Family Mealtimes Guideline to Follow

"But my kids won't eat it!" Sound familiar? All parents can relate stories about eating problems they've had with their children. Some kids refuse anything new, others go on food jags and still, others refuse to eat at all (or so it seems).

How these situations are handled, not the fact that they occur, is what's important. Eating habits are learned from you. And since eating is so important to good health (liberty and the pursuit of happiness too) we've got to help our youngsters establish good attitudes and habits right from the cradle. If yours are already "junkies" it's not too late. Just harder.

Family Mealtimes Guideline to Follow

Family mealtimes are sometimes ruined because of parental anxiety. And much of this food-related tension arises because we just aren't sure exactly what our kid's needs are. We worry, fuss, feel guilty, get angry and even resort to bribery.

And usually to no avail, as none of these measures ever seems to improve a child's appetite or family relations. The whole situation can be eased by remembering:

Put Emphasis on What Not How Much

What a child eats in family mealtime is more important than how much. We all have very different appetite levels and even these will vary from time to time. So, accept your child's variations as normal, too.

Appetites change not only from year to year according to his rate of growth but often from day to day or meal to meal for no apparent reason. General health, activity level,and even the weather are some of the things that will have effects.

What They are Eating Is Important Than Their Eating Time

What a child eats is more important than when. Kids often just can't eat (nor do they need) as much as adults at any one sitting.

So, they will want to eat between meals. And between-meal snacking is OK-in moderation. Just make sure that what they snack upon is nutritious and contributes to an overall balanced diet. See page 16 and the index for snack ideas.

Make the Food Clean and Healthy

If you are looking for healthy foods, you must seek on healthy water. Without clean water, you cannot clean the food, jars, places etc. properly. So, make sure you have a proper source of water which provides clean, clear and healthy water.

One way to have that is using water purifier in the home or using a proper renowned kitchen faucet that has that option. Water purifier will only provide clean drinking water, but you won’t have enough option to clean foods and cooking items with it. So, a better kitchen faucet can be an overall good solution.

Honor Their Appetite for Different Foods

Everyone has food likes and dislikes. Honor them. Remember, not all food refusals are designed to annoy or upset us (even though they do). Do, you kid love coffee made by homemade espresso machine? How much you can provide them. How much is healthy for them.

Understand the health conditions along with honoring their appetite also. Don't force your child to eat a food - offer a substitute of equal nutritive value.

Set a Proper Example of Family Meal

A youngster won't accept excuses like "it's for grown-ups" forever. He'll pick up all your bad habits and then some. So, you'll have to set a good example.

Setting a proper food example is the best way to help them learn – in one word teach them a better food habit. It is one of the major family mealtime guidelines you need to follow for your children.

Understand the Realistic Condition

Children often go on food jags, insisting on the same thing at every meal. The less fuss that is made about it, the sooner the jag willpass. And try not to lose your temper when a once preferred food becomes the rejected one.

Be realistic - it's hard for most kids to sit still very long. And when we ask them to sit, to remember their manners and handle the cutlery properly, we may just be asking too much.