susan Chang
One-bite Rule
Noah is required to try one bite of each thing we serve. It can be a tiny bite, and if he doesn't like it he doesn't have to have any more. When he was 2, he would sometimes refuse to take his one bite, and we would give him a short time-out during which we would explain (quoting heavily from Green Eggs and Ham) why he always needed to try one bite. Soon he learned to respond with the barest of prompting: "Because you might ... like it!" we would say. Now he accepts the one-bite policy without a fuss. When he has a profound and consistent aversion to a food, we offer an alternative.
Fruit at Every Meal
Noah eats fruit after every lunch and dinner, whether or not there is dessert. We keep as many different kinds of fruit available as possible, and he chooses whatever he likes. The only rule is that it needs to be different from whatever he chose at the last meal. Talk about Food
We chat about food often, including when we're on car trips or while we're grocery shopping. We talk about what "junk food" is. We talk about how just because something is tasty, it isn't necessarily good for your body. We talk about why we don't go to fast food restaurants. We talk about our favorite dishes and how they are made, and we talk about people's different styles of eating – omnivore, vegetarian, carnivore, vegan, etc. At times when fast fod restaurants are the only convenient, inexpensive choice (parties, road trips, etc.), it makes sense to explain that once in a while is OK, but that other foods are better for our bodies when we can get them.